European Forum

Russia

Russia is the largest country in the world. Since 1991 the country is a federal semi-presidential republic. After the chaotic nineties, former President Vladimir Putin reinforced the presidential power base. Russian society is now under strict control of the Kremlin. The global economic crisis highlighted Russia's economic vulnerability. Partly due to this Putin's popularity seems to be decreasing. Current President Dmitry Medvedev tries to modernise Russia's economy. The parliamentary elections of 2011 and the presidential elections of 2012 will show whether the Russian people support his policies.

INTRODUCTION

Russia was hit hard as a consequence of the global financial crisis of 2008 because it mainly relies on revenues coming from energy exports. It made the Russian government instantly aware of the risks of an undiversified economy. In order to stay powerful Russia has to make a choice: either modernise its economy or marginalise. President Dmitry Medvedev pursues a policy of upgrading Russian technology in order to compete with the technically most developed countries in the world. Whether Russia will succeed in this new quest remains to be seen.

Despite this progressive thinking, Russian politics keep developing in a conservative direction. Dmitry Medvedev did not depart from Vladimir Putin's policies and many expect him to return to presidency after Medvedev's term ends. In 2008 the Russian Constitution was adjusted: the next President can remain in this position for six years. In the same year Putin became Chairman of the ruling party United Russia, which he seems to use as legitimisation of his prolonged leadership. Western observers are concerned about the development of democracy in Russia, but Putin stands firmly behind Russia’s 'sovereign democracy'.

ELECTIONS AND POLITICAL SITUATION

After the break-up of the Soviet Union the Russian Federation gained independence on 24 August 1991. The country is a federal democratic republic with a strong presidential system. Currently, the people elect the president for a four-year term, but an amendment to the Constitution prolongs the term to six years as from 2012. Former president Vladimir Putin, who served as president from 2000-2008, was succeeded by Dmitry Medvedev, his appointed successor. The Federal Assembly has two chambers: the State Duma (Lower House) has 450 members, elected for a four-year term by proportional representation. This term will be extended to five years in 2011. The Federation Council (Upper House) has 166 members, two delegates for each of the 83 regions.

Political environment and the Putin election decree
During the Putin-era, pressure on democracy and human rights in Russia has been increasing. Besides its increased wealth and political status in the world, Russia has also shown an increased level of human rights violations, repression of opposition parties and organisations, and an increased pressure on independent media. Opposition parties experience increasing difficulties in finding ways to get out their message: the media is increasingly dominated by the state and opposition parties and organisations have difficulties to organise protests and rally’s. These problems are worsened by the new election law, which is in use since 2007. Important changes to the previous law include stipulations that voters are no longer allowed to cast their ballots against all candidates, and the increase of the election threshold for political parties from 5% to 7% of the vote to win seats in parliament. Another difficulty for smaller political parties is the legal minimum number of 50,000 members a party should have to compete in the elections. In July 2007, the Russian Communist Workers Party – Revolutionary Party of Communists challenged this law in court on the ground that the legislation illegally limits a citizen to participate in political life. However, the Constitutional Court ruled in favour of the legislation. The immense personal power that is wielded by the president can also be seen in the 2008 presidential elections, in which Dmitry Medvedev, hailed by Putin as his favourite candidate, won an easy victory in the polls. He competed in the elections with the promise not to change the line of policy Putin has set out, and to appoint Putin as his prime minister.

Parliamentary election 2 December 2007
During his presidency, Russian president Vladimir Putin passed a decree that all 450 seats in the Duma were from then on to be elected through a proportional electoral system, with a 7% election threshold. This was a departure from the former election regulations, which stipulated the Duma to be elected through a mixed electoral system, in which half of the seats were elected through proportional representation with an election threshold of 5%, and half through single member districts. Furthermore, parties were from now on legally required to have a minimum of 50,000 members in order to be able to register for elections. The new election regulations were first valid during the 2 December 2007 parliamentary elections. These changes have had a strong impact on the 2007 Duma election, as the number of parties that gained representation in the Russian parliament has lessened due to the heightened election threshold, and there is no longer an option for independent candidates to run in the elections.

Contesters
At the beginning of 2006 there were 35 political parties in Russia. However, the new election law requires that each political party should have a minimum of 50.000 members and more than 45 regional branches with a minimum membership of 500 each. Based on these requirements only 11 of the 15 parties that initially registered for the ballot received confirmation that they could participate in the elections of 2007.

Of these 11 parties, by far the most important was United Russia, Russia’s largest party that had since its foundation been associated with president Vladimir Putin. Although these ties were never publicly admitted by Putin or the party, in the run-up to the parliamentary elections, on 4 October 2007 Putin announced that he would lead United Russia’s candidate list. This move was commonly interpreted as a way for Putin to remain influential in Russian politics as soon as his presidency would end in May 2008.

Of the parties competing, all the genuine opposition parties were unlikely to pass the 7% election threshold.

Campaign
According to election observers, the media was heavily biased in favour of the pro-Kremlin party United Russia, led by president Vladimir Putin. In addition, opposition parties included in the elections were obstructed from holding campaign rallies in the open. During a protest against Putin on 25 November, Boris Nemtsov, former leader of the Union of Rightist forces, was briefly detained. Garry Kasparov, the leader of the opposition movement ‘Another Russia’ was also detained, as well as several activists. His movement was, however, barred from the elections as it did not meet the requirements as stated in the election law. Council of Europe secretary-general Terry Davis responded with concern to the crackdown on protesters by the Russian authorities, noting that Russia is a signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights guaranteeing freedom of assembly, and adding that “these are preconditions for a real democracy.”

Meanwhile, the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) decided not to send an election mission after disagreement with the Russian authorities over the number of observers and the time frame in which they would operate. On 31 October, Russia invited some 70 observers from the OSCE to monitor the Duma ballot on 2 December. During the previous elections in 2003, the OSCE sent 450 observers. Russia said it reserves the right to decide on the scope and duration of all ODIHR monitoring missions on its territory. However, when entry visas for the observers were still not issued by 15 November, the ODIHR decided to abstain from monitoring the elections. ODIHR director Christian Strohal said to regret this conclusion, but that due to the delays and restrictions, ODIHR was unable to deliver its mandate: “The ODIHR therefore concludes that the authorities of the Russian Federation remain unwilling to receive ODIHR observers in a timely and co-operative manner and co-operate fully with them.”

Elections
According to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) these elections were neither free nor fair and failed to meet many OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and standards for democratic elections. In its assessment PACE stated “in general, the elections were well organised and observers noticed significant technical improvements. However, they took place in an atmosphere which seriously limited political competition and with frequent abuse of administrative resources, media coverage strongly in favour of the ruling party, and an election code whose cumulative effect hindered political pluralism. There was not a level political playing field in Russia in 2007”.

The assessment also noted that “the new election law creates a pure proportional list system in which only established political parties can seek election, eliminating the possibility for local and independent candidates to run for office”. The registration procedure was complicated and the election code contained significant financial disincentives for smaller parties to participate. Moreover, the seven percent threshold and the ban on forming electoral blocs had a negative influence on the development of new political parties and a more pluralistic representation.

Furthermore, PACE stated that there were persistent reports of harassment of opposition candidates, detentions and confiscation of materials. Since United Russia chose not to participate in political debates, voters were denied an open campaign

On election day, the voting took place in a mostly calm and friendly atmosphere. However, it was noted by observers that voters who were not registered and without absentee certificates were allowed to vote. Voting arrangements did not provide adequate privacy. The seals on some ballot-boxes were inadequate. And some international observers faced obstructions to their work including, in isolated cases, refusal of access.

Results of the 2 December 2007 State Duma elections:

Party:	% of votes:	amount of seats: ( total450)
United Russia	64,1	315
Communist Party of the Russian Federation	11,6	57
Liberal- Democratic party	8,2	40
Fair Russia: Motherland, Pensioners, Life	7,8	38
Agrarian Party of Russia	2,3	-
Yabloko	1,6	-
Civil Force	1,1	-
Union of Rightist Forces	1,0	-
Patriots of Russia	0,9	-
Party of Social Justice	0,2	-
Democratic Party of Russia	0,1	-

Voter turnout: 63.7%

Presidential elections 2 March 2008
Presidential elections took place in Russia on 2 March 2008. In the elections, four candidates competed. Outgoing president Vladimir Putin, who enjoys big popularity and high approval rates in Russia, had already served for 2 consecutive terms, and was by law prohibited from running in the elections. He would, however, firmly influence the elections by on 10 December 2007 endorsing Dmitry Medvedev as his favourite candidate, and 7 days later announcing his intention to serve as prime minister under his former protégé, before the official campaign had even started.

