Kremlin source denies claims of governors’ upcoming dismissals

(Interfax – MOSCOW, October 18, 2013) A Kremlin source has denied reports claiming that a number of regional governors may be relieved of their posts ahead of time.

“These absurd claims are not even worth commenting on. This newspaper article uses some artificially formed agenda, not real facts,” the source told Interfax on Friday.

The Izvestia newspaper said, citing its own sources, that the governors of the Oryol, Murmansk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Yaroslavl, Kirov, Kursk and Kemerovo regions might leave their posts soon allegedly over the federal authorities’ complaints about their poor performance and the presence of public protest sentiments there.

The Kremlin called on journalists who write such articles to remember that this issue concerns the interests of both the governors and the population of these regions.

“When we speak about any governor, we ought to remember that people live in this region. For example, Kemerovo Region Governor Aman Tuleyev has always had very high ratings. This circumstance alone is enough to prove that any media claims about his possible dismissal are nothing more than hyped-up sensationalism,” the Kremlin source said.