As is known, Political Party is a united group of people who directly set themselves the task of mastering political power in the state or take part in it through their representatives in the authorities state power And local government. However, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation does not seek to seize political power - and here's why.

Burning money

The fictitiousness of the “struggle” of Zyuganov and company can be assessed by at least looking at the structure of expenditures of the party’s funds.

Naturally, for a successful parliamentary struggle within the framework of a bourgeois state, serious sources of funding are needed. And the Communist Party of the Russian Federation has them - this is the state. It must be said that for every vote received in the elections, parties that pass the 3% barrier receive 110 rubles from the state budget, and, in the case of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the overwhelming majority of party funding (98.31%) comes from from there. Judging by the data consolidated financial reports party for 2015, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation clearly did not experience a lack of financial resources: it had more than a billion rubles in its account.

However, it is not so much the availability of funds that is important, but what exactly they are spent on and how effectively. What is the “party gold” of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation spent on? Well, for example, more than 100 million rubles were spent on the Red Line TV channel. Is this a wise use of money? I never met viewers of this TV channel in everyday life. Traffic to the Red Line website is also not particularly high - comparable, say, to Skepticism (only, it doesn’t seem to me that they spend 100 million a year on Skepticism).

And the Communist Party of the Russian Federation spent 33 million rubles on the newspaper Pravda, which is also quite funny - it’s hard to imagine a more unreadable newspaper. It’s good that they constantly publish some kind of patriotic nonsense, mixed with calls to “raise spirituality”; this is just the norm for the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. But the newspaper is simply ineffective even for campaigning for the party. It is bought out of habit by some pensioners, and by members of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation itself, who are almost forced to subscribe to it (at one time, the party even awarded medals for subscribing to Pravda). About 10 million eta political organization spent on the “All-Russian creative movement “Russian Lad””. Almost 24 million rubles - for the rental of the Snegiri holiday home (by the way, located in the department of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation) - for various events and classes of the “Center for Political Studies of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation”. But couldn't we have found a cheaper place? I'm not even talking about the absolute meaninglessness of this action - a catastrophically low level political training Communist Party activists in no way grow from investing these millions.

Facade of the Snegiri complex

Can you imagine a situation in any other country where a party that seriously wants to come to power through parliamentary means regularly spends considerable sums of money on absolutely useless projects?

You can also add that data According to a recent report by "Voices", 22.4% of the total expenses of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation goes to the maintenance of the party's governing bodies. This is hundreds of millions of rubles. The party spends, for comparison, 36.5% of the budget on the remaining 85 regions. In this situation, of course, it is not at all surprising that the Communist Party of the Russian Federation does not show special success at the elections.

However, it is interesting to fantasize about what successes some other party, truly communist, could achieve, having the same financial capabilities.

Failure of youth work

Another important indicator of the party’s effectiveness is its work with young people. In the Communist Party of the Russian Federation it is practically absent. In 2013 this was discussed in some detail. told one of the party members, nothing has changed since then (except for the worse).

Can you imagine a real communist party, at whose rallies you can meet young people invited to “stand with the flag” for a thousand rubles? In the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, as is known, thisnorm . Perhaps it’s no secret to anyone what a strong turnover of young cadres is observed in Zyuganov’s party and Komsomol. First of all, this is not a secret for the party leadership - but they are not going to do anything about it. Everyone is happy with everything. In most regional branches, the composition of the Komsomol completely changes every two to three years. Young, sincere, enterprising people join the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (or Komsomol), but quickly realize that they do not belong there at all. They encounter party bureaucracy, the lack of decentralism, and thieving, irreplaceable careerists in the Komsomol leadership - and they leave.

There is another type of Komsomol member - ordinary guys from small provincial towns who join the Komsomol simply “for the company.” Cells consisting of such guys are more reminiscent of meetings of drinking buddies (or, at best, interest clubs) - after all, no ideological work is carried out with young people. And since there is no ideological basis for unification, then such cells do not last very long. Why do the guys need the Komsomol if they can already get together, chat and drink? Yes, besides, in this case no one will force them to deliver newspapers and leaflets or waste time on polling stations on election day.

The party has long perceived the Komsomol exclusively as free labor during pre-election periods, as a way to save a little money (probably for the maintenance of the party’s governing bodies). Are there any young people? Okay, let's save money. No youth? Well, that means you’ll have to spend money, but that’s not a problem either (there’s a ton of money).

