A high-level administration official came to the defense of new privatization chief Vladimir Polevanov on Thursday, saying the State Prosecutor had already investigated and dismissed reports of corruption during Polevanov's tenure as governor of the Far Eastern Amur region.


Sergei Samoilov, deputy head of the presidential committee that deals with Russia's far-flung regions, said it was Polevanov's political rivals who had dredged up charges that he profiteered on state funds and granted expensive favors to gold-mining companies.


State Prosecutor's Office spokesman Alexander Zvagintsev, however, could not confirm the checks had been made on Polevanov, whom President Boris Yeltsin appointed Tuesday to succeed Anatoly Chubais as head of the State Property Committee.


In an interview with Izvestia, Polevanov denied charges of corruption leveled by his opponents in Amur, saying Albert Krichenko, the author of a harshly critical article in Rossiiskiye Vesti, was seeking revenge because Polevanov took his place as regional governor and then refused to hire his allies.


As more information became available about Polevanov on Thursday, Western economic advisers said they were not concerned about statements he had made suggesting he might slow down privatization.


Laying out his plans for the State Property Committee, Polevanov told the newspaper Sevodnya, "It is necessary to bring back the original idea of the committee, which is mandated to manage state property, not to stand by indifferently while it is given away."


Polevanov seemed to be borrowing a rhetorical flourish from Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov and other opponents of quick privatization, apparently applying the word razbazarivaniye -- which comes from "bazaar" and implies a fire sale -- to Chubais's radical sell-off program.


"I don't understand what he means, frankly," said Charles Blitzer, chief economist at the World Bank mission in Moscow. "But experience in Russia has been that new people often come to the job saying things that are hard to understand, then when they perform on the job they end up doing pretty much what their predecessors did."


Roger Gale, Moscow head of the International Finance Corporation, said he believed the momentum built up by Chubais -- "a demigod in our eyes" -- would carry Russia into the second, "much tougher," stage of privatization, which involves selling off companies for cash.


"We were as surprised as anyone to learn that an outsider, so to speak, will be taking the job," he said. "But these guys are going to have to keep their sleeves rolled up no matter who is in charge."


Samoilov portrayed Polevanov as a pragmatic, energetic, non-partisan governor who was able to bend Yeltsin's ear. He said the president had specifically chosen a regional administrator to take over what he called the painful process of privatization in Russia's regions.


Samoilov said Polevanov convinced Yeltsin to travel to Amur in June, where the president approved development plans for the region's mining and soybean industries, most notably making the region the first in Russia allowed to use gold to guarantee foreign investments.


"He didn't just run around crying, 'Help me, save me.' He came forward with constructive, good ideas," said Samoilov. "I think it was pleasant for the president to work with such a governor."