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Sitting at his desk surrounded by a mob of media, Presidential Representative Victor Kondratov puffed on a cigarette and basked in the attention.

It was vintage Kondratov – courtly to the women reporters, laughing with the men, jokingly calling an American journalist a spy.

But the March 30 press conference, coming four days after a raid on Mayor Victor Cherepkov’s finance office, seemed to have a purpose beyond the careful opinions he offered. Kondratov, who also heads the Primorye FSB office, made clear that he was still a force to be reckoned with, despite the removal of some of his powers by President Yeltsin last month.

Kondratov urged moderation in the hurly-burly of Primorye politics.

«I would like to ask you in this situation to treat everything quietly,» Kondratov urged the reporters.

Kondratov hit on a range of krai issues, offering veiled criticism of the raid on the Mayor’s Office, which prosecutors ordered after Cherepkov refused to admit local federal auditors into the building. He discussed everything from a sale of Black Shark helicopters, to his own often shaky relations with Gov. Yevgeny Nazdratenko.

In a 1 ?-hour press conference, Kondratov:

Denied a charge by Nazdratenko that Kondratov is failing to track city expenditures of federal money. Kondratov released a letter he wrote to the federal ministry of finances accounting for payment of city money that went to budget workers. Coincidentally, the figures released by Kondratov also refuted a Cherepkov claim that the krai is withholding federal money to the city; Kondratov’s figures show the city received $3.3 million last year.

Praised an attempt by Progress, an Arseniev plant, to bid for a Turkish order for 145 helicopters. (Turkey is a member of NATO.) Progress produces the highly regarded Black Shark helicopter. «Right now we are selling a lot of weapons abroad,» Kondratov said in response to a reporter’s question. «There’s no problem with that. The government signs those contracts, so it’s their sole responsibility.»

Said the federal government has no intention of intervening in Primorye politics, despite the conflict between Cherepkov and Nazdratenko. But the government will establish closer ties with the Krai Duma, which Kondratov said is a body capable of stabilizing the region and investigating both city and krai finances. «Right now, we have elected a Duma that has started to really think» Kondratov said. «So they have started to ask proper questions, and some of those questions satisfy me.»

Insisted he will continue with his lawsuit against Nazdratenko. Kondratov sued the governor for saying the FSB is no longer able to recruit or retain top-noch staff under Kondratov. Nevertheless, Kondratov said he is willing to compromise. «A bad peace is better than a good war,» he said.

Expressed hope for the new government appointed after Yeltsin’s shakeup of his staff. Acting Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko, former minister of fuel and energy, created an energy payment system that helped Primorye get through the winter. «If everybody followed his model, we wouldn’t have problems with energy or miners,» Kondratov said.