VLADIVOSTOK, August 11 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian president's envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District, Konstantin Pulikovsky, has proposed that Viktor Vekselberg, the owner of aluminum giant SUAL and a large block of TNK-BP shares, consider the possibility of becoming the governor of a unified Russian Federation region.
Vekselberg, 48, whose personal fortune is estimated at several billion dollars, said Thursday he was not ruling the move out.
During a meeting with Vekselberg, the envoy asked him if he would be willing to become the governor. "He [Vekselberg] answered, 'Why not?'" Pulikovsky said later.
A referendum on the unification of the Far Eastern region of Kamchatka and the Koryak autonomous district will be held on October 23.
Speaking about why he had raised the subject now, Pulikovsky said Vekselberg "has been energetically developing gold and other mineral deposits on Kamchatka and in Koryakia [the autonomous district], investing heavily in these regions."
Pulikovsky said his task as the president's envoy was to suggest several suitable candidatures for the post of the governor.
Chairman of the Kamchatka legislature Nikolai Tokmantsev harshly criticized the idea to appoint Vekselberg.
"If the idea is going to be brought up again, I will do everything possible to stop the referendum. We will not unite with Koryakia to have Vekselberg as our governor," Tokmantsev told the Izvestia newspaper.
