In his exclusive interview to the ‘Polis’ journal, one of the most informed representative of the Moscow political and intellectual elite, deputy of the Moscow City Duma Vladimir Platonov, who during 20-year period chaired this highest legislative and public body of the Russian capital, scrutinizes sophisticated political twists and turns and under-the-carpet bargaining around the formation of the Moscow City Duma. The interview focuses on the sensitive points of electoral guidelines – i.e. the genesis of a new political and civic mentality of the electorate, the shaping of electoral mechanisms in such a key region as Moscow City, the problems of political communications and innovations in the sphere of electoral techniques and legal procedures.