Emergencies Minister Sees Nothing Special About Inquiry Into His Ministry Carried Out By Prosecutor's Office

On Saturday Sergei Shoigu, Russian federal Emergencies Minister, told journalists after the 3rd congress of the Unity party that he saw "nothing special" about the inquiry into his ministry the prosecutor's office has recently carried out. According to him, similar examinations were conducted in the Ministry of Emergencies in 1995, 1996, 1998 and 2000. He said he was not, for the time being, planning to quit the post of ministry head. When asked about a possibility of being transferred to party work, he indicated that it would depend on the party's development pace and the tasks the president would assign him. In her turn, Lyubov Sliska, a vice-speaker of the Duma, or the parliamentary lower house, a Unity faction member, warned against creating fuss around the inquiry into the Ministry of Emergencies conducted by the prosecutor's office. "There were no searches there and no charges were brought against it." she said. Leader of the Unity faction Vladimir Pekhtin described the inquiry conducted on the eve of the congress of the Unity party as a "coincidence". According to him, "unusual attention the mass media is paying to this issue points to popularity of our party".