 In 2001, he and Moscow's Mayor Yuri Luzhkov founded the United Russia party.Saying that he wanted to make way for a new generation of leadership—in accordance with a call from President Dmitry Medvedev—Shaimiev told Medvedev in January 2010 that he did not want to be nominated for another term as President of Tatarstan.He said that Rustam Minnikhanov, the Prime Minister of Tatarstan, was his preferred successor.