And the most interesting thing is that the management knows this, but no one really cares. For example, in 2010 there was a rather striking case when Alexey Plakhuta left the Rostov Communist Party of the Russian Federation, previously former secretary for work with youth of one of the city’s district departments. Quite a lot went with him significant amount Komsomol members He published an open letter , in which he pointed to the actions of the regional leadership of the party, which led to the failure election campaign and, in fact, to collapse Komsomol organization. Maybe the Central Committee listened to this letter? No, all the individuals listed there continue to work in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. One is a member of the Central Committee of the Red Cross, the other is the secretary of the regional committee, the third, apparently, received a promotion and is now “working” in Moscow. And so on. Everyone remained at the trough and continued to work “for the good of the party.”

The young people who remain are, as a rule, freaks or careerists - you know, those guys who are assistants to deputies, whose pages on social networks are filled with photographs of them in the background of the hall State Duma. And for some reason it seems to me that this is directly related to the fact that most of the budget of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation goes to governing bodies parties. For such young careerists, Zyuganov’s party is a convenient “feeding trough” where you can sit, do nothing and receive a salary (or even several). A worthy replacement is growing for the current deputies, there is nothing to say.

It is obvious that a party that treats young people in its ranks in this way cannot seriously count on any success in politics.

Election campaign failure

Current election campaign In general, it was quite sluggish, quiet and without any new products (not counting astroturfing from the Liberal Democratic Party and bright speeches by the strange Maltsev). This is generally quite strange, considering the deepest economic crisis, growth of social discontent, protest sentiments, strikes, workers' rallies. In such a situation, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (even if there was even a hint of communism in it) was simply obliged to give 200%, participate in all protests, and try to attract people to its side. But, instead, “the only defender of the common people” missed the mark most protests, allocated five times less funds for the elections than the LDPR and, in general, decided not to bother too much with campaigning, limiting itself to the fight against its spoiler - the “Communists of Russia.” Despite the enormous financial resources, the party’s campaigning was practically invisible - neither on the streets of cities, nor on the Internet (although, if you rummage through the candidates’ reporting documents, you will notice that many of them allocated five-figure sums for “online campaigning”).

If the Communist Party of the Russian Federation were a full-fledged left-wing parliamentary party, then with its budget the city streets would bloom with red flags every week, and a constant stream of new members would flow into the regional and city committees all year. And this would ensure excellent results in the 2016 Elections, even in comparison with the 2011 elections, which were quite successful for the party. But Zyuganov’s “communists” simply do not need all this.

In most regional committees of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the leadership has not changed for years. It also goes to the polls first on the regional lists. And since the party always consistently gains at least 15% of the votes, these top numbers are guaranteed to get into the State Duma. The regional committee bigwigs do not risk anything during the elections, and, therefore, they do not try very hard. This year, they apparently decided that the people “will vote anyway - it’s a crisis.” Or, perhaps, they received instructions “from above” that they should not try.

By the way, it’s funny that the Communist Party of the Russian Federation criticizes "United Russia" for holding primaries:

« For them (“United Russia”), all the primaries are fermented on using administrative resources and covering up, at least for the sake of decency, this game of democracy. But in fact, the corresponding candidates who will win the primaries are ready in advance »,

Deputy Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Vladimir Kashin said in March of this year.

You might think that in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation everything is somehow different! Everything is exactly the same - permanent leadership and the same candidates, many of whom lose elections 4-5 times in a row (this is especially true for gubernatorial and mayoral elections). If United Russia, according to Kashin, is “trying to cover up the game of democracy,” then the Communist Party of the Russian Federation is not trying to portray anything like that, but unlike United Russia, which has serious administrative resources, the “party” is doing this to its own detriment. Or rather, to the detriment of their chances of success, because a lot depends on the candidates themselves. And when voters see the same faces on the banners of the Communist Party many times in a row, it is not surprising that these candidates gain, at most, 15-20%. What is more surprising is that they are put forward next time, and again, and again. In countries with a competitive parliamentary system, parties usually pay a lot of attention to the selection of candidates - and if a person shamefully leaked the campaign once, he will no longer be a candidate for the next elections. In the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, please leak at least ten campaigns in a row, if, of course, you are an “honored comrade.”

