Mikhail Lapshin, the governor of the Siberian internal republic of Altai, who prompted speculations earlier of firing his vice prime minister for anti-Semitic comments, has confirmed to journalists that he did indeed fire his deputy for anti-Semitism, RIA-Novosti reported.
As MosNews reported earlier this month, former vice prime minister Vladimir Torbokov was fired after criticizing the appointment of the new national prime minister, Mikhail Fradkov, saying that it didn’t help things that the man was a Jew and that Jews took up too many posts in the government.
“Journalists have been speculating why I fired the vice prime minister,” RIA quoted the governor as saying. “Well, he was fired an hour after the publication of that article, where he insulted Jews. Those kind of ideas completely contradict my convictions,” Lapshin said.
Lapshin continued that any display of anti-Semitism or nationalism must be stopped in Russia. “I grew up in a multinational pot,” Lapshin told Novosti, “I knew several languages since childhood, and I am strongly against anti-Semitism and nationalism.”
At the same time, however, the governor said he promised to find a new job for the vice prime minister, whom he values as a professional and a good executive. “Torbokov is an educated man,” the news agency quoted Lapshin as saying, “and I’m looking for a government post for him. I think he’ll head a terminological committee that will translate documents from Altaic into Russian.” //MosNews
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