Candidates
Four candidates competed in the elections. Although several opposition parties and blocks had also announced their intention to put forward presidential candidates, eventually they were all blocked from participating in the elections. Boris Nemtsov, nominated by the Union of Rightist Forces (SPS) could not enter the ballot because the SPS is no longer represented in parliament. Yabloko, which also failed to gain representation during the December 2007 elections, did not officially nominate anyone, but announced to support the candidacy of Soviet-era dissident Bukovsky, who was refused participation in the presidential ballot due to official residency requirements, as he has lived abroad for many years. Garry Kasparov, leading the opposition umbrella movement ‘Other Russia’, announced on 13 December that he would not run in the elections, alleging the Russian authorities were frustrating his efforts to be registered as a candidate.

The final four candidates, which were announced on 27 January, all covertly supported the Kremlin. These were deputy prime minister and Putin’s personal choice Dmitry Medvedev, supported by United Russia, A Just Russia, the Agrarian Party and Civil Force; Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, and the relatively unknown Democratic Party leader Andrei Bogdanov, who was alleged to be running as a puppet candidate of the Kremlin, running as an ‘opposition candidate’ in order to make the elections appear more ‘free and fair’. In all forecasts, Bogdanov consistently polled below 1 percent of the votes.

Election campaign
The election campaign officially kicked off on 2 February, one month before the actual presidential elections. However, as the Central Election Campaign had on 21 January already approved the candidature of Medvedev, Zyuganov and Zhirinovsky, ‘unofficial’ campaigning started earlier. During the campaign period, all candidates were given 42 hours of air time to spread their message, of which half was allocated for live debates. However, the refusal of Dmitry Medvedev, widely held to win the elections, to participate in the televised debates between the candidates, greatly diminished the importance of these events, which led to some frustration with the other candidates. In their further coverage, all the television stations but one allocated considerably more air time to Medvedev than to any of the other candidates, both in his role as a presidential candidate as well as in his functions of deputy prime minister and chair of the board of directors of Russia’s energy giant Gazprom. On average, on the bigger channels Medvedev got around 30-40 percent of airtime, whereas the other candidates had to do with figures ranging from 0.1 to 6.8 percent. Furthermore, a considerable amount of airtime (about 50 percent) was allocated to Vladimir Putin, in which he frequently endorsed Medvedev as his preferred candidate. Seeing the status Putin enjoys in Russia, his announcement to run as prime minister under Medvedev was also very important in the election campaign.

Outcome of the elections:

Dmitry Medvedev	70.2%
Gennady Zyuganov	18.15%
Vladimir Zhirinovsky	9.69%
Andrei Bogdanov	1.27%

Voter turnout: 69 percent

Immediately after the first preliminary results were known, Vladimir Putin congratulated Dmitry Medvedev on his election. Speaking to the press at a concert on Red Square on election night, Medvedev told the public that his policies will be a “direct continuation” of current president Vladimir Putin’s. He furthermore said that he would “work jointly with Putin”, who has become prime minister and in this function continues to wield influence on Russian politics.

International election monitors
On 6 February 2008, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) decided not to monitor the Russian presidential elections of 2 March as, according to the OSCE, the Kremlin continued to impose too many restrictions to make any monitoring of the vote meaningful. The OSCE had earlier also abstained from monitoring the 2 December 2007 parliamentary vote.

A delegation of 25 members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) arrived in Russia on 27 February to monitor the elections. The PACE monitors were critical of the elections, saying that “although the results reflected the will of the people, the election was not entirely democratic”. According to Andreas Gross, “This election repeats most of the flaws revealed during the parliamentary election in December 2007. None of the concerns of the pre-election mission were dealt with ahead of the 2 March vote. Candidate registration concerns couldn’t have been accommodated, putting into question the degree of how free the election was.” As a specific example, Gross mentioned that “equal access of the candidates to the media and the public sphere in general has not improved, putting into question the fairness of the election.”

Local elections 2009-2010
In October 2009 and March 2010 two important regional elections took place in which Russian citizens voted for deputies of legislative state authorities, deputies of representative bodies of municipal formations of administrative centres and heads of municipal formations of administrative centres. These elections show a new development in Russian politics. Even though United Russia remains the most popular party, the other parties represented in the State Duma have seen their support growing.

On 12 October 2009 elections were held in 75 out of 83 regions. The most important contest took place in Moscow where its inhabitants voted for the constellation of the City Duma. United Russia won 66% of the votes. Its only meaningful rival was the Communist Party, which received 13% of the votes. Other parties had too few votes to reach the election threshold of 7%. Therefore United Russia secured 32 seats out of the 35 in the City Duma and the Communist Party has obtained the other 3 seats. Liberal party Yabloko, who did not pass the election threshold, accused the government of electoral fraud.

On national level United Russia secured 107 out of 135 regional seats and 189 out of 235 municipal legislatures. United Russia was the undisputed winner of the 2009 regional elections in which it gathered an average of 80% of the votes. The only competition came from the Communist Party.

Things looked different in March 2010. On 14 March, 76 out of the 83 regions of the Russian Federation voted for local councils and eight regions held elections for regional parliaments. In Irkutsk people voted for a new mayor and 62% voted for the Communist candidate, Viktor Kondrashov. United Russia candidate Sergei Serebrennikov only received 27% of the votes. This was not the only loss for Putin’s party. In Khabarovsk region and Sverdlovsk region United Russia secured not even half of the votes (48% and 40%). Overall, United Russia garnered 50% of the votes, the Communist Party 20% and the Liberal Democratic Party and Fair Russia both managed to gather 15%.

This meant a sharp decrease for United Russia compared to the regional elections half a year earlier. Asked for a statement on this development, Boris Gryzlov, speaker of Russia’s State Duma and member of United Russia, stated that “We need losses at a regional level so that we recognise the causes of these losses and then correct them”. The financial difficulties of Russia and the increase in utility prices are seen as important reasons why United Russia’s popularity is decreasing.

Politics and Gender
After the collapse of communism many women became involved in small businesses. Women make up more than 54 percent of the Russian population, and the number of those holding fulltime jobs is about 45 percent. However, among the so-called oligarchs, the leaders of Russia's largest companies, there is not a single woman. Likewise, men still heavily dominate the political scene.

Women are generally better represented in local government in the Russian Federation, and some subject councils have a majority of women members. Observers reported that women were deeply involved in the election administration, with many holding senior positions such as the chairpersonship of election commissions.

A presidential decree on 30 June 1996, recommended that the presidential administration introduce a minimum quota for women, as well as create a system of female cadre training. The initiative was not acted upon. This was not only because male officials resisted it, but also because the idea of quotas for women--as well as special parties for females--had little appeal for women themselves.

There are two reasons for the unpopularity of a women's political movement. One is that public consciousness still associates women in politics with failed personal lives. The other is that women are inclined to believe that a "female party" would not gain any power. The party "Women of Russia," which appeared in the 1993 Duma, failed to clear the 5 percent barrier in subsequent elections. Among women's public associations, the most influential to date is the Union of Soldiers' Mothers. It has achieved a high political profile in addressing problems related to the army and its operations in Chechnya.

IMPORTANT POLITICAL ISSUES

Russian society finds itself in the act of transformation but it is unclear in which direction it is heading. The financial crisis of 2008/2009 was a wake-up call for the Russian government. Its dependence on energy exports is dangerous in times of financial hardship. Therefore the Russian economy has to diversify. On a political level the reverse trend seems to be dominant. Regardless the economic problems, Putin’s party, United Russia, is still victorious. Nevertheless, the regional elections in March 2010 saw a sharp decrease in United Russia’s popularity and might signal a break in its dominant position if the government does not provide any solutions to Russia’s current problems.

