But Pulikovsky on Thursday stood by his comments, saying that Vekselberg had told him, "Why not?"
The Kremlin considers Pulikovsky's comments "premature," Itar-Tass reported late Wednesday, without disclosing its source.
Pulikovsky, whose responsibilities include submitting gubernatorial candidates to Putin, on Thursday defended his idea to propose Vekselberg as governor of a merged Kamchakta and Koryaksky region in 2007. An Oct. 23 referendum in Kamchatka and the neighboring Koryaksky autonomous region is to decide whether the two regions, which were one region until 1993, should merge in 2007. The new region would require a governor, and Vekselberg could be one option, he said. "Vekselberg is now actively developing deposits of gold and other ores in Kamchatka and the Koryaksky autonomous region. He is putting big money into these territories," he told reporters in Vladivostok on Thursday.
Pulikovsky said that at a recent meeting, he asked Vekselberg about his business interests in Kamchatka and if he would consider becoming governor of a merged Kamchatka and Koryaksky region. "He replied, 'Why not?'" Pulikovsky said, Interfax reported.
"This candidacy will be reviewed along with the others. The last word will rest with the president of the Russian Federation," he said.
Vekselberg's Renova holding earlier this year bought a blocking stake in Koryakgeologodobycha, Russia's second-largest producer of platinum, Vedomosti reported Thursday. Vekselberg has no business in Kamchatka, his spokesman Andrei Shtorkh told the newspaper.
In April, Vedomosti estimated the cost of the Koryakgeologodobycha stake at $150 million. Shtorkh said the company was expected to produce 2 to 3 tons of platinum and 3 to 4 tons of gold this year, which would put the company's revenues at about $130 million.
Pulikovsky first mentioned Vekselberg, Russia's third-richest man, as a possible governor in an interview published in Argumenty i Fakty on Wednesday. Pulikovsky praised Roman Abramovich's leadership of Chukotka and said Vekselberg, a stockholder in oil major TNK-BP and aluminum producer SUAL, would make as good a governor as Abramovich, Russia's richest man.
Some local politicians reacted angrily to the idea of having Vekselberg as governor. "I would advise Pulikovsky to stay out of this business. We will decide it ourselves," said Nikolai Tokmantsev, speaker of Kamchatka's legislature, Izvestia reported Thursday. "I will do my best to see that a local person becomes the governor."
Tokmantsev said he would try to stop the referendum if Pulikovsky persisted in pushing Vekselberg for governor.
Koryaksky Governor Oleg Kozhemyako, a potential candidate to govern a unified Kamchatka and Koryaksky, said Thursday that he would be "only too happy" if Vekselberg's companies brought revenues to the region's budget.
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