MOSCOW, February 9, 2004. /RIA Novosti correspondent/ - Member of the State Duma security committee Gennady Gudkov has reported that presidential candidate Ivan Rybkin is "alive and well at a vacation center in the Moscow region". He said this in a conversation with journalists on Monday.
Gudkov described the story with "Ivan Rybkin's disappearance a pure PR move".
Rybkin disappeared late on February 5th. The Moscow main interior department launched a criminal case.
At the same time, the headquarters of the presidential hopeful does not confirm the information of his return.
"We checked the information that Rybkin is at the Lesnye Dali vacation center in the Odintsovsky district, but it was not true," they say.
The information about finding Rybkin was received even by the Moscow criminal department, RIA Novosti learned from sources in the department.
"People close to Rybkin have reported to us that he has been found," the agency's interlocutor said. He did not specify Rybkin's whereabouts.