Power distribution between Medvedev and Putin
Dmitry Medvedev is the current President of the Russian Federation, but many people consider Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to be the most powerful person in Russia today. Putin served two presidential terms from 2000 to 2008 and was forced to abdicate after two presidential terms. He appointed Dmitry Medvedev as his successor. It is indistinguishable how power is exactly distributed between Putin and Medvedev. Formally, the Russian President is head of state, supreme commander-in-chief and holder of the highest office within the Russian Federation. The Prime Minister, on the other hand, is the second most powerful official of the Russian Federation, who, under Article 24 of the Federal Constitutional Law On the Government of the Russian Federation, "heads the Government of the Russian Federation". They are supported by a wide range of government officials referred to as “the Kremlin”.

According to Russian political scientist Gleb Pavlovsky, advisor of the Presidential Administration of Russia, Putin stays in charge because he fears a collapse of the ruling Kremlin elite when he disappears from the political scene. Pavlovsky says that “Putin is not simply an individual, Putin is the state myth of the existing system. He is, if you like, a substitute for a civil religion, regardless of what he actually thinks about himself. The idea - 'well let's take the graphite moderator out of the reactor and see what happens' - is possibly an interesting experiment, but at that moment, it would be good to be as far away from the place as possible.” So, in order for Russian politics to stay stable, it is necessary that Putin remains in a powerful position. The construction with Putin and Medvedev both in charge is called a ‘tandemocracy’ by some, because they are guiding the Russian democracy together.

Important elections await in 2011, when a new parliament will be chosen, and 2012, when Russian citizens will vote for the new president. It is questionable what Putin will do. Will he present himself as a presidential candidate again or is he looking for a new way to secure his power? In 2008 he became United Russia’s chairman and some analysts expect him to strengthen his power within the party instead of in the government. As long as United Russia remains Russia’s most powerful political party it controls all important positions within Russia’s political and governmental field.

Russia’s ‘Hybrid Regime’
The current political system in Russia can be described as a ‘sophisticated hybrid regime’ as it combines elements of both democracy and authoritarianism. The regime as it exists today was created by Vladimir Putin during his two terms as president. The Russian Federation functions as a democracy, but one that is strictly managed by the power elite in the Kremlin. Therefore, western critics condemn the shortcomings of this system as authoritarian. Putin defends Russian democracy by calling it a ‘sovereign democracy’ that functions according to a Russian set of rules. One of the main characteristics of this ‘managed democracy’ is a very high degree of political control. However, with a relatively low level of actual violence or coercion by the government.

Russian authorities probably want to be democratic, but at the same time, they want to make sure that they win the elections. In order to achieve this goal several solutions have been made. In 2001 and 2005 Vladimir Putin made some fundamental changes to the Political Parties Law which made it more difficult to join elections for small political parties. This way the balance of power, as it existed during Putin’s presidency, is more or less maintained. For small opposition parties it is almost impossible to win any seat in the State Duma or regional parliaments because of the 7% election threshold.

Another important way to manage the outcomes of elections is controlling the media. The Kremlin does this by exercising control over national television channels and newspapers. This way the Kremlin can decide which items are broadcasted and which ones are censored. For example, the January 2010 protest in Kaliningrad did not receive any attention on national television. Another way to control the media is by putting pressure on newspapers, television shows and journalists who act out of line. Journalists or media that address governmental issues are regularly accused of tax evasion or other illegal activities.

Despite of these authoritarian features, the maintenance of elements of democracy provides the regime with benefits such as international legitimacy through elections, information and population feedback on regime policies. Whether Russia will develop as a democracy or as an authoritarian regime remains a question. Some critics see Putin’s sudden interest in United Russia as a sign that he is building another party-ruled Russia in which only one party is in power. Others point to the increasing social unrest in Russia and the decrease of Putin’s popularity. The outcome of the elections in 2011 and 2012 will be significant for Russia’s further political development.

Modernisation of Russia’s economy
The Russian economy was hit hard during the 2008-09 financial crisis. After several years in which the GDP reached an annual growth of 7%, 2009 saw a reduction of 7,9% which was even more severe than the 1998 financial crisis. The reason for this huge decrease of Russia’s GDP is its heavy reliance on energy exports and industry combined with the global crisis. In 2009 Russia was the world's largest exporter of natural gas, the second largest exporter of oil, and the third largest exporter of steel and primary aluminium. With the oil price tumbling down, Russia’s economy had to face the consequences.

To protect the Russian rouble from a total collapse, the Central Bank of Russia decided to pump one-third of Russia’s 600 billion USD international reserves straight into the Russian economy in late 2008. Another 200 billion USD was used to increase liquidity in the banking sector and aid Russian firms unable to roll over large foreign debts. Together with the recovery of the oil price Russia’s GDP is likely to show a cautious growth in 2010. The Russian government expects the growth of the GDP to rise from 1.6% in 2010 to 3% in 2011 and 4.3% in 2012.

Despite Russia’s recovery it has become clear that Russia has a weak economy. President Dmitry Medvedev has made it one of his key points to start modernising the national economy. In 2009 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev instructed Prosecutor-General Yury Chaika to open an investigation into Russia's state corporations in order to determine how effectively they work, how efficiently they use their assets, and the degree to which they are complying with the law. State corporations such as Russian Technologies; the bank VEB; the nanotechnology firm Rosnano; etc. functioned well during the economic boom under Putin’s presidency. But now, enduring economic hardship, they turn out to be inefficient and expensive. Reducing Russian state corporations might be one of the remedies to improve the Russian economy.

Another measure that should be taken is the improvement of Russia’s investment climate for foreign companies. This seems to be one of the most complicated tasks, since foreign investors became more and more negative about business in Russia in the past years. International companies (e.g. Shell) had to deal with government restrictions and many of them decided to leave the country. Other companies that remained, Ikea is one of them, have to deal with the problem of corruption, which seems to be insolvable. Taken all of this together, Russia still has a long way to go in reforming its economy and business climate.

Another goal Medvedev has set is to enhance Russia’s nanotechnology. In October 2009 he announced to inject 11 billion USD into the development and commercialisation of nanotechnologies. This money will be spend on the improvement of facilities in ‘science city’ Dubna as well as the construction of Russia’s own ‘Silicon Valley’ in Skolkovo near Moscow. Medvedev is determined to shape a new centre of innovative sciences and this should be done quickly. The centre’s research will focus on five priority spheres: energy, information technologies, communication, biomedical research and nuclear technologies. Active encouragement of scientific research should enhance Russia’s position within the field of modern technologies and diversify the Russian economy.

Gazprom
Possessing over 30% of the world’s natural gas reserves, Russia has by far the largest amount of gas in the world. Also, Russia owns 10% of the world’s oil reserves, is the world’s second-largest oil producer and is ranked number eight in the world in reserves. Therefore, it is not surprising that the energy sector forms a vital segment of the Russian economy.

In the past decade the energy sector in Russia has been concentrated in the hands of the government. Gazprom is Russia’s largest energy company and over 50% of the company’s shares are state-owned. Gazprom has a monopoly on gas pipelines in Russia and controls nearly 90% of the Russian gas production. Gazprom is an enormous company, controlling banks, industrial holdings, farms and media outlets. As a whole, Gazprom is the single largest contributor to the Russian state budget: it provides for 25% of tax receipts. Roughly two-thirds of Russia’s export revenues and half of its state budget comes from oil and gas exports.

Regardless Gazprom’s powerful position, some problems are looming for the energy company. The key gas fields are in decline and so is the infrastructure. Within Russia energy prices are significantly lower, since many Russians are not able to pay for their energy bills and energy prices are kept artificially low as to compensate for financial problems. Therefore international trade is the main source of income for Gazprom. The European Union member states are the main consumers. While Russia is dependant on European money, Europe is dependant on Russian gas.

