MOSCOW -- Former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov has said he will run for mayor of the city of Sochi.
Nemtsov told RFE/RL's Russian Service that some 400 Sochi citizens signed a petition asking him to take part in the April 26 election.
He announced his decision at a Solidarnost (Solidarity) movement session on March 12.
Nemtsov, 49, is a co-chairman of the opposition movement.
He said he is not going to collect signatures to become a candidate but rather will pay the candidate's fee, predicting that local authorities will do everything possible to block his candidacy.
Nemtsov, who was deputy prime minister of Russia in 1997-98, is one of the co-founders of the Union of Rightist Forces party and an outspoken critic of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
The North Caucasus city of Sochi will be the host of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.