Bottom line

Wasting huge financial resources on God knows what, lack of adequate work with voters, lack of normal candidates, indifference towards their own party members (and, especially, young people) - how can the Communist Party of the Russian Federation even hope for any notable successes in politics?

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation is not really a party at all, it is rather part of a screen (along with the LDPR, SR and other “legal” parties), which is designed to create the appearance of democracy and the expression of the people’s will in our country. And I think that the entire party leadership understands this very well. Only ordinary members who sincerely believe in the infallibility of Gennady Andreevich and blindly trust the leadership do not understand the essence of the game. However, there are fewer and fewer of them - the number of activists is falling every year (I suspect that there are now a huge number of “dead souls” on the party lists). There is nothing to attract new members of the “party” en masse - and there is no need, Zyuganov’s people have never carried out serious work with the masses, trade unions, etc., even this year - when it would have been so easy.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation simply does not want to win; everything suits it anyway.

And, of course, the fact that Zyuganov’s party has a stable 15-20% of votes in elections is not the merit of the “party” itself. They vote for the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, mainly, either for nostalgic reasons, or because of the absence of another left party for which they can vote at all. “If there is no fish, there is no cancer” - this could be the main election slogan of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. On the other hand, these percentages of votes cast for Zyuganov’s “party” are a rather interesting indicator - an impotent political organization that practically does not engage in campaigning receives quite significant support from voters, only due to its name and flag. This suggests, at a minimum, that modern Russia Socialist ideology is in great demand, which is good news.

The “Communists of Russia,” using the example of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation congress that preceded their plenum, decided to show the difference between the Bolshevik and Menshevik camps (members of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation include Zyuganov’s fellow party members as the latter). “Limousines with pot-bellied people will roll up to the luxurious building of Zyuganov’s congress every five minutes, and to the modest building of the budget “Cosmos” ( we're talking about about the hotel on Mira Avenue) modestly dressed, lean party members will walk briskly from the nearest metro station,” the message said. The building can hardly be called luxurious concert hall“Izmailovo”, where the leadership of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation gathered on Saturday, and no limousines could be found in the immediate radius.

The “Communists of Russia”, who position themselves as Bolsheviks, however, turned out to be right in another way: “not a word against the churchmen” was heard at the congress. The leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation has not hidden for a long time that he should Orthodox traditions(for example, in 2011 he visited the temple to venerate the belt of the Virgin Mary), and his fellow party member in the fall headed the committee on affairs public associations And religious organizations. Before entering the Izmailovo conservatory, the communists were greeted by a tent with “delicious pies from the monastery,” as the sign said. A couple of hours after the start of the event, there were no more of them left.

Some mongrels

During his speech at the congress, Gennady Zyuganov hit out at the rival communists only once, and then only in passing: when talking about the results of the Duma elections, he mentioned a certain spoiler party that was delaying the votes of his wards. This is what he repeatedly called the party. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation even tried to force the “Communists of Russia” to change its name through the court, insisting on the excessive similarity of the name and symbols. Arbitration court refused to consider the claim.

Suraikin is sure that the “Communists of Russia” and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation have little in common: his party lives on self-financing, as the Bolsheviks should, while the parliamentary communists are showing off. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation, in addition, spoils the life of the “Communists of Russia” by “telling all sorts of things” about competitors to foreign colleagues. Political strategists working for Zyuganov are portraying the Communists of Russia as a spoiler party, Suraikin believes. In this regard, he called on fellow party members to be more careful in choosing allies. “Some microscopic organizations, having received registration from the hands of the authorities, simply become mongrels in the hands of Zyuganov’s Mensheviks,” Suraikin figuratively put it. However, he did not rule out that in extreme cases it is possible to cooperate with ordinary members of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation who have justified their trust, and he is sure that there are “thousands of them left” among Gennady Zyuganov’s followers.

Photo: Vladimir Astapkovich / RIA Novosti

Zyuganov, speaking at his party's congress on Saturday, focused on his usual opponents. “It is impossible to hide the face of the party of oligarchs and officials. she was never able to refuse the role of an appendage of the party in power. It performs the same function on the other side,” he listed. The communist did not create any sensations by talking about the “orange” revolutionaries, who, in his opinion, “use anti-corruption rhetoric to return the country to the times of Yeltsin and Gaidar.”

