SOBCHAK OUSTED IN ST. PETERSBURG…

Incumbent Anatoly Sobchak has been defeated in the second round of elections for the governor of Russia’s second city, St. Petersburg, losing to his own first deputy, Vladimir Yakovlev. Yakovlev won by the narrow margin of 47.5 percent to 45.8 percent. (Itar-Tass, June 2, Reuters, June 3) Yakovlev’s success is attributed to the fact that he picked up the votes that went to the Communist and nationalist candidates who were eliminated two weeks ago in the first round… But Sobchak also pointed the finger at Moscow, saying that hard-line politicians in Yeltsin’s inner circle had financed Yakovlev’s campaign in an effort to assert Moscow’s control over St. Petersburg.

…Moscow’s Hand Seen in His Defeat.