		Hotel boss pulls out of Chechen vote

		Текст: Artyom Vernidoub Archive photo The Moscow-based businessman Hussein Dzhabrailov has announced his withdrawal from the race for the Chechen presidency. However, as Gazeta.Ru has learnt, the entrepreneur, who was one of the first to be officially registered as a candidate, appears to regret the attention his decision has aroused. He has turned off his mobile phone and is hiding from his supporters who want the deputy director general of Moscow’s Rossia Hotel to change his mind.

The deputy director general of the Rossia Hotel was officially registered as a candidate for the presidential post in Chechnya on August 27, upon making a financial deposit of 4.5 million roubles.

Though his campaigning was barely noticeable in Chechnya, he is well known. The well-to-do Chechen has won the confidence of his fellow countrymen for his generosity: after the State Duma deputy Aslanbek Aslakhanov and another Moscow-based businessman Malink Saidullayev, Dzhabrailov was considered the third most popular presidential candidate in the republic, leaving the incumbent leader of the republic Akhmad Kadyrov far behind.

Dzhabrailov received backing from sections of Chechnya’s top clergy as well as from Press Minister Bislan Gantamirov, who was originally supposed to campaign in favour of Kadyrov. On Tuesday Dzhabrailov’s aides released a statement in which the businessman announced his decision to quit the race without explaining the reasons for the move.

Some observers have already suggested that he had been asked to do so by the Kremlin, which after much hesitation has finally decided to throw its support behind Akhmad Kadyrov. Dzhabrailov himself was not available for comment on Tuesday, having gone into hiding, even from his aides.

''In the morning he came to us with a prepared statement,'' an official at Dzhabrailov’s election headquarters in Moscow told Gazeta.Ru. ''We have edited and released it. As for Hussein Aliyevich [Dzhabrailov], he went away, turned off his phone and would not talk to anyone. The problem is that he is under great pressure. The religious community demands that he re-enter the race. He also spoke today with Gantamirov, signals came from the presidential administration of Russia. Everyone is perplexed.''

Many believe that the candidate may also have been pressured by Akhmad Kadyrov. ''I am certain, that serious pressure was exerted on Hussein Dzhabrailov,'' said Ruslan Khasbulatov, another prominent Chechen, who, although he initially voiced his intention to run, decided against it.

Indeed, from what Dzhabrailov says in his official statement the implication may be that he was forced to quit the race. In particular, the businessman says: ''The present election campaign is being held in extremely difficult conditions. Every day in my homeland people get killed and go missing, explosions and murder attempts occur.''

At the same time, the businessman’s aides claim that Dzhabrailov had not received any threats or proposals for cooperation. Last week Dzhabrailov himself assured Gazeta.Ru that nothing of that nature had occurred. But his aides would not explain why he decided to quit the race. When asked why Dzhabrailov had not called on his supporters to use their votes for one of the remaining candidates, instead asking them to elect someone worthy, our interlocutor said: ''In truth he does not see anyone who is worthy.''

Hussein Dzhabrailov’s decision to quit the race has left 10 candidates in the field. They are: the incumbent leader of Chechnya, Moscow-appointed Akhmad Kadyrov; Moscow-based entrepreneur Malik Saidullayev; the State Duma deputy Aslanbek Aslakhanov; professor of the Grozny University Avkhad Khachukayev; deputy military commandant of Chechnya Said-Selim Tsuyev; deputy director general of a local oil and gas company Kudus Saduyev; former head of the Achkhoi-Martan district administration Shamil Burayev, who was sacked recently by Akhmad Kadyrov; Chechen poet Nikolai Paizullayev; unemployed Abdulla Bugayev, and former vice-premier of Ichkeria Hussein Biibulatov, currently an advisor for the head of the nuclear safety centre near Moscow.

In comments for Gazeta.Ru the State Duma deputy Aslanbek Aslakhanov admitted that he regrets Dzhabrailov’s move. ''I saw Hussein two days ago. He was full of resolve to take an active part in the elections. What has happened now, I don’t know. His mobile phone is off,'' the deputy told Gazeta.Ru.

The deputy dismissed the assumption that Dzhabrailov could be instructed by the Kremlin to quit the race, or that he could enter into a sort of agreement with Kadyrov’s team, saying only that he very much respects Hussein Dzhabrailov. ''He grew before my eyes, I remember his as an urchin, him and his brother Umar.'' (Umar Dzhabrailov, president of the Plaza Group, in 1999 ran for the Russian presidency – Gazeta.Ru.)

03 СЕНТЯБРЯ 14:59

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Hotel boss pulls out of Chechen vote