Enemy of my enemy

The leaders of the conflicting communists agreed in their assessments of the liberals. According to Maxim Suraikin, “the liberal right-wing alternative, personified by Kudrin and Navalny,” is more dangerous than the current government. Both sides have a lot of complaints about the party in power - United Russia. Against the backdrop of the century October revolution They are especially outraged by the behavior of the former prosecutor of Crimea, a State Duma deputy who initiated an audit of the film “Matilda.” “Such lawlessness has not happened before and could not have happened,” the deputy chairman of the Communists of Russia, Sergei Malinkovich, was indignant, dubbing Poklonskaya a “fanatical monarchist.” Gennady Zyuganov was indignant at Poklonskaya’s words that Lenin could be put on a par with Hitler. True, if the Communist Party of the Russian Federation saw Poklonskaya’s actions as a shortcoming of United Russia, then the Communists of Russia considered it an action of the House of Romanov.

The approval of the leader causes an equally violent reaction among communists of both parties. White movement times Civil War Kolchak. Participants in the March plenum of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation applauded the story about the PR campaign with the rubber doll Kolchak, and in the ranks of the “Communists of Russia”, due to a misunderstanding, things almost came to assault. “I don’t understand, are you for Kolchak?” - one of the participants in the meeting of “Communists of Russia” shouted menacingly, interrupting the speech of the party leadership. However, the conflict between the delegates was quickly resolved.

There were points of agreement in the statements of the leaders of the two communist parties on socio-economic policy. Gennady Zyuganov used figures about a decrease in the cost of living, Maxim Suraikin - about increased wage arrears in the regions of Russia. There was another one in their words general idea: protests are needed, but within the legal framework.

Youth policy

To the protests in best traditions The proletariat needs to attract young people, said the 71-year-old leader of the parliamentary communists. “The blockade of information about the Communist Party of the Russian Federation is one of the factors that pushes young people into the arms of the “orange” leaders,” Zyuganov said, clearly hinting at the rallies against corruption that took place in March. How to attract young people to the communist side? None of the communist leaders can give a clear answer to this question. Zyuganov complains that schoolchildren know nothing about the leaders of the revolution, but at the same time he is sure: if you tell them how everything happened, they will come first to the Komsomol, and then to the party. However, Gennady Zyuganov does not hide his distrust of modern youth, who “have no experience of life in the USSR”: “They often vaguely imagine this victorious time. Bourgeois and petty-bourgeois psychology is characterized by intrigue, careerism, and a readiness to compromise with the authorities. This requires attention when recruiting to the party, in personnel work in general.”

Competing parties will apparently have to compete for young personnel. The "Communists of Russia" plans are not so ambitious, but the goals are set for the most soon: Maxim Suraikin called on fellow party members to attract as many new personnel as possible to the World Festival of Youth and Students, so that they, in turn, would conduct propaganda among their peers who were not imbued with the ideals of communism. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation has large-scale plans for renewal, as evidenced even by personnel changes: replaced the deputy chairman of the party Central Committee, who for a long time supervised youth policy.

Elections are no child's business

Their leaders called on both members of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Communists of Russia to focus on upcoming elections. Zyuganov advised to look up to fellow party members who have achieved leadership positions in the regions, in particular, the mayor of Novosibirsk and the governor Irkutsk region. Maxim Suraikin advised his colleagues to participate in municipal elections whenever possible. Already, the KPKR has achieved enormous success, Suraikin is sure: “The party has strengthened its position as the fifth political force countries" - after United Russia, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Liberal Democrats and Right Russia.

Both parties are still talking about the 2018 presidential campaign. general outline. Once again answering the question about his readiness to go to the polls, Gennady Zyuganov said: “I am the leader of the largest party, if I am not ready, then there is nothing to do here.” However, he stressed that the candidate will be selected only after consultations with all interested parties. The only thing you can be sure of is that there will be no women on this list. “I treat women very well, but in conditions of war, sanctions, difficult systemic crisis I would still feel sorry for women, because this post requires work seven days a week, at least 15 hours a day,” Zyuganov said, explaining his refusal to nominate a woman for president. Despite the best intentions, the leader parliamentary party After this, women deputies were also criticized.

