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Earthquake Shatters Sakhalin Governor's Future
Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday accepted the resignation of Sakhalin Governor Ivan Malakhov, who, in the opinion of the Kremlin, failed to handle the recent earthquake in Nevelsk adequately. The Kremlin was actually searching for a replacement for Malakhov before the earthquake. Mayor of Okha Alexander Khoroshavin has been named acting governor of the region, and the president has already submitted his name to the regional legislative assembly. Khoroshavin has close ties to Rosneft.
Malakhov's former press secretary Vladimir Kuleshov said that the president's decision came as a surprise to regional administration. Malakhov spent the last day in Nevelsk and told no one about his tendered resignation. It was known that Malakhov has submitted an enquiry on confidence to Putin on July 24. Under the law “On General Principles of the Organization of Legislative and Executive Organs of State Authority in the Russian Federation,” the president was to make an official response to the enquiry within two weeks. Malakhov has submitted an enquiry in March, but the Kremlin administration told him that it was improperly worded and asked him to submit it again later.
Malakhov has been criticized for arriving in Nevelsk only on the second day after it was hit by an earthquake on August 2. In addition, the United Russia Party, of which he is a member, was dissatisfied with its weak local position. The party came in second in local legislative elections in 2004 after a Rodina-based bloc. Malakhov took office in 2003 after governor Igor Farkhutdinov was killed in a car wreck.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 08, 2007
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