The 2018 presidential campaign of Pavel Grudinin, CEO of the Lenin State Farm and former Member of the Moscow Oblast Duma, was announced at the Communist Party congress on 23 December 2017.
Background In December 2016, the First Secretary of the Communist party Gennady Zyuganov said that the Communist party has 21 potential candidates for the 2018 presidential elections. Among these candidates was Pavel Grudinin.Геннадий Зюганов: КПРФ пойдет на президентские выборы большой командой Despite the fact that on 7 November 2017, Zyuganov said his own nomination was supported by all leftist forces and he would participate in the elections on behalf of the party, the Zhigulyovsk branch of the party voted to supported the candidacy of Pavel Grudinin, who also won the primaries of Left Front, a coalition of left-wing parties with no representation in the State Duma. Grudinin did not deny his nomination from the Communist Party in 2018. On 21 December it was reported that Zyuganov proposed to nominate Grudinin.СМИ: КПРФ может выдвинуть кандидатом в президенты не Зюганова Initially the Communist Party and the National Patriotic Forces of Russia (NPFR) planned to nominate a single candidate: Grudinin (supported by the Communists) or Yury Boldyrev (supported by the NPFR). Boldyrev also participated in the primaries of Left Front in which he lost in the second round to Grudinin. According to the Deputy Alexander Yushchenko, Gennady Zyuganov was still among the candidates for the nomination. He named the other candidates as Yury Afonin, Sergey Levchenko and Leonid Kalashnikov. On 22 December Zyuganov, Levchenko and Kalashnikov withdrew their bids, and Zyuganov rejected the candidacies of Afonin and Boldyrev, leaving Grudinin as the sole candidate.
Nomination Pavel Grudinin was officially elected as the presidential candidate from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation at its congress on 23 December.Съезд КПРФ утвердил кандидатуру Грудинина на выборах президента РФ
ForAgainst31411Source:Спецоперация «Грудинин»: кто недоволен решением Зюганова
Campaign
On 28 December 2017, after nomination by the Congress of the Communist Party, Grudinin filed documents for participation in the election to the CEC and on 29 December, the CEC has officially registered its authorized representatives and allowed to open election account.ЦИК принял документы Грудинина для выдвижения кандидатом в президентыЦИК разрешил Грудинину открыть избирательный счет
Soon after the nomination, Pavel Grudinin was an asset to participate in a TV show on the main Federal TV channels, such as Channel One and Russia-1 where he first met with one of his rivals in the presidential race, Vladimir Zhirinovsky.Павел Грудинин. Время покажет. Выпуск от 25.12.2017Вечер с Владимиром Соловьевым. Эфир от 26.12.2017
On 19 January Pavel Grudinin started his visit to regions. Just, he plans to visit 10-15 federal subjects in all Federal districts.Павлу Грудинину выработали встречный план
On 19 January Grudinin visited Saint Petersburg, where he laid flowers to the monument on the embankment of the Fontanka river, where people were taking water during the Siege of Leningrad, held a press conference and meeting with voters. He also visited the Kirov Plant, where there was examined a range of tractors manufactured, made a trip on one of the tractors, met workers and answered their questions.Павла Грудинина одарили в Санкт-Петербурге
On 25 January Pavel Grudinin visited Samara Oblast, where he visited two major cities Samara and Tolyatti. In Samara Grudinin, visited Samara State Institute of Culture, where he met with students and gave a press conference. Later Pavel Grudinin went to Tolyatti, where he had a meeting with voters.
On 30 January Pavel Grudinin arrived in the Ufa, Bashkortostan. On 31 January Grudinin visited Meat-processing plant "Sava", where he inspected the company and talked to the workers, gave a press conference for the Bashkir media and held a meeting with voters.
On 1 February Pavel Grudinin visited Yekaterinburg. In Yekaterinburg Grudinin met with members of the Presidium of the Ural branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Speaking to academics, he said that the reform of the RAS was completely wrong and that science and science education are required to spend at least 7% of the state budget. In the evening Grudinin held a meeting with voters.
