The mayor of Vladivostok was afraid of a duel
It won't save him
Yesterday, the mayor of Vladivostok, Yuri Kopylov, made a public apology to the presidential envoy in the Far Eastern Federal District, Konstantin Pulikovsky, for offensive advertising posters that appeared on the streets of the capital of Primorye last December. However, admitting guilt will no longer save the mayor.

In December 2000, at the very peak of the political confrontation between the Far Eastern plenipotentiary Konstantin Pulikovsky and the governor of Primorye Evgeny Nazdratenko, advertising banners were hung over the central streets of Vladivostok: “Primorye is not Pulikovsky’s field”, “Pulikovsky - hands off Primorye”. Last week, the plenipotentiary visited Primorye and announced that he was challenging the mayor to a duel.

Having soberly assessed his chances, the Vladivostok mayor chose to stay alive. Yesterday, speaking live on the regional radio, Yuri Kopylov apologized to the plenipotentiary. As he said, the banners were hung over the city streets without the knowledge of the administration “by forces wishing to quarrel between local and federal authorities.” “But I am responsible for order in the city and everything that happens in it,” the mayor repented. According to him, in the future, posters with political content will necessarily be approved by the Vladivostok administration.
It is not yet known whether Konstantin Pulikovsky will be satisfied with such an apology. The administration of Primorye told Kommersant yesterday that the order... O. Governor Valentin Dubinin on the beginning of a financial audit of the activities of the Vladivostok mayor's office, which appeared the day after the end of the plenipotentiary's visit to the region, is already being implemented, and no one is going to cancel it. As a regional official put it, “everyone in the mayor’s office is already on their toes.” It is possible that the results of the audit will force Yuri Kopylov to resign. With such an outcome, Mr. Pulikovsky will probably consider himself avenged.

ALEXEY K-CHERNYSHEV, Vladivostok

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 49 dated March 21, 2001, p. 2