Maxim Suraikin would gladly nominate a woman for the first post in the country, he assured in a conversation with Lenta.ru, but there are enough candidates political experience and the level of recognition in his party is not yet there. And among the men, besides Suraikin himself, no one presidential elections I’m not really ready to go. “There are no other candidates yet,” he admitted. “And I am ready to carry out any order of the party.” Preliminary decision At the plenum, his candidacy was accepted, and both the “Communists of Russia” and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation will make the final verdict in December.

For questions personnel policy The Communist Party of the Russian Federation has always approached things responsibly. It is especially important to work with young people before joining the party. This decision is serious both for the party and for the one who joins it; accordingly, it must be conscious and deliberate. At the March Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in Snegiri, near Moscow, party leader Gennady Andreevich Zyuganov traditionally presented party cards to new members, among them was Kaluga resident Margarita Tikhonova, whom we asked to talk about how she came to the decision to join the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

Why did I join the Communist Party of the Russian Federation? The fact is that I did not live in the era of socialism and did not see any other power other than today’s. But I see the results of the work of the Soviet government, manifested in the mentality of that generation, in the cities they built, in the achievements of Soviet science, in the level of education, sports, and in their sensitive attitude towards the common man.

Very soon we will have the holidays of May 1 and May 9. These holidays are of great importance for our Motherland. There is no family in our country where its hero is not remembered. For me, this is my grandfather - Pyotr Ivanovich Tikhonov, a most wonderful man of strength and spirit. It's on him black and white photographs I always watched with bated breath and a feeling of respect for my great Motherland. Senior sergeant, platoon commander of a transport company, was awarded the medal “For Military Merit”, twice the medals “For Courage”, “For Victory over Germany”. Grandfather spent the entire war as an infantryman, received many wounds, but returned alive. For those who served in the infantry, this is a great miracle. My grandfather participated in the war for his homeland, for power, for faith in a bright future. Looking at today's so-called "power", I doubt that anyone will fight for it, as they once defended soviet people their homeland, regardless of their nationality. Currently, there is no unity among people that existed under Soviet rule. My parents lived in the USSR almost their entire lives and remember the old times with trepidation. I work as a teacher in a regular school and, looking at the current situation in the country, I don’t understand what will happen next. Our country has been overwhelmed by injustice, corruption, and dishonesty; it has become impossible for a working person to live in our country. Mr. Medvedev, as a representative of the authorities, spoke ambiguously about working as a teacher: “This is a calling. And if you want to earn money, there are a lot of great places where you can do it faster and better. Same business. But you didn’t go into business, as I understand it? “This is how they talk to workers in the intellectual profession. It is insulting and painful to hear these words from a representative of the authorities, but to kill education is to kill the peoples of Russia. At the moment, the situation is such that our children are being corrupted from TV and computer screens, and we, in turn, cannot do anything about it. There is a large state machine at work that has no concept of honor and law. Free education and medicine remain on the pages of the Constitution; it is very difficult for young specialists to find decent job. Wage among teachers it is negligible. The color of the nation drowns its grievances in doping, because they see no other way out. Young people move abroad, realizing that no one needs them in their own country.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation is for the people, for a workers' state and for a bright future. The workers' state not only does not interfere with the realization of one's abilities, but also helps a person as much as possible in all his creative manifestations. It was the Soviet government that built thousands of cities, thousands of enterprises, houses that still stand today, and people were confident in their future. At the moment there is no certainty about this.

You ask yourself: “In 30 years, has at least one been built in Russia? new town? I would like to remember a quote, the author is unknown, but in my opinion, he is right: “Now you have 300 varieties of sausage, jeans and 200 television channels, but there is no free housing, medicine and education. You got what you wanted buddy, why aren’t you happy?”

I believe in one thing. The time will come when we will return the country to our own hands. Just at one moment we will be horrified by what we have done with our indifference and inaction. Sure. Otherwise, it will be a shame to look your children and grandchildren in the eyes.

Press service of the KRO Communist Party of the Russian Federation

If you refuse to participate in the campaign Novosibirsk region was an initiative federal leadership Communist Party of the Russian Federation, then in Omsk region and the Krasnoyarsk Territory, we are talking exclusively about the initiative of local branches of the party, which was supported by Gennady Zyuganov, said a source close to the party leadership. This information to RBC was confirmed by another source in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, clarifying that everything was agreed upon with the presidential administration, and the Omsk branch of the party is one of the strongest in the country.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation has a good attitude towards its “former comrade” in the State Duma, Alexander Burkov, and therefore decided not to nominate its candidate in the Omsk region, explains another source in the Communist Party.

