MOSCOW. May 29 (Interfax) - Konstantin Remchukov, the owner and editor-in-chief of the Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper, says he is confident that political reasons are behind the Moscow city government's decision to evict the editorial office of the newspaper.

"It is true that we received notification from the Moscow city government dated May 16 on May 26 on severing the lease contract. The motive cited in the notification was that the building was dilapidated, and we are supposed to vacate the premises within one month from the moment we received it," Remchukov told Interfax on Thursday.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta concluded the lease contract for five years in September 2006, and it stipulates that notification on its abrogation must be sent three months in advance, he said.

"Therefore, this is the first set of facts that gives reasons to suggest that what is going on is somehow related to our critical articles about Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, particularly his remarks about Sevastopol. We believe it is beyond the mayor's purview to intervene in such issues and damage relations between Russia and Ukraine," Remchukov said.

"The last article was published on May 15, and the very next day the said notification was issued," he said.

"The other thing that gives reasons to suspect that this is related to politics is that two restaurants are also located in the same building, but they did not receive any notifications," Remchukov said.