  Coulomb blockade in a quantum dot attached to a diffusive conductor is
considered in the framework of the non-linear sigma-model. It is shown that the
weak charge quantization on the dot is associated with instanton configurations
of the Q-field in the conductor. The instantons have a finite action and are
replica non--symmetric. It is argued that such instantons may play a role in
the transition regime to the interacting insulator.