This position of mutual dependency is sometimes used by the Kremlin as a political tool. Gazprom is heavily intertwined with the Russian government, President Medvedev presided the Gazprom’s board of directors for a while in 2000-2002. Especially former Soviet countries fear Gazprom because of its ability to pressure their governments using an increase in energy prices. When Georgia and Ukraine in 2003 and 2004 choose pro-Western leaders, Gazprom reacted by increasing energy prices. In March 2008 Russia reduced gas exports to Ukraine over a disagreement on the gas price and on 1 January 2009 it was stopped completely. This time the situation lasted for 20 days. In April 2010 Ukraine extended the lease of Sebastopol to the Russian Black Sea Fleet until 2047. In exchange, Ukraine will pay 30% less for gas in the next 10 years. The most recent example is Belarus, which saw a sharp decrease in energy imports in June 2010 because they did not pay their energy bill in time.

One of Russia’s problems concerning gas transport is its dependency on foreign pipelines as is the case in Ukraine. When Ukraine refused to pay for the increased price, it was able to tap off gas meant for the EU. Therefore the construction of new gas pipes is utterly important to Russia. Gazprom is involved in the construction of two new pipelines to Europe: Nord Stream and South Stream. These are joint projects with other foreign companies. The construction of Nord Stream started on 9 April 2010 in Russia and 15 April 2010 in Germany. The pipeline will be build in the Baltic Sea and will not pass any Eastern European countries. The Nord Stream connection should be working in 2012. The South Stream pipeline will cross the Black Sea and the Balkans and is estimated to be finished by 2015. At the same time the EU countries and the South Caucasus plan to build a new pipeline named ‘Nabucco’ which makes them less dependant on Russian gas. The Russian government does not support this plan.

The ‘Near Abroad’
The reason why Russia has such difficult relations with countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia is its shared Soviet history. Many former Soviet states who claimed their independence in 1991 think of their Soviet past as a Russian occupation. For countries in Eastern Europe the idea of joining the European Union is a more positive prospect than dependency on Russia. In many Eastern European countries the decision has been made to pursue a pro-western policy. This to the disappointment of Russia who saw its influence on the Eurasian continent decrease enormously. Therefore, Russia will not accept an outright pro-western government in Ukraine without making any effort to keep it within the Russian sphere of influence.

Russia refers to these former Soviet states as its ‘near abroad’. Of these countries, the Baltic states have the least close relationship with Russia. After gaining their independence in 1991 Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania set course for the EU and joined in 2004. Russia’s influence is the biggest in Central Asia. This is not surprising since these countries are much poorer and need Russia as a financial partner. They are organised with Russia in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC). The other former Soviet countries in Eastern Europe and South Caucasus remain somewhat in the middle. They have not yet joined the European Union and have an ambiguous relationship with Russia.

As mentioned above, Ukraine has a complicated relationship with Russia. A major share of the Ukrainian people is of Russian descent and they share a long history. Ukraine is struggling to find its path after the collapse of the Soviet Union and is strongly divided between East and West. Its dependency on Russian energy makes it vulnerable for Russian demands. Another complicating factor is the Crimea, Ukraine’s peninsula in the south of the country, situated in the Black Sea. A Russian stronghold by origin, the Russian Black Sea Fleet is still situated in the harbour of Sebastopol. In 2010 the Russian lease of the Ukrainian harbour was extended by 25 years, meaning the military fleet can remain until 2042. In exchange, Ukraine receives a 30% discount on Russian gas for the next 10 years. Former Ukrainian president, Viktor Yushchenko, was determined to remove the Russian fleet out of Ukraine, but his successor, Viktor Yanukovych, is enhancing ties with Russia.

Of the former Soviet countries located west of Russia, Georgia has the most difficult relationship with Russia. Direct cause for this strained relationship is Russia’s support of breakaway regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia. After the Soviet collapse in 1991, both regions wished to be autonomous states, but Georgia did not accept this move. Ethnic tensions were the result and in 2008 led to the August War in which Georgia, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Russia were involved. Russia and Georgia blame each other for starting the five-day-war in which several hundred people were killed. The problem remains with the Russian army present in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and the Russian government granting Russian citizenship to the inhabitants of both separated regions.

Russia is applying the same technique in Moldova. It tries to slowly incorporate the breakaway region Transnistria. Moldova is very clear in its ambition to join the European Union to the discontent of Russia. The raising of Moldovan and Georgian energy prices as well as the 2006 ban of Russia on Moldovan and Georgian wines are signals of Russia’s disagreement with their pro-western courses.

Russia and the European Union
The EU and Russia signed a Partnership and Co-operation Agreement in 1994. The ongoing cooperation is based on four specific policy areas. These ‘common spaces’ cover Economic Issues & the Environment; Freedom, Security & Justice; External Security; and Research & Education, including cultural aspects. The June 2008 summit between the EU and the Russian Federation in Khanty-Mansyisk saw the launch of negotiations on a ‘New EU-Russia Agreement’, which should update and replace the existing Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. The negotiations were started in July 2008, and by May 2010, nine full negotiating rounds had been held. The last EU-Russia summit took place on 1 June 2010 in Rostov-on-Don and was characterised as ‘positive’ compared to former summits with ex-President Putin. Financial cooperation, visa liberalisation and improvement of human rights in Russia were some of the main topics discussed.

EU-Russian relations deteriorated under Putin’s regime as he grew more and more suspicious of the West. The impact of the financial crisis and Russia’s change in presidency in 2008 both stimulated a normalisation of EU-Russian relations and policies started shifting towards a joint pragmatic approach. Nevertheless some problems keep existing, especially with the countries situated between the EU and Russia. Russia is suspicious of the EU’s Eastern Partnership that includes the post-Soviet states Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, which was launched in 2009. Russia considers these countries as belonging to the Russian sphere of influence, its ‘near abroad’. Furthermore, Russia’s bilateral approach with the European states on gas deliverance makes a common European policy on relations with Russia difficult. The former Soviet countries in Europe have a different, more negative experience with Russia than the Western European countries do. Therefore, European relations with Russia are decided by national, bilateral relations instead of a common approach.

A tragic accident marked the EU-Russian relationship on 10 April 2010. The Polish government flew to the Russian city Smolensk for a memorial service in honour of the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre in which thousands of Poles were killed. Being a special event itself, the memorial turned into a disaster when the plane, carrying important government officials, crashed and all passengers died including Polish President Lech Kaczynski. According to Russian officials 97 people died in the crash. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin immediately flew to the site of the crash, and made sure the investigation received all the resources it needed. His European colleagues appreciated the efforts he took in dealing with the tragic event.

Russia and the United States
Russia and the US had a difficult relationship during the presidencies of Bush and Putin. After September 11, Putin responded quickly in favour of the United States. He chose to align himself with the United States, radically improving the tone of US-Russian relations. However, the US-led campaign for military action against Iraq turned the tide. Despite expectations, Russia kept firm in its opposition, insisting that UN weapons inspectors be given as much time as they needed to do their work. Once the operation “Iraqi freedom” was started, Putin reiterated calls for an end, adding that the US-led military operation in Iraq is the most serious crisis since the end of the Cold War and is "in danger of rocking the foundations of global stability and international law.”

Adding to the strained relationship were American plans to build an anti-missile shield in Eastern Europe. In order to stop a possible nuclear attack in the future from Iran, for instance, the United States planned to develop an anti-missile shield in parts of “New Europe” (i.e. the Eastern European NATO-member states). The possible new location of the anti-missile shield was seen by Russia as a threat to its territorial integrity, because the range of the missiles was big enough to encompass also large parts of Russia. In 2007 Putin attended the 43rd Munich Security Conference where he gave a threatening speech while addressing the West. He vigorously warned the audience against the United States' global supremacy, declared the eastward expansion of NATO a provocation and threatened that Russia had weapons on hand that could neutralise the anti-missile defence shield. This speech clearly hit a new lowest point in US-Russian relations since the end of the Cold War.

The advent of the new presidents, Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, in the US and Russia meant a new positive impulse for US-Russian relations. Obama decided not to pursue the anti-missile defence installations in Poland and the Czech Republic to the relief of Russia. On 8 April 2010 the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) was signed by the US and Russia, which is a renewed agreement on arms reduction. On 13 April 2010 Medvedev held a promising speech in Washington DC saying : “Russia and America have not an easy history of relationships. Sometimes we run into problems. Sometimes we suffocated each other in embrace. At other times there was an abyss dividing us. But we should not try to find differences; we should build a long-time pragmatic relationship for the future based upon democratic values and economic freedom and common goals to counter global threats.”

