Elections on old stocks – Newspaper Kommersant No. 220 (7421) dated 11/28/2022
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The revenues of most Russian parties in the third quarter decreased compared to the same period not only last year (at that time elections to the State Duma were held), but also in 2020, when, as in 2022, politicians were engaged only in regional and municipal campaigns. This follows from the financial reports published by the Central Election Commission. Some parties explain this by the need to help the Donbass and by the general drop in living standards. And the expert recalls that at the end of the election campaign, its participants always spend what they have earned earlier.
The only party that raised more money in the third quarter of 2022 than two years earlier was United Russia. Its income during this period amounted to 474 million rubles, less than last year (at that time the party collected 640 million rubles), but significantly more than in 2020 (261 million rubles).
Of the other parliamentary parties, the New People show the most impressive decline: in the third quarter they collected only 2.9 million rubles – 60 times less than in 2020, and more than 100 times less compared to 2021 ( then the party’s fees in the third quarter amounted to 321 million rubles). Compared to 2020, the Liberal Democratic Party’s revenues more than halved – from 76.5 million to 37.9 million rubles. A similar picture for the party “Fair Russia – For the Truth” (SRZP): a decrease from 13.6 million rubles. in 2020 up to 6 million rubles. in 2022 The Communist Party of the Russian Federation collected money more stable than others: its receipts amounted to 18.2 million rubles. in 2020 and 16.7 million in 2022. From non-parliamentary parties, Yabloko was steadily financed, which collected 50.6 million rubles in the third quarter. against 56.7 million rubles. in 2020 But the Party of Pensioners received only 6.4 million rubles, which is 14 times less than in the third quarter of 2020.
However, the decrease in revenues did not have time to affect the expenses of the parties: in the third quarter they spent noticeably more than they earned. (Recall that for parliamentary parties, the main income, as a rule, is transfers for votes received in the first quarter, and the main expenses are associated with the elections ending in September.) Thus, United Russia spent 2.8 billion rubles.— this is almost two times less than at the height of the 2021 parliamentary campaign (4.5 billion rubles), but still more than in 2020 (2.1 billion rubles). The main item of expenditure for United Russia traditionally remains the maintenance of regional branches – 1.6 billion rubles. The party spent 352 million rubles on propaganda, and 8.7 million rubles on public events.
The Communist Party of the Russian Federation spent 401 million rubles—almost the same as two years earlier, of which more than 51 million rubles—on mass media maintenance and propaganda. 2.7 million rubles went to charity – twice as much as to public events (1.2 million rubles). But the LDPR transferred the most to election funds – 190 million rubles, almost two thirds of all funds spent by the party (310 million rubles). SRZP spent 25.3 million rubles on charity, almost as much as it transferred to the election funds of candidates (28 million rubles). In total, the Socialist-Revolutionaries spent 137 million rubles in the third quarter, and the main item of their expenses was the maintenance of the leading bodies of the party (38.5 million rubles).
The reduction in revenues in the third quarter also did not affect the costs of the New People: they spent a total of 227 million rubles – 78 times more than they earned. Most of this money (197.3 million rubles) was transferred to regional branches, another 16.6 million rubles. the party sent to propaganda activities. The lion’s share of expenses for the party was formed by budgetary funds, Oleg Zakharov, head of the Central Executive Committee of the New People, explains the decline in income in the third quarter. These funds were received at the beginning of the year and immediately distributed to the regions. Receipts to electoral accounts during the election period are not reflected in these reports. There was some reduction in party spending during the year, Mr. Zakharov confirms, but it happens every year based on fluctuations in electoral cycles. Under the next elections, additional funds will be sent to the regions, but already at the beginning of next year.
Finally, Yabloko turned out to be one of the few parties whose quarterly balance converged: out of the collected 50.6 million rubles. 50 million rubles were spent, including 6.5 million rubles transferred to the election funds of candidates.
Party members explain the decline in income by a general drop in the standard of living of the population, as well as by the fact that a lot of effort is spent on helping the Donbass. “Life is not getting better, people are getting poorer, and our party contributions are 1% of income,” Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, State Duma deputy Sergei Obukhov told Kommersant. “By the way, we did a survey, and over the past year, 50% of party supporters, who voted for her in the elections, noted that their financial situation had deteriorated sharply. So this is clear evidence that we live with the needs and problems of the country.”
The money that was previously raised to spend on party needs is now being directed to humanitarian aid to Donbass, Dmitry Gusev, first deputy head of the SRWP faction in the State Duma, explained to Kommersant. This is now the main party project, he admits. Aleksey Didenko, deputy head of the central office of the Liberal Democratic Party, State Duma deputy, also confirms the redirection of party funds for humanitarian needs. “Many of our traditional donors have been actively involved in humanitarian activities this year, but continue to cooperate with us,” he says. “There has been a flow of funds for other purposes, but often under the banner of the party.”
Political scientist Konstantin Kalachev recalls that the third quarter is the finale of the election campaign, when the parties are not so much accumulating funds as spending them. In addition, he recalls, regional elections are not always funded vertically: some parties still provide the so-called party franchise, which implies that funding rather comes from the bottom up. In general, the parties’ incomes and expenses for the third quarter reflect the inertial scenario of the elections, in which the result was largely determined by the positions that the players managed to take earlier, the expert concludes.
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