Putin’s cousin to found new political party named ‘Russia Without Corruption,’ plans to run in 2021 elections

A relative of Russian President Vladimir Putin is creating a new political party, Russia Without Corruption. This isn’t businessman Roman Putin’s first venture into politics, as he’s been involved in failed parties in the past.

Putin is the first cousin once removed of the president. According to the Moscow daily Kommersant, he and his associates plan to run in next year’s 2021 elections, not just for parliament but also for other legislative bodies.

“We are actively forming a team of like-minded people who are ready to stand up for Russia's national interests and strive for the revival of a fully-fledged middle class in our country, which will become the backbone and foundation of the state,” said Maxim Kamenev, Putin’s assistant.

Kommersant explained the party could be created by “buying” and rebranding an existing one, as opposed to creating a new one from scratch. This would speed up the party’s registration, which is a time-consuming and expensive process.

“To start a new party, you need to open branches in at least half of the country’s regions. That is, 43,” explained Ilya Grashchenkov, a political scientist. “Despite the fact that a lot of money was spent on registration and assistance from above, the four new parties which appeared in 2020 spent almost six months getting approved.”

Last week, the Supreme Court dissolved Putin’s old political party, named People Against Corruption. The Ministry of Justice decided to close the political faction as they had not competed in elections for seven years. Founded in 2013, Putin became the party’s head earlier this year.

His father, Igor Putin, is President Putin’s first cousin. A former security services officer, Putin is also involved in various business sectors and owns his own company named Putin Consulting Ltd, which helps foreign investors put their money into Russian projects.

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