The new course of US-Russia relations was tested in June 2010 when eleven Russian spies were arrested in the US. Washington and Moscow both said that the arrests will not damage ties. Still, other problems remain. Iran is one of the stumbling blocks. The US wants Russia to also impose sanctions on Iran, but Russia maintains an ambiguous position. Also, Russia is very much opposed to future plans of Ukraine and Georgia to join NATO. Russia considers these countries as belonging to its sphere of influence and does not want NATO to reside in its “backyard”. At the same time the rapid development of Asian economies as China and India, threaten both America and Russia. Cooperation between the two world powers is vital in order to overcome the new challenges.

Chechnya
On the morning of 29 March 2010 Moscow was harshly awakened by a terrorist attack in two metro stations. The suicide attacks killed 40 people. The bombings were perpetrated by the Islamist Chechen separatists of the Caucasus Emirate. On 31 March, Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov confirmed suspicions when he claimed responsibility for the attacks in a video released on the internet. He added that such attacks in Russia would continue.

The Caucasus separatist region of Chechnya poses one of the biggest threats to Russia’s domestic security. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union Chechnya wants to be an independent state, but Russia is reluctant to loose part of its territory. Two wars were fought from 1994 to 1996 and from 1999 to 2009. Many terrorist attacks were performed on Russian soil by Chechen people, some of the most notorious being the hostage of people in Moscow in the Nord-Ost theatre in 2002, which cost the lives of at least 170 people, and the Beslan school hostage in September 2004 which killed at least 385 people, mainly children. The metro bombings of March 2010 were preceded by bombings in 2004 by Chechen terrorists.

Human rights organisations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch accused the Russian army of severe violations of human rights in Chechnya during the Russian occupation. However, Putin tried to isolate Chechnya from the general foreign policy issues. He reacted very sharply and opposed the enduring criticism, claiming it to be an internal affair and relating the conflict to the war on terrorism. At the end of 2002, the OSCE failed to reach an agreement with Moscow on terms for prolonging its mandate. Despite international pressure, the OSCE office in Chechnya was officially closed on 21 March 2003.

In 2000, the Kremlin admitted the region is completely devastated by the ongoing battle and announced it is time for “reconstruction”. An administration was installed, headed by Akhmad Kadyrov. In the September 2003 elections, Kadyrov, the de facto Chechen president installed three years earlier by Russia, officially became president. Human rights groups as well as several countries questioned the fairness of the elections. Eight months later in May 2004 Kadyrov was killed in a bombing by rebel leader Shamil Basayev. On 29 August 2004 another Kremlin-backed leader, Alu Alkhanov, was elected president of Chechnya with 73.5% of the votes. However, the son of Akhmad Karymov, Ramzan, became the de facto leader of Chechnya. Because of his age, a person needs to be 30 or older to become president, he first took office as Prime Minister. However, on 15 February 2007, after a series of conflicts with President Alkhanov, the President was replaced and Ramzan Kadyrov took office as President. Kadyrov’s leadership is characterised by an enormous concentration of power. Kadyrov is backed by Moscow and this gives him full authority to govern Chechnya according to his own plan.

During Medvedev’s presidency, in 2009, Russia decided to end the decade long ‘counter-terrorism operations’ in Chechnya. Its aim is to create conditions to further normalise the situation. Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov was very pleased by this decision since it enhances his possibilities within the country. He said: “Now the Chechen Republic is a peaceful, developing territory, and cancelling the counter-terrorism operation will only promote economic growth in the republic”. Critics fear that his regime will become increasingly authoritarian and unfair. Problems remain within the country and with its neighbours, Ingushetia and Dagestan. At the same time, the Russian government profits from unrest in the region. The fear of terrorism legitimizes the authoritarian course of government set by Vladimir Putin.

Russia’s domestic affairs

Human Rights
Human rights are under pressure in Russia. Some of the most pressing problems include the maltreatment of immigrants and journalists. Other problems are the extrajudicial behaviour of the Russian army in North Chechnya and violence against religious minorities. Human rights activists are also under attack. In January 2009 human rights lawyer Stanislov Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova were killed in Moscow. They criticised the early release of a Russian officer who was convicted of murder in Chechnya. In March 2009 human rights advocate Lev Ponomarev was beaten by unidentified assailants. A month later he published an article stating that there are “about 40” prison facilities in Russia where torture techniques were routinely used, and termed them “concentration camps.” The protection of human rights are a pressing matter and many western NGO’s monitor the situation in Russia.

Racism
According to several reports racism has become an increasing problem in Russian society. Foreign ethnic students and minorities, especially from the Caucasus and Central Asia, are stereotyped and subject of violent attacks. Analysts attribute this increased racism to the terrorist attacks and the enduring war in Chechnya, which makes that Muslims are more often approached with suspicion. The search for a scapegoat for daily problems related to poverty and the continuous influx of labour migrants from Central Asia and the Caucasus is an often mentioned explanation.

Moscow has the highest influx of immigrants within its city borders. Because most of these immigrants stay and work in the city illegally, it is difficult to say how many of them live there, but there are millions. This causes a lot of tensions within the capital. This is illustrated by the City Council’s proposal to introduce a ‘Muscovite’s Code’ by the end of 2010 in which foreign inhabitants can read how to behave in Moscow. Some of the advices will be among others “to speak Russian and not to wear a national dress while walking on the streets”. Some think it might be useful to provide a guideline for new inhabitants who have difficulty adjusting to Russian culture. Others warn for increased discrimination and racism.

Every year many immigrants get murdered in Moscow and other Russian towns, but the government finally seems to be taking the problem serious. The number of deaths from racist crime in Russia fell by half in the first four months of 2010 compared to 2009 (15 deaths in 2010). Human rights activists say racist violence in Russia is abating as the government takes a harsher stance on punishment and conviction. More criminals get conducted for their crimes. In April 2010 Moscow judge Eduard Chuvashov, was shot dead as he left for work. Russian media have quoted unnamed officials as saying the attack was likely the work of neo-nationalists. Chuvashov had earlier sentenced members of two far-right groups who killed people of "non-Slavic" appearance.

According to an analyst of the International Bureau for Human Rights there are over 50,000 skinheads in Russia. Russian skinheads are openly admiring and imitating German Nazi’s. Therefore they are also called Russian neo-Nazi’s. Russian neo-Nazi organisations generally define themselves as standing outside of the political process. The most prominent organisation is the Russian National Union led by Aleksandr Barkashov. In the political scene it is particularly the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, lead by Vladimir Zhirinovsky, which can be associated with racist views. During the 2003 election campaign observers noted examples of “black PR” campaigning with a racist character.

Press freedom
Another badly protected group of people in Russia consists of critical journalists and war reporters. In its September 2009 report the Committee to Protect Journalists repeated its conclusion that Russia was one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists and added that it remains among the worst at solving their murders. The most famous case is the murder of Anna Politkovskaya on 7 October 2006 as she stepped into the elevator of her apartment in Moscow. Politkovskaya was a harsh critic of Putin’s regime and the war in Chechnya. Her murder (which occurred on Vladimir Putin's birthday) was widely perceived as a contract killing, sparking international reaction.

The way her murder case was handled is an example of the way the Russian judiciary handles the murders of journalists, especially when they interfere in government or local issues. Many cases remain unsolved and the perpetrators do not get charged. Though, in the past years there is an increasing number of investigations that have led to prosecutions and a form of "partial justice." Unfortunately, in some parts of the country there have been no prosecutions for journalists' murders, in particular St Petersburg and the North Caucasus (including Chechnya).

The threat of murder is one way to silence journalists, but press freedom in Russia is under attack in multiple ways. During Yeltsin’s presidency there was a genuine free press, but President Putin broke the power of the oligarchs who were in charge of the media and brought them back under control of the Kremlin. Besides that, Putin created many laws that keep media companies under tight control. Genuine investigative and critical journalism has become a rarity in Russia. The only independent newspaper publishing critical news is Novaja Gazeta, an independent magazine appearing once every two days. All other newspapers and television channels are, to some extent, government controlled. The only medium that is still free is the internet.

