“United Russia” spent 617.3 million rubles for the elections to the State Duma. out of 700 million rubles., collected in the electoral fund, follows from the final financial report of the party, the CEC. The unspent balance amounted to 82.7 million rubles – these funds were returned to previously received contributions (however, half of the proceeds to the electoral fund were provided by the party itself, another half – by the funds traditionally financing it). At the same time, United Russia takes second place among the parties that have passed to the Duma in terms of campaign spending, behind the Liberal Democratic Party. The most modest in the top five were the communists.

United Russia became the first party to submit a final financial report. LDPR managed to spend 698 million rubles. 701 million rubles from the collected in the electoral fund). In third place – “Fair Russia”, which by September 14 managed to spend 542.6 million rubles. of the collected 549 million rubles. Almost not inferior to her “New People”, who spent 455.3 million out of 469.6 million rubles. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation, which took second place in terms of the number of mandates received, is in fifth place in terms of spending – by September 14, it spent only 165 million rubles. of the collected 178.8 million rubles. This is comparable to the indicators of Yabloko and the Party of Pensioners for Freedom and Justice, who did not pass in parliament, which spent 126 million rubles on the campaign. and 125.1 million rubles. respectively. The most economical party turned out to be the Russian National Union – by September 14, they spent only 1 million rubles on the Duma campaign.

According to the law, parties are given 30 calendar days after voting to submit the final report. So far, only United Russia has disclosed its election costs. As follows from the financial report of the party, most of all (404 million rubles) there was spent on the production and distribution of campaign materials. Half as much – for campaigning through television and the media (209.7 million rubles). Pre-election mass events cost the party 1.5 million rubles. According to the report, they did not spend at all on campaigning through online publications. It is noteworthy that in the previous Duma elections in 2016, the proportion was different: 301.5 million rubles. the party then spent on campaigning in the media and only 141 million rubles on distributing its own materials; campaigning events then cost the party a modest 490 thousand rubles. rub.

Deputy General Council of the United Russia Sergei Perminov explained the changes in the structure by the fact that the party completely revised the strategy, tactics and conduct of the campaign: “The priority was the safety of residents, an emphasis on new forms of work in difficult conditions of the pandemic, – he was“ Kommersant ”. – The hybrid format included online and offline promotion of meanings, images and candidates. New accents and redistribution of resources take advantage of this, than in 2016, the channels for delivering information are associated with our vision of what is happening. The world has changed, it’s obvious. We have also changed. Campaigning, field projects required a significant amount of printed materials ”. Mr. Perminov recalled that the party before the elections held a report of its deputy corps to the voters and collected “a huge number of proposals for the people’s program.” Certain restrictions, including on the holding of mass events, turned out to be associated with work in a pandemic. events that are mandatory by virtue of the law: stages of the congress, regional conferences, launched public support headquarters. All this together and save resources. “

Deputy Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Yuri Afonin told Kommersant that the Communist Party has always spent less on parliamentary campaigns than its competitors from the Liberal Democratic Party and United Russia: the party is limited in funds, state funding and membership fees remain for it for the main money. Therefore, for example, the CPRF practically did not spend on paid airtime; instead, they preferred to strengthen the work of grassroots structures in the regions. Primary organizations and the local were prepared in advance for the elections, says Mr. Afonin. In his opinion, the party’s agitation campaign turned out to be effective: it perceives the Communist Party of the Russian Federation as the main opposition force. “We will continue to work in this direction,” he promises.

United Russia does not need to spend a lot on the media. For example, if Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu comes up with an initiative to build cities in Siberia, the expert gives an example. The situation with other parties is different: someone, like “New People”, needed to increase their recognition, someone, like the Liberal Democratic Party, traditionally relied on TV ads and banners. “United Russia” is in a position where direct advertising is no longer needed, the party has developed a certain reputation, and it is possible to get by with the minimum sufficient, says Mr. Kalachev.

Anastasia Kornya, Andrey Vinokurov