vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #158 / Special reports / Reading article...

Sergei Dudnik, head of the Nakhodka Free Economic Zone, has been elected speaker of the new krai Duma - an appointment regarded as a victory for Governor Yevgeny Nazdratenko.

Dudnik won a convincing majority in the Dec. 27 poll of deputies, taking 21 votes against eight for second-placed candidate Sergei Soloviov, leader of the Vladivostok faction Our City. Head of the Marine Academy Vitaly Sedykh polled six votes and border guard general Victor Rozov, four.

The vote took place at the opening session of the new krai duma, despite a move by Vladivostok deputies to hold off electing a speaker until objectives were set by the Duma and deputies had a chance to get to know each other.

Nazdratenko, who had warned deputies during his welcoming speech that he “wouldn’t be easy to work with” because he was “not what one would call a nice guy,” made no secret of his satisfaction at the outcome of the vote. Analysts say he had gone to considerable effort to prevent the Duma from splitting into pro and anti Nazdratenko camps from the very beginning.

“The victory of Sergei Dudnik’s who has proved to be a competent economist, a strong leader and an active supporter in many important issues, increases my confidence that the Duma will become a place for constructive work rather that political battles,” he said.