Corruption
A major problem affecting all people in Russian society is corruption. According to figures released by Information Science for Democracy (INDEM), a Moscow-based foundation, a staggering 319 billion USD in bribes is paid out each year in Russia. With a population estimated at just over 142 million, that is an average pay-out of more than 2,000 USD a year per head. The findings of Transparency International’s (TI) Global Corruption Barometer 2009 suggest corruption is endemic in Russia. Public officials and civil servants were perceived as working for the country’s most corrupt governmental institution at 4.5 out of 5 (1 = not at all corrupt, 5 = extremely corrupt), with 31 per cent of respondents reported paying a bribe in the previous 12 months.

The current government acknowledges the problem. President Medvedev said in a 2009 interview that “from the political leadership all the way down to local administrations, we are hampered by corruption.” Nevertheless, effective measures are not taken and when people step up against corruption, they do not have to count on any support. In 2009/2010 videos appeared on Youtube in which policemen addressed the miserable circumstances in which they have to work and asked the government to improve their situation. Police Major Alexey Dymovsky, who served in Russia's southern city of Novorossiysk, posted five videos in which he asked his fellow policemen to fight corruption. He lost his job and now needs protection.
There is no consensus within the Russian elite on whether or how to tackle entrenched corruption. Medvedev addresses the issue, but large scale reform is not undertaken yet. If he wants to modernise the Russian economy and attract foreign investors, corruption has to be banned and the judiciary must be trustworthy. Too many crimes remain unpunished and at the same time, the law is abused to intimidate and eliminate business rivals, expropriate companies or renege on debts and contracts. The current situation serves many people in power well, which makes it hard to change Russian mentality towards bribery.

Social problems
Russia finds itself in an alarming situation, because its population is declining in a very high rate. In July 2010 Russia had an estimated population of 139,390,205 people and its growth is estimated at -0.465% for 2010 (source: CIA Factbook). According to the National Human Development Report 2008 for the Russian Federation: “Short life expectancy is the main feature of this crisis, though by no means its only feature. The birth rate is too low, the population is shrinking and ageing, and Russia is on the threshold of rapid loss of able-bodied population, which will be accompanied by a growing demographic burden per able-bodied individual.”

Alcohol and drugs are two of the main causes for low life expectancy, especially for men. In 2010, males reached an average age of 59,54 years and women 73,17. Medvedev called alcohol a “national disaster” and tries to combat the abuse of alcohol by imposing restrictions on the sale and advertisement of alcohol. Tuberculosis and AIDS pose serious threats as well. Health care in Russia is of a poor quality and not able to counterbalance the problems it is facing. Because of their insecure socio-economic position Russian women do not get many children, 1,41 on average. There is great concern for Russia’s future as the size of working people opposed to non-working people is diminishing. An influx of immigrants might be a solution, but ethnic tensions are already present in Russian society.

At the beginning of 2010 President Medvedev said that "Unemployment will remain the biggest social problem of this country.” Many problems Russia is dealing with, like alcohol abuse, are a direct consequence of high unemployment rates. In 2009 8.9 per cent of the labour force was without a job. Medvedev announced an anti-crisis program for 2010 that lists social stability, improvement in social security and continued economic growth as priorities. According to the program, the government plans to inject 36.3 billion roubles (about 1.21 billion USD) in the job market.

POLITICAL PARTIES

The Russian Federation is a democracy in name, but many observers doubt its democratic potential. One of the main reasons is the lack of an independent multi-party system. The State Duma is dominated by United Russia, the power party of Vladimir Putin. They occupy 315 out of 450 seats. The only serious opposition in the State Duma is the Communist Party, they fill 57 seats. The other two parties in the State Duma are the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (40 seats) and A Just Russia (38 seats). Both parties are criticised for their lack of opposition.

Vladimir Putin made some important adjustments to the Political Party Law in December 2005 in order to enhance democracy in Russia. Under the newest law, a political party should have at least 50,000 members, it should have branches of no less than 500 members in more than half of Russian regions, and the other branches should have no less than 250 members. In reality, this means that many political parties cannot register for elections anymore. In October 2006 the Federal Registration Service announced that 16 out of the 35 applications for party registration would not be granted. This left only 19 parties to take part in the 2007 parliamentary elections.

SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTIES

Union of Social Democrats
The Union of Social Democrats (USD) is the party of former President Mikhail Gorbachev. It was founded on October 20, 2007 as the follow up to the Social Democratic Party of Russia. The main objective of the Union of Social Democrats is “to make a personal contribution to the transformation of Russia into a modern democratic country where human rights are respected, and spiritual and economic freedom are combined with social justice”. The party decided to skip the 2007 legislative elections in order to focus on their main goal: to become a broad political party and to be prepared for the 2011 elections.

The former Social Democratic Party of Russia (SDPR) consisted of a coalition of several social democratic parties but lost its official status on April 13, 2007 due to its small membership. This party was also founded by Gorbachev on 26 November 2001 and he was party leader for three years. Gorbachev resigned as party leader in May 2004 over a disagreement with party chairman Konstantin Titov. In September 2004, the SDPR found its new leader in Vladimir Kishenin.

One of the SDPR’s main issues was the internal conflict between Gorbachev and Kishenin, which weakened the organisation. After Gorbachev resigned as leader, other problems arose. The party’s financial basis was weak and the adjusted 2005 Election Law demanded higher membership of political parties. In October 2006, the party received the news that it was denied registration. According to the Federal Registration Service (FRS), the SDPR had 52,303 members and 37 branches of no less than 500 members. The party did not comply with federal law because it had branches in less than half of Russian regions. Therefore, the party was not allowed to partake in the 2007 parliamentary elections.

The newly founded Union of Social Democrats warns that “there is a danger of cynical manipulation of the social democratic phraseology in order to consolidate power elite of their political dominance and economic situation” in modern day Russia. The USD wishes to address the lack of real political debate, the pressure being put on non-governmental groups and the high levels of corruption. The party supports Putin’s efforts to reform the Russian Federation.

Leader: Mikhail Gorbachev

Other social democratic oriented parties, such as the Social Democratic Party of the Russian Federation of Sergei Beloserzev or the Social Democratic Union of Vassili Lipitsky, were not re-registered after the new law of 2001. In addition, parts of Yabloko (see below), which adopted a social liberal course, share values with a social democratic approach.

OTHER POLITICAL PARTIES

Parties represented in State Duma

United Russia
United Russia is the largest political party in contemporary Russia and is considered to be the ‘party of power’. Since 15 April 2008, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is the chairman of the party. United Russia was founded in April 2001 when the parties Fatherland – All Russia, led by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, and the Unity Party of Russia merged.

In 2003 the party published its political manifesto called ‘The Path of National Success’. United Russia is a conservative party who’s goal is to unite political forces and support the Russian President in order to enhance national unity. They reject the classical concept of left-wing and right-wing politics as they depart from a static notion of political centrism. United Russia supports a mixed economy in which a free market is combined with state regulation. Economic benefits should be redistributed for the most part to the poorest people.

The party claims to have 1,98 million members (April 2008) and occupies 315 out of 450 seats in the State Duma, which gives it a constitutional majority. Even after the economic crisis, United Russia retains its popularity. According to a poll, conducted by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center in April 2010, 52% of Russian citizens voted in favour of United Russia to take seat in the State Duma. Nevertheless, the last regional elections in March 2010 show that people are less willing to vote for United Russia. The party only managed to poll more than 50% of votes in four out of eight regions, while they received a majority of votes in all regions during the local elections of 2009.

Leader: Vladimir Putin

Communist Party of the Russian Federation
The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) is the biggest political party after United Russia and it is the most influential opposition party in the Russian Federation. The CPRF might be considered as a successor to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) but differs in many respects. Its leader, Gennady Zyuganov, co-founded the party in 1993 together with other senior Soviet politicians.

