“The information about my soon-to-be dismissal is not based on facts”, the regional leader stresses in a press release. “I consider these kind of stories and ratings as nothing but newspaper hoax and do not even bother to react on them, because they only distract me in my work”, she adds in a second press release.
The public statements of the governor comes after several Russian newspapers and agencies have claimed that Kovtun is on a list of regional leaders in serious danger of being fired. According to newspaper Izvestia, all the governors appointed during the presidency of Dmitry Medvedev, face an uncertain future. Marina Kovtun was appointed governor by Medvedev in April 2012, just few days before the end of his presidential term.
The assurances of the governor might however have a contrary effect. Her two press statements on the issue might ultimately stir concern and not relief. Furthermore, signals from the Kremlin indicate that far from all current governors have safe positions. Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov confirms to RIA Novosti that there “probably” will be future dismissals of regional leaders and that the governors` corpus is a body “in constant movement”.
