United Russia Candidates Received Funds From State Budget

A number of candidates from the ruling United Russia party received funding from the state budget for their campaigns during the 2015 elections, the RBC news website reported, citing a report by Russia's independent Golos elections watchdog.

Among the candidates that received funds from government-linked companies are United Russia members who ran in gubernatorial elections in the Astrakhan and Rostov regions.

United Russia candidate Igor Orlov, who won the elections in the Astrakhan region, received 2 million rubles ($26,000) from the Oboronkompleks company, which belongs to a company that is co-owned by a state-run enterprise, according to Golos.

Orlov received a further 300,000 rubles ($3,900) from a company linked to Russian gas giant Gazprom, according to the watchdog.

Golos also revealed that funds from companies linked to Gazprom were received by the re-elected governor of Rostov region Vasily Golubev.

Euroservice — a company that obtained state orders worth 20 billion rubles ($260 million) between 2011 and 2016 — gave Golubev 100,000 rubles ($1,300).

When contacted by RBC, a spokeswoman for Golubev and the head of Orlov's election headquarters said the expenses of the candidates were investigated and no violations in the funding of election campaigns were revealed.

Financing received by Golubev and Orlov doesn't technically violate the law that prohibits companies from donating money to election campaigns if more than 30 percent owned by the state.

Source: The Moscow Times