The CPRF, as it is formed by Zyuganov, is popular-patriotic in character. It is not a strict communist party, as it no longer prohibits religion and opts for a mixed economy. Its main characteristics are the demand for a strong state, economic equality for the citizens of Russia and social justice for all. It targets the wealth of the new class of oligarchs. Therefore, the CPRF is especially popular with pensioners, industrial workers and non-profit organisations' employees.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Communist Party was prohibited for a while in Russia, because of its attempt to overthrow Gorbachev in August 1991. In 1992 a court ruling allowed the party to return to the political scene. Several former Soviet Communists started new communist parties in Russia, but only Zyuganov’s CPRF managed to become a successful organisation. In 1996 Gennady Zyuganov entered the first presidential elections and competed against Boris Yeltsin. He finished second with 32% of the votes. Yeltsin won with 35%. During Putin’s presidency Zyuganov was less popular, but still a political force to reckon with.

Zyuganov stood as candidate for the presidential elections in 2008. He received 17,76% of the votes and did not have a chance against Dmitry Medvedev’s popularity, who collected 70,23% of the electoral votes. The CPRF was more successful in the last regional and legislative elections. In the legislative elections of 2007 the CPRF received an average percentage of 16,02% of votes in 14 regions and increased their electoral power in most of the regions. In the local elections of October 2009 and March 2010, the CPRF also increased its votes with an average of 15,88% of votes.

Leader: Gennady Zyuganov

Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) was founded in 1989 by Vladimir Zhirinovsky as the second official party in the Soviet Union. It fulfilled the role of being an opposition party, but according to former CPSU politburo member Alexander Yakovlev the LDPR was created by KGB director Vladimir Kryuchkov as puppet party to control the opposition. In the West, the LDPR is known most for its leader, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who created a personality-cult which absorbs all the party's attention and time. Zhirinovsky is Vice-Chairman of the State Duma.

The party's ideology is one of extreme nationalism with imperialistic aspirations, and inclined to strong, even fascist, authoritarian beliefs. The methods it uses, both in and outside the Duma, are highly populist which accounts for the party's ambiguity over economic questions. The LDPR draws most of its support from the marginalised populations of the provinces who have suffered most from transition and reform. Notwithstanding its oppositional stance, in almost all cases, the LDPR votes in favour of the Russian President.

The LDPR has 40 seats in the current State Duma. The local elections of March 2010 saw a slight increase in popularity for the party, this is related to the decrease in popularity of United Russia. They received an average percentage of votes of 15%.

Leader: Vladimir Zhirinovsky

A Just Russia (Fair Russia)
A Just Russia, also translated as ‘Fair Russia’, was created in 2007 when three political organisations merged together: Rodina (Motherland), the Russian Pensioners’ Party and the Russian Party of Life. The party is led by Sergey Mironov, who is the chairman of the Federation Council of Russia. A Just Russia is a leftist social democratic party and sees itself as the alternative to United Russia. In the 2007 regional elections the party came third after United Russia and the CPRF with an average vote of 15%. In the latest 2010 regional elections they received the same average amount of votes. Currently, A Just Russia is the smallest party in the State Duma and holds 38 seats.

A Just Russia proclaims its political philosophy as ‘New Socialism’. Its central value, they argue, is ‘the individual’. The role of the state is to attend to the individual's needs. Despite their critique of Soviet style communism, they do not openly criticise the Soviet past. Part of their electorate has positive reminiscences of the Soviet-Union and A Just Russia does not exclude cooperation with the CPRF in the near future. One of A Just Russia’s political aims is to create a broad leftist movement to compete with the rightist party of power, United Russia. Opponents of A Just Russia criticise the party for only being an opposition party in name, but not when it comes to practice. Also, the party is accused by Russian human rights organisations for hosting radical nationalist and anti-Semitic politicians.

The party has obtained observer status in the Socialist International.

Leader: Sergey Mironov

Non-parliamentary Parties

Yabloko
The Russian United Democratic Party Yabloko was formed in 1993 by Grigory Yavlinsky, Yuri Boldyrev and Vladimir Lukin. Yabloko means ‘apple’ and is an acronym of the founders names. From the beginning in 1993 till 2008 Yavlinsky was the party leader. In 2001 he was succeeded by Moscow City Duma deputy, Sergey Mitrokhin.

Yabloko is a social liberal political party. In the beginning of the nineties they were fierce adherents of greater freedom and civil liberties in Russia, as well as the introduction of a free market economy. Since the Russian presidency became more authoritarian during Putin’s regime they have warned for the deterioration of democracy in Russia. Yabloko has felt the consequences of Putin’s ‘managed democracy’ as well. In 1995 it reached its peak with 45 seats in the State Duma. In the 2007 parliamentary elections Yabloko only received 1,6% of votes and currently is no longer represented in the State Duma.

This decrease in political power also has to do with the lack of popularity of liberal ideas in Russia and internal conflicts within Yabloko. Criticism on Yavlinski grew within the party after Yabloko failed to gain representation in the Duma in the latest parliamentary elections in 2003 and 2007. After the failed elections of December 2007, there were increasing calls for his resignation. Yavlinski was succeeded in June 2008 as party leader by Sergey Mitrochin, leader of the Moscow branch of Yabloko. With the election of Mitrokhin, Yabloko seems to have chosen for the moderate wing of the party as opposed to the more radical wing, which is led, amongst others, by Yabloko St Petersburg leader Maksim Reznik.

Yabloko is a member of the Liberal International.

Leader: Sergey Mitrokhin

Right Cause
Right Cause was formed in February 2009 following a merge of three political parties: the Union of Right Forces (SPS), Civilian Power and the Democratic Party of Russia. The party has a liberal conservative stance and presents itself as an opposition party. Critics say that the party is effectively under Kremlin control. The party is lead by Georgiy Bovt, Boris Titov and Leonid Gozman, former leader of the Union of Right Forces.

Right Cause aims at winning seats at Russia's parliamentary elections in 2011 under the slogan: "Freedom, property, order." Their target group consists of the middle-class and businessmen mostly. "Today in the official political arena there is no respectful, credible political party projecting the right's ideas," one of the new party's leaders, Leonid Gozman, said of the new political alliance. For all three parties this amalgamation is a necessary measure in order to keep existing.

Leaders: Georgiy Bovt, Boris Titov and Leonid Gozman

Patriots of Russia
Patriots of Russia was established in 2005 as a left wing nationalist and socialist party. Its founder, Gennady Semigin, was expelled from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation after a power struggle with Gennady Zyuganov. In 2006 the party joined the Rodina faction for a short while until Rodina decided to merge with other parties in A Just Russia. The ‘patriots of Russia’ decided to run for the 2007 legislative elections as a separate party. They won 0.89% of total votes and did not secure any seats in the State Duma.

Leader: Gennady Semigin

Non-registered political parties

The Other Russia
The Other Russia is a broad organisation connecting several political parties and NGO’s that are united as an opposition movement. The Other Russia was formed during a constitutional meeting in July 2006. The movement represents itself as a “national platform” and does not run for elections.

Its task is to “restore civil control of power in Russia, a control that is guaranteed in the Russian Constitution that is so frequently and unambiguously violated today. This aim requires a return to the principles of federalism and the separation of powers. It calls for the restoration of the social function of the state with regional self-administration and the independence of the media. The judicial system must protect every citizen equally, especially from the dangerous impulses of the representatives of power. It is our duty to free the country from outbreaks of prejudice, racism, and xenophobia and from the looting of our national riches by government officials.”

The Other Russia is particularly known for the organisation of several ‘Marches of the Discontented’ in large Russian cities. The first one took place in Moscow on 16 December 2006 and was led by Garry Kasparov, former World Chess Champion, and other opposition leaders. These protests were some of the largest Russia has seen in recent years. The demonstrations took place before the presidential elections of 2008. The coverage in Russian media was very negative and biased. The marches still continue on the 31st day of the month. This date carries a special meaning since they protest against violation of Article 31. Article 31 of the Russian Constitution states that Russian citizens have the right to assemble, a right that is contested by the Russian government in multiple ways. During these demonstrations many activists are regularly arrested, like Eduard Limonov, leader of the National Bolshevik Party, who was jailed on several occasions.

Leaders: multiple of which Garry Kasparov is the best known figure.

