Former Presidential Representative Kondratov clashed with the regional administration.

Kondratov's whereabouts since leaving Primorye is unknown, and the report - which first appeared on the Web site of Nazdratenko political rival Viktor Cherepkov - could not be confirmed. But a spokesperson for the Federal Security Service said Friday that the report appeared to be real. And it fits a series of statements by Kondratov over the years. During his time in two years in office, Kondratov repeatedly said he had handed evidence of criminal wrongdoing by regional administration officials to regional prosecutors, but nobody followed up.

Kondratov's whereabouts since leaving Primorye is unknown, and the letter - which first appeared on the Web site of Nazdratenko political rival Viktor Cherepkov - could not be confirmed. But a spokesperson for the Federal Security Service said Friday that the letter appeared to be real. And it fits a series of statements by Kondratov over the years. During his time in two years in office, Kondratov repeatedly said he had handed evidence of criminal wrongdoing by regional administration officials to regional prosecutors, but nobody followed up. In any case, the publication of the letter appears to be part of a last-ditch attempt to damage Nazdratenko's reelection efforts in the waning days before Sunday's election. Likewise, Tolstoshein himself is a candidate for the federal Duma. Dalnevostochnye Vedomosti is one of the few local papers willing to criticize the regional administration.

The report singled out Tolstoshein, Vice Governor Valentin Dubinin, former Vice Governor Mikhail Chechelnitsky, former Vice Governor Vladimir Kolesnichenko and other officials for corrupt dealings with underworld figures.

The report stated that they used the Primorye power structure for increasing their wealth and influence. It added, "Besides, the officials use both the law enforcement agencies and the opportunities of organized crime leaders for their profit-seeking interests."

The regional administration's press center declined to comment on the story. Several officials named in the story could not be reached for comment or did not immediately return phone messages. Tolstoshein did not return a call seeking comment. A spokeswoman for Novikov declined to comment, but did not dispute the authenticity of the report.

"Kondratov is no longer presidential representative," she said. "Why should we comment on such garbage?"

The report states that while Tolstoshein was mayor of Vladivostok from 1994-96, he "actively participated in the process of illegal privatization of municipal property."

Joining forces with an organized crime group leader named Alexeyenkov, Tolstoshein illegally sold the Vladivostok Hotel to a firm called Amis and Co. "for virtually nothing," the report states. The hotel was valued at 40 billion rubles, apparently at a time when the exchange rate was 6,000 rubles to the dollar, making it worth $6.7 million. In exchange for the deal, Tolstoshein's under-aged daughter received 20 percent of stock of the Amis and Co., Kondratov wrote.

The report raises new charges, such as a claim that Tolstoshein helped the leaders of a criminal gang known as the Babakekhyan brothers to get control over a Chinese market by reregistering documents in their names. In return, he received a bribe in the form of a Lexus car worth $30,000, Kondratov wrote.

Likewise, the report sheds light on allegations that have long dogged Tolstoshein, whom Nazdratenko has since named the second-ranking official in the regional government. In 1995, two radio reporters, Alexei Sadykov and Andrei Zhuravlyov, were allegedly kidnapped and tortured because they had criticized Tolstoshein in a Vladivostok Broadcasting Corporation radio broadcast. Kondratov said Tolstoshein enlisted the help of the criminal leader A.B. Makarenko in the abduction.

Sadykov, now a Zolotoi Rog reporter, confirmed the torture account in a past interview with the Vladivostok News, but reached by phone Friday, he refused to comment. "Let's stop dancing on the bones," he said.

Among other charges in the report:

• Former Vice Governor Chechelnitsky, later the chairman of the Committee for Fuel Resources, allegedly misused 400 billion rubles of regional money together with the criminal leader I.V. Vorontsov, "who had been convicted several times, once for a murder," Kondratov wrote. He noted dryly that an FSB criminal case against the vice governor "was closed because of Chechelnitsky's sudden death."

• During the 1995-96 and 1996-97 heating seasons, fuel worth 100 billion rubles wasn't delivered to the region. During four months of this time, in 1997, blackouts extended as long as 20 hours a day in much of Vladivostok and 23 hours per day in one neighborhood.

• Vice Governor V.S. Dubinin teamed up in a business deal with a Chechen community criminal leader "who was involved in major financial machinations, money extortion from merchants, and the murder of a tax police officer," the report stated. Dubinin used his power to assist Aldamov in organizing the wholesale trade of oil products, investing illegal Chechen capital into the region's economy, and covering debts of the companies under his control from the regional budget, the report said.

• Adam Magomed Eminovich Imadayev, formerly the governor's advisor on national issues, carried a second passport as Adam Mikhailovich Kovalyov. The FSB had evidence that he and former Vice Governor Nikolai Sadomsky allegedly tried to organize an air company to smuggle expensive goods in and out of Russia through Chechnya, the report stated.

Text of letter alleging criminal links between mob, officials

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