Aleksandr Tkachev, the governor of the Krasnodar Region, has relieved Pochinok from his position of the representative of local government in the upper chamber of the Russian parliament. He replaced Pochinok with vice-president of the Russia’s Olympic Committee Akhmed Bilalov, who is also a head of the state-run development company called North Caucasian Resorts.

 Pochinok was due to resign in spring 2012, however the governor decided to recall him before the end of his term. The decree, signed by Tkachev, has recently appeared on the internet page of the government of the Krasnodar Region. Until Friday, 14 October, there were no reports of Pochinok’s dismissal, however the document is dated 10 October. Pochinok has taken part in the recent session of the parliament.

Government of the Krasnodar Regional have been unavailable for comments. Aleksandr Tkachev twitted Friday in reply to the question about Pochinok that “he had written a resignation letter”.

However, Tkachev did not answer the question, whether it had been Pochinok’s own decision.

Pochinok was reported by Russian Mafia (rumafia.com) to have plans to stand for the parliament as a member of Right Cause political party. His political ambitions might be a rationale for his resignation, the analysts say.