BIOGRAPHIES

Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev
President of the Russian Federation

Dmitry Medvedev was born on 14 September, 1965, in Leningrad. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at the Leningrad State University in 1987 and completed his post-graduate studies at the Leningrad State University in 1990. Medvedev holds a PhD in law and the title of associate professor.

Between 1990 and 1999 Medvedev was a lecturer at the St Petersburg State University. Simultaneously, he was an adviser to the Chairman of the Leningrad City Council and an expert consultant to the St Petersburg City Hall’s Committee for External Affairs between 1990 and 1995. In 1999, he was named Deputy Government Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office. In 2000, his position was up-graded to the First Deputy of Staff.

Between 2000 and 2001 Medvedev was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of OAO Gazprom. In October he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office. Two years later, in November, he was appointed First Deputy Prime Minister.

On 17 December 2007, Medvedev was endorsed by the ruling United Russia party as a candidate in the presidential elections in 2008. On 2 March, 2008, Medvedev was elected President of Russia, succeeding Vladimir Putin. According to final election results, Medvedev won 70.28% of the votes.

Medvedev is married and has one son.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin
Prime Minister of Russia

Vladimir Putin was born in Leningrad on 7 October 1952. He graduated in 1975 with a degree in law from the Leningrad State University. In 1997 he earned a PhD in economics for his thesis on “Strategic Planning of Regional Raw Material Operations in a Market Economy”. After his graduation in 1975 Putin started working for the KGB. He was stationed in East-Germany from 1985 to 1990.

Upon his return to Leningrad he became assistant to the rector of Leningrad State University at the department of International Affairs. Next he became an advisor to the chairman of the Leningrad City Council. He soon made career within the St Petersburg city council as chairman of the St Petersburg City Council’s International Relations Committee in 1991. From 1994 he started working as First Deputy Mayor of St Petersburg.

In 1996 he started working as a state official with the national government. In May 1998, he was promoted to first deputy head of the Presidential Administration and two months later, he became head of the Federal Security Service. In March 1999 Putin also started working as Secretary of the Security Council. In August 1999 he was appointed Prime Minister by Boris Yeltsin.

On 31 December 1999 Putin became acting President of the Russian Federation and on 26 March 2000 he was officially elected with 53% of the votes. After his popular first term as president he was elected for his second term in March 2004. After two presidential terms Putin had to resign, because a Russian president cannot serve three terms in a row. Therefore Putin appointed Dmitry Medvedev in 2008 as his successor and became Prime Minister again himself.

Vladimir Putin is married to Lyudmila Putina and they have two daughters.

Sergey Mikhailovich Mironov
Speaker of the Federation Council and leader of ‘A Just Russia’ party

Sergey Mironov was born in Pushkin, near Leningrad on 14 February 1953. Between 1971 and 1973 he served in the Soviet Army. In 1980 he graduated from the Leningrad Mining Institute, in 1992 from the St Petersburg State Technical University, in 1997 with honours from the Academy of State Service at the President of the Russian Federation and in 1998 with honours from the St Petersburg State University. He is trained in technical, economic and legal education.

Between 1978 and 1986 Mironov worked as engineer-geophysicist in several places. After a brief time of working as an engineer he entered politics and in 1994 he was elected deputy of the St Petersburg Legislative Assembly. In 2001 he entered the Federation Council of Russia as representative of St Petersburg. Since 2001 he is Speaker of the Federation Council.

Since April 2003 he was Chairman of the Russian Party of Life. A political party that does not exist anymore. In October 2006 he became the leader of the new center-left opposition party ‘A Just Russia’. Mironov was candidate in the 2004 presidential election but said he supported Putin. He received less than 1% of the votes. Mironov is a supporter of the extension of the length and increased amount of consecutive presidential terms. He made it clear that he hopes Vladimir Putin will return as president in 2012.

Sergey Mironov is married to Lyubov Ivanovna. He has two children.

Boris Jefimovitsj Nemtsov
Former Deputy Prime Minister of Russia and co-founder of the Union of Right Forces

Boris Nemtsov was born on 9 October 1959 in Sochi. He studied physics at Gorky State University from 1976 to 1981 and specialised in radio physics. In 1985 he received his PhD in physics and mathematics. His political career started in 1989 when he unsuccessfully ran for the Soviet Congress of People’s Deputies. He campaigned for private property rights and free speech while criticising the Soviet one-party system and censorship. He failed to obtain the approval of the selection committee, which was required to put his name on the ballot paper.

His career took off when he became the representative of the Gorky Region (Nizhny Novgorod) in the Supreme Soviet in 1990. Here he met Boris Yeltsin, who made him his Governor to Nizhny Novgorod when he became President of Russia. Nemtsov was appointed Deputy Prime Minster of the Russian Federation in 1997. His responsibilities included social issues, housing and control of industrial monopolies. Nemtsov also served as Minister for Fuel and Energy. In 1998 Nemtsov took responsibility for financial and economic issues.

In 1999 the coalition Union of Right Forces (SPS) was created and Nemtsov was the leader of this party from 2000 to 2003. This liberal organisation was a proponent of free market reform, privatisation and democratisation. As leader of SPS Nemtsov was a fierce opponent of Vladimir Putin and warned for the fading of individual liberties and press freedom. In the 2003 parliamentary elections SPS received only 4% of votes and Nemtsov resigned as leader. In 2008 the Union of Right Forces merged with other parties and formed a new liberal democratic party called Right Cause.

From 2005 to 2006 Nemtsov worked as political advisor to the former President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko. In 2008 Boris Nemtsov and Garry Kasparov created the political opposition movement ‘Solidarity’ in the hope of uniting the various opposition parties in Russia. In 2009 Nemtsov tried, unsuccessfully, to become Sochi’s new mayor.

Boris Nemtsov is married and has four children.

Sergei Sergeyevich Mitrokhin
Leader of the Yabloko Party

Sergei Mitrokhin was born on 20 May 1963 in Moscow. He graduated in 1985 from Lenin’s Moscow State Pedagogical Institute. Between 1990 and 1993 he followed a post-graduate course at the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Science. In 2001 Mitrokhin became a Candidate of Political Sciences. He defended his dissertation on the "Political Analysis of the Process of Formation of Federal Relations in Russia"

In 1993 Sergei Mitrokhin took part in the founding of Yabloko and received a seat as deputy in the State Duma. He worked as representative for ten years until Yabloko lost all her seats in the 2003 parliamentary elections. After that, Mitrokhin started working for the Center of Economic and Political Studies.

In 2005 Mitrokhin headed a joint coalition of Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces (SPS) to take part in the Moscow City Duma elections. They won 3 seats. In 2006 Mitrokhin became the chairman of the Moscow branch of Yabloko. Two years later, in June 2008, Mitrokhin was elected party leader of Yabloko after the departure of Yavlinsky. He received 60% of the votes.

Garry Kimovich Kasparov
Leader of “The Other Russia”

Garry Kasparov was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, on April 13, 1963. He started playing chess when he was five years old and his talent was discovered quite early. At the age of thirteen he became Russia’s youth chess champion. In 1980 he became youth world champion and in 1981 he was the youngest chess champion of the Soviet Union.

Kasparov became a world champion in 1985 and he retained that position until 2000. He quitted his career in chess in 2005, and instead, started a new career in Russian politics. In 2004, Garry Kasparov was elected Co-Chairman of the All Russia Civil Congress and in 2006, he became Chairman of the United Civil Front Of Russia. These and other political and human rights leaders came together under the coalition banner of The Other Russia, which organises pro-democracy rallies nationwide. Garry Kasparov is one of The Other Russia’s leading figures. In the West he is a symbol for criticism and opposition against Vladimir Putin, but in Russia his popularity is low.

Russia

Last update: 8 July 2010
Author: Ingeborg Visscher

Population: 139,390,205 (July 2010 est.)
Prime Minister: Vladimir Putin (since May 2008)
President: Dmitriy Medvedev (since May 2008)
Governmental type: Federation
Ruling Coalition: One ruling party - United Russia
Last Elections: Presidential 2 March, 2008
Next Election: Parliamentary December 2011
Sister Parties: Yabloko Youth Union

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