 In August 2001, he also became chairman of the government of the Nizhny Novgorod region (according to press reports on the "transitional period" for a period of one year).On May 28, 2002 he officially announced his withdrawal from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in protest against the expulsion from the party of the Speaker of the State Duma Gennady Seleznev, as well as deputies N. Gubenko and Goryacheva.During his time in office Khodyrev was unable to improve the socio-economic situation of the region.