Ballerina Leaps Into Sochi Race

Ballerina Anastasia Volochkova announced Thursday that she will stand for mayor of the Black Sea resort of Sochi, bringing the number of candidates in the colorful election to 23. Volochkova, who made headlines in 2003 after she was fired from the Bolshoi Theater, reportedly because she weighed too much, submitted her documents and deposit to Sochi's elections commission on Thursday, she said in a statement. "I am going to stand to protect people," Volochkova said. "I am not the Kremlin's candidate. I am the candidate of the owners of small hotels and street cafes." Thursday was the last day for prospective candidates to register in the April 26 election, which will see several prominent political figures battling local and novelty candidates. Sochi is slated to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, a project for which the federal government has earmarked billions of dollars to almost entirely remake the underdeveloped resort. The race includes opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, businessman Alexander Lebedev and former presidential candidate Andrei Bogdanov, a Kremlin-friendly liberal and one of the country's leading Freemasons. Volochkova told reporters Thursday that as mayor she would focus on issues such as transportation, electricity and sewage dumping into the Black Sea. "I'm sure that with a professional team, we will make a good job of it," she said, Interfax reported. Volochkova, who has no political campaign experience but is a member of ruling party United Russia, first said publicly last week that she might run for the post. She told Gazeta.ru on Thursday that "continuing insistent demands from Sochi residents" for her to run prompted her to enter the race. Volochkova has never been particularly vocal about her politics, though in 2005 she signed an open letter calling for an end to criticism of the country's legal system over the conviction of former Yukos chief executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky. She is currently the prima ballerina at a musical theater in the city of Krasnodar, which is close to Sochi. Porn star and former reality show contestant Yelena Berkova submitted her documents and deposit Wednesday to enter the election, the producer of her television channel told The Moscow Times on Thursday. The producer, Alexander Valov, added that he did not know if her application would be accepted, since "she is a girl with a mixed reputation." A spokesman for the Sochi elections commission said Thursday, however, that Berkova's application had not been received. The April 26 election will be the country's last mayoral race in which candidates can submit a deposit to get on the ballot. Future elections will require candidates to submit signatures from supporters, a requirement that opposition candidates say allows for manipulation by election officials to prevent them from running for office. Candidates in the Sochi race had the option of submitting a deposit of 282,000 rubles ($8,400).