Mayor of Shtokman village dismissed
Valery Yarantsev, the mayor of Teriberka – the fishing village which is to become the hub for the Shtokman project – has been dismissed.
The Kola district court dismissed Mr Yarantsev on the ground of his alleged misuse of administrative powers, RIA Novosti reports. The mayor is suspected of having misused public spending allocated to the municipality in connection winter heating preparations.
BarentsObserver met with Valeri Yarantsev last week in Teriberka, but then he didn’t expected to dismissed from his post.
The dismissal is temporary and will last while the court case proceeds, Gazeta.ru reports. If convicted, Yarantsev might however never return to Teriberka as town mayor.
Valery Yarantsev is a former trawler captain who became widely known when he ran away from the Norwegian Coast Guard with his vessel, “the Elektron”. He represents the Communist Party.
