A hard-up mayor has come up with a novel way of easing the budget squeeze — he’s planning to sell his own office.
Alexei Zalivatsky is the mayor of Yantarny, a small town in the Russian province of Kaliningrad, and has taken to Facebook to announce that he has no other option to raise money.
In a lengthy post he says that “today is tough, but sitting and doing nothing and taking on more debt” is not the answer.
He says he refuses to cut social programs, promises to repair kindergartens and schools, and to spend more on housing and preparations for the summer tourist season.
‘Perfect for a hotel’
Part of his post reads: “Bingo! Urgent changes in the plan of privatization. For sale, the administration building of Yantarny city district. No kidding. Expensive.”
Included in his Facebook entry are details about the building, and he even makes recommendations about what it could be used for.
It is, he says, “perfect for a hotel.”
The post describes the property as being 941 square meters (about 10,000 square feet) and has land totalling 3238 square meters (about 35,000 square feet). The site includes space for parking.
He neglects to mention one key fact — the price. He says an independent evaluation is needed and the cost will be announced in the near future.
Kaliningrad — situated between Poland and the Baltic state of Lithuania — was once part of Germany and the coastal region is famous for its large deposits of the gem stone amber.
‘Sale attracts attention’
Reaction to the mayor’s announcement has been met with both suspicion on one hand, and praise on the other.
Some fear this is merely a public relations stunt. Others are grateful to the mayor.
Lena Bor commented: “Alexei … respect! You are the best man for the job!”
But Peter Vacilvev responded, saying: “Calm down, this is just good PR. It’s a way to attract attention.”
The mayor has been interacting with those leaving comments. In reply to one user, he jokingly suggested the administration could move to the beach.
CNN sought a comment from the Yantarny mayor but no-one was available.