"This is very sad news. He was a very modest, intelligent man with knowledge of the world... I knew that he had been elected many times and did not really want to be elected this time, maybe I felt that there were health problems. But he was very much asked. Everyone respected him very much, both voters and management, so they asked him to stay. This is very sad news for many people," Karpov said.
The deputy also expressed great gratitude to his colleague for the fact that he helped hold a children's chess tournament in honor of Karpov's anniversary two years ago.
State Duma deputy from the United Russia party, Nikolai Bortsov, died at the age of 78.
The party expressed condolences to the family and friends of the deputy.