The United Russia party did not spend any funds on preparations for the local elections that took place in most Russian regions on March 13, according to a financial report published in the government Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper.
Other parties that did not have such expenses are the left-center Patriots of Russia and the right-center Right Cause parties. This is explained by the fact that local election campaigns were financed through specially-created election foundations in the regions.The liberal Yabloko party spent the most on its campaign, around 10 million rubles ($366,000). Second was the left-center Fair Russia, with 9 million rubles ($330,000) spent on campaigning. The third in the expenditure ratings was the Liberal-Democratic party. Election expenses of the Communists came to 303,000 rubles ($11,000 dollars). As for revenue, the majority United Russia party holds the first place on that score. Over the first three months of 2011, it received 1.9 billion rubles (about $70 million). The major part of this amount is from government subsidies, which are distributed proportionately to the number of seats held in parliament. The Communists gained 215 million rubles ($7.8 million), of which 160 million rubles ($5.8 million) from the budget. The revenue of Fair Russia is 138.7 million rubles ($5 million) of which 107 million rubles ($3.9 million) of subsidies. The Liberal Democrats’ income amounts to 113.6 million rubles ($4.1 million) and, apart from an insignificant 486,000 rubles ($17,800), this was all earned by the party itself.