Abramovich to Remain Governor in Russia

Billionaire oil tycoon and Chelsea soccer club owner Abramovich will stay on as governor of the Chukotka region in extreme northeastern Russia, the Kremlin said Friday, suggesting that Putin has rejected the resignation he tendered late last year or persuaded him to withdraw it.

The development suggested that Putin wants Abramovich to remain in the office so he can continue to show loyalty to the Kremlin by pumping money into the impoverished region, which has experienced significant improvements since his election in 2000.

Abramovich is one of the superrich Russian tycoons who acquired vast holdings in shadowy privatization deals in the 1990s, in his case in oil. But unlike Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is serving an eight-year prison sentence for tax evasion and fraud, Abramovich has never openly challenged the Kremlin.

He submitted his resignation as Chukotka governor in December, and a spokesman at the time said he was resigning because he felt his mission of helping rebuild and economically assist the bleak, frigid region across the Bering Strait from Alaska had been accomplished.

But he had changed his tune by Friday, according to Russian news agencies that cited him as saying there was still much to be done, including implementation of a strategic development plan approved by the federal government last fall.

Putin's press service confirmed Russian news agency reports saying that Abramovich would remain governor and that Putin had praised his work in the job, but declined to say whether Putin had rejected his resignation or explain how the decision was made.

Abramovich, who bought English soccer club Chelsea in 2003, was first elected governor of Chukotka in 2000 and was appointed by Putin in 2005 after direct elections of regional leaders were abolished. His oil company, Sibneft, was purchased by the Russia gas monopoly Gazprom, which is state-controlled and has close Kremlin ties, in a multibillion-dollar deal in 2005.