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Vladivostok’s acting mayor Igor Kovalyov resigned from his position on March 28 to participate in the mayoral elections in May, becoming the 17th candidate so far, news reports said.

Kovalyov’s actions followed the inspection by the city’s Prosecutor’s Office which suddenly discovered that Kovalyov has no right to hold the position of acting mayor due to the lack of a professional education. The inspection revealed that Kovalyov, who had taken various jobs including that of director of a health center and a massage specialist, is not qualified to work in the administration.

“Kovalyov does not have a minimum of three years work experience in public service or seven years of professional work according to his field of expertise,” prosecutors said.

At the hearings on Monday, Vladivostok’s Leninsky court was to consider the Prosecutor’s Office appeal to declare Kovalyov’s labor contract with the Vladivostok administration invalid. Kovalyov did not attend the court’s hearing.

Kovalyov became Vladivostok’s acting mayor after Mayor Vladimir Nikolayev was sentenced by the Leninsky Court of Vladivostok to a suspended four and a half year imprisonment with three years parole on December 24, 2007.

Nikolayev, who was dismissed from his position in February 2007 and arrested a week later, was charged with misspending the city’s budget funds and selling federal land plots to private individuals. Kovalyov who replaced Nikolayev for several months and who currently intends to run for the mayoral position is considered to be an ally to Nikolayev.

As of Tuesday, a total of 17 candidates, including Vladivostok’s former mayor Viktor Cherepkov, have registered to participate in the elections scheduled for May 18.

Cherepkov, Vladivostok mayor from 1993-1994 and 1996-1997 and constant participant in all of the city’s elections, enjoys the company of his namesake from Yekaterinburg Viktor Cherepkov. The second Cherepkov is a metal worker at a plant in Yekaterinburg who was able to pay one million rubles as an entrance fee for participation.Another candidate bearing close resemblance to Cherepkov is Viktor Cherevkov, a Vladivostok resident working for the firm Ratoborets-Plus.

The technique of registering several candidates with similar surnames aims to confuse voters during the elections and results in lower percentages of votes for such candidates.

Igor Pushkaryov, who is expected to be officially named as a candidate from the pro-Kremlin party United Russia, already has two namesakes in the elections - an unemployed Igor Yurievich Pushkaryov and an information technology specialist Igor Alexandrovich Pushkaryov. Who sponsors the campaigns of low-income candidates remains a mystery.

Among other candidates is the owner of the newspaper Dalyokaya Okraina, Vladimir Gilgenberg, a 22-year-old employee of the city’s ambulance service Roman Salarev, and a manager, Sergei Zimin. Two registered candidates represent parties - Irina Alyoshina, a candidate of the Yabloko party in Vladivostok and Gennady Turmov, a candidate recommended by Vladivostok’s branch of the Communist Party.

For the two months before the elections, Vladivostok will be headed by Vice-Mayor Vitaly Mutovin who was in charge of municipal orders and legal policy.