Mikhail Prokhorov can return fortune to Russia within 2-3 weeks

Russian billionaire, leader of the Civil Platform party and former presidential hopeful Mikhail Prokhorov can return his fortune to Russia within 2 or three weeks and thus he is able to take part in the election of the Moscow mayor scheduled for September 8th, the Dozhd TV channel cites a source as saying.

Prokhorov has recently ordered a report concerning the possible return of his fortune and, according to experts, such an operation could take only 2-3 weeks. The source also says that the businessman knew about Sergey Sobyanin's resignation before it was announced officially.

According to Russian law, a candidate for a public post cannot have property abroad. Mikhail Prokhorov now has a month to return all his fortune to Russia and to register as a candidate.

Mayor of Moscow and head of the city's office of the ruling United Russia party Sergey Sobyanin recently resigned in order to take part in the first direct election of the city's mayor in a decade.