Petersburg governor denies his intention to run for third term

Vladimir Yakovlev, the governor of St. Petersburg, announced that he did not intend to run for his post in the coming elections due in 2004. "Nowhere and never" did he mention his desire or unwillingness to forward his candidacy, he said in his interview with RIA Novosti.

On Tuesday the Statutory Court of Russia's second largest city ordained that the incumbent head of the city administration ought not to file his candidacy for the upcoming elections. The matter was considered after a representative of a municipal district appealed to the court. St. Petersburg's statute limits a governor's office to two terms. It is the second term that the incumbent governor has been heading the city.