Who funds United Russia?
14.11.2024
United Russia is the wealthiest political party in Russia, maintaining a dominant position in power for over 20 years. Annually, it receives funds substantial enough to cover the expenses of a small town. In return, its representatives implement policies that restrict rights and freedoms.
Given the limitations on information, the party's financial report to the Central Election Commission (CEC) is one of the few public documents that offers insight into the party’s operations — revealing who finances United Russia and how the funds are spent.
Sirena, a project of Alexey Navalny’s team, conducted an in-depth analysis of the party’s financial report and identified the key sources of support necessary for United Russia’s operations. In this article, REM summarized the main findings of Sirena’s investigation.
In 2023, United Russia received approximately 10.5 billion rubles (about 105 million euros), marking its strongest financial year in recent times despite the country's economic challenges stemming from the war in Ukraine.
More than 40% of United Russia’s income, totaling 4.4 billion rubles, comes from the state budget.
Approximately a quarter of the party's funding (2.9 billion rubles) was donations from businesses. These include companies controlled by Putin’s associate Arkady Rotenberg as well as firms linked to the daughter of FSB General Mikhail Shekin. Other significant contributors include contractors of Russian Railways (RZD) and a company affiliated with Moscow billionaire Pavel Te, the owner of the construction giant Capital Group.
The maximum allowable single donation from a business to a political party is 43.3 million rubles. In 2023, United Russia received this maximum amount from at least 50 companies — more than half of which are major RZD contractors, according to Sirena’s analysis.
For years, regional funds, which avoid direct association with United Russia and don’t disclose their actual donors, have consistently supported the party. These organizations are also used to back pro-government candidates in elections. In 2023, these regional funds donated a total of 3 billion rubles to the party.
In terms of geography, the largest contributions to United Russia came from Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Bashkortostan. Meanwhile, two regions — Tuva and the Kurgan region — did not contribute to the party’s funding at all.
To conceal certain sponsors, United Russia likely channels donations through individual contributors (totaling 78 million rubles). Among these, Sirena identified a student who donated two million rubles to the party — a sum 12.5 times higher than her official income. According to her tax declaration (which she published because she ran as a candidate in elections), her only official income in 2023 was a student stipend.