Acting Governor of the Omsk Region Alexander Burkov (Photo: Dmitry Feoktistov / TASS)

The head of the Omsk regional committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Alexander Kravets, whom RBC contacted for comment, said that he had not yet “seen the resolution of the presidium [on refusing to nominate a candidate for governor].” ​

Zyuganov's press secretary Alexander Yushchenko was unavailable for comment.

Direct elections of governors will be held in 22 regions. Heads of subjects will be elected in four more legislative assemblies according to the President's proposal.

Duma exchange

In addition to the gubernatorial elections, the Communists will not nominate their candidates in two single-mandate constituencies for by-elections to the State Duma, which will also be held on September 9. Total by-elections in upper house Parliament will be held in seven constituencies.

The left decided to refuse to participate in by-elections in the Amur region and in the Balashov single-mandate constituency (Saratov region).

In the Balashov single-mandate district (it was vacated after United Russia deputy Mikhail Isaev became the head of Saratov), ​​the left will not nominate a competitor to the adviser to the State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, international journalist Evgeny Primakov Jr. Two interlocutors in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation told RBC about this. Primakov Jr. previously won the United Russia primaries in the district. Zyuganov treats his grandson well former prime minister, explained one of RBC’s sources. The refusal to nominate a candidate is a consequence of the agreements, says another communist.

In return, the left may receive another single-mandate constituency in the region - 163rd, Saratov, said an interlocutor close to the Kremlin. In the constituency that was vacated after the death of United Russia deputy Oleg Grishchenko, the head of the Saratov regional committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Olga Alimova is being nominated. United Russia held its primaries there, which the director of the local medical college Igor Morozov. “He is obviously weaker than the candidate from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation,” emphasizes a source close to the Kremlin.

As for the single-mandate district in the Amur region, it became vacant after State Duma deputy from the LDPR Ivan Abramov surrendered his mandate to become a senator from the acting head of the region Vasily Orlov. Abramov is a very popular politician in the Amur region, he could seriously compete with Orlov in the elections, three RBC interlocutors close to the presidential administration previously said. After Abramov refuses his deputy mandate, the district will be given to another representative of the LDPR, an interlocutor close to the Kremlin told RBC. High Council The LDPR nominated there the head of the party faction in the Blagoveshchensk City Duma, Andrei Kuzmin. United Russia did not hold primaries in the district and will not nominate its candidate; this is the result of political agreements with the LDPR, a source in United Russia explained. The Communists will not nominate a candidate either, said two interlocutors in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

At the same time, the left initially planned to expose the owner and general director of the funeral services company Ritual.ru LLC, Oleg Shelyagov, in the Amur region, two interlocutors in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation said. Last year for a decade own wedding Shelyagov organized a costume party at the Vladimir Palace in St. Petersburg. The businessman himself, as Tatler magazine reported, “dressed as Felix Yusupov - in gold brocade,” and his wife Victoria “ordered herself a kokoshnik with pom-poms on her temples, exactly like Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna at the Imperial Russian Ball in 1903."

The option of simultaneously nominating Shelyagov for by-elections to the State Duma and as a candidate for governor was discussed, one of the communists clarifies in a conversation with RBC. The final decision was kept secret until the meeting of the Central Committee Presidium on Monday, adds another source in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. “They gave instructions to change [the data] in the papers five minutes before the start,” he notes.

One of the reasons why Shelyagov was not nominated either as a candidate for governor or in by-elections to the State Duma was dissatisfaction with the local branch of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, says one of RBC’s sources. “He [Shelyagin] is in our orbit in any case and in the future will go to the State Duma,” the communist emphasizes.

“The Communist Party of the Russian Federation has “Grudinin syndrome” - the party experienced a shock after the Kremlin attacked presidential candidate Pavel Grudinin,” says the director of the Center for Economic and political reforms Nikolai Mironov. — Grudinin’s nomination was last try parties behave relatively independently, but the Communist Party of the Russian Federation is no longer trying to do this. Now the party is committed to contractual pragmatics and nominating candidates only where it is beneficial. In other cases, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation tries to get a bonus for refusing to fight - for example, an exchange in single-member districts or a senatorial seat,” the expert sums up.