On 5 February Pavel Grudinin visited Rostov-on-Don. In Rostov-on-Don Grudinin gave a press-conference for regional mass media, visited the company Rostselmash, where he talked with workers, and in the evening held a meeting with voters in the Palace of Culture of Railwaymen.
On 6 February Pavel Grudinin gave an interview to the popular Russian video blogger Yury Dud. In an interview Grudinin said he believes Joseph Stalin is the best ruler of Russia in the last hundred years. He criticized the CEO of Rosneft Igor Sechin, saying that he was ready to fire him, because the company, which he manages, is ineffective. Grudinin also said that he was ready to take Alexei Navalny to his team. At the conclusion of the interview, Grudinin and Dud made a bet where if Pavel Grudinin gains less than 15% of the vote, he will have to shave off his mustache, but if Grudinin gets more than 15% of the votes, Yury Dud will have to cut his hair bald.
On 9 February Pavel Grudinin visited Nizhny Novgorod. The timetable of his visit was outlined on his presidential Instagram account. He put flowers to the statue of and later went on to talk to the workers of the factory "Thermal". Later he gave a press conference and answered to voters' questions. Also, he gave a press Conference in Dzerzhinsk.Грудинин в нижнем новгороде неудобные вопросы и Пустые ответы
On 12 February Pavel Grudinin visited Barnaul. In Barnaul Grudinin with his colleagues laid flowers at the monument to Lenin in the Square of the Soviets and held two major events. Before lunch, he met with local journalists and held a press conference for them. After lunch, Grudinin made before the activists of the Communist party, supporters and ordinary citizens.
On 13 February Pavel Grudinin visited Novosibirsk. He was met with fireworks by supporters of the Communist part and NPFR. First he put flowers to the monument of Lenin, he proceeded to visit the local agrarian university, where he answered the questions of both the leadership and students. Next he met with the leadership of the Siberian Federal Center for agrobiotechnology, after which was a meeting with the scientific and entrepreneurs of Novosibirsk Oblast.Новосибирцы встретили Грудина фейерверками
On 26 February Grudinin visited Krasnodar Krai. During his visit he went to the scientific institute of gardening and grapes and met with the working collective. He went on to hold a meeting with voters at the local palace of culture. He was accompanied by Yury Afonin and Yury Boldyrev. At the moment of the visit Grudinin has one of the highest support in Krasnodar.Грудинин посетил Краснодарский Край
On 28 February, Pavel Grudinin met with scientists in the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology in Moscow.
On 1 March, during a TV debate on the Channel One, Pavel Grudinin criticized the debate, calling them "Bazaar", said that he was not going to participate in them and left the Studio. Subsequently, he ceased to participate in the debate, instead, they began to participate.«Это базар». Грудинин ушел с дебатов на Первом канале
On 2 and 3 March, Pavel Grudinin visited Irkutsk Oblast. On 2 March, Grudinin held a meeting with voters in Angarsk. On 3 March, Grudinin visited Usolsky pig farm, where he talked with employees of the company, and later met with voters in Irkutsk. In addition, Grudinin also held a meeting with the Governor of the Irkutsk Oblast Communist Sergey Levchenko.Сергей Левченко и Павел Грудинин встретились
On 6 March, Pavel Grudinin held a meeting with voters in Pavlovsky Posad in the Moscow Oblast.
On 10 March, in Moscow on Revolution Square held a rally of the Communist Party, Left Front and National Patriotic Forces of Russia "For Fair Elections!". Speaking at the rally, Grudinin said that in December 2017, when he was nominated for President, he believed that the elections would be really fair, but during the campaign he turned information attacks. Grudinin said that this is due to the fact that the government was afraid of his victory. He urged his supporters not to believe the Federal media, come to the polls and vote for him. Ending his speech, Grudinin said the slogan "Our cause is right! Victory will be ours!". In addition to Grudinin, the Communist party leader Gennady Zyuganov, coordinator of the Permanent Meeting of National Patriotic Forces of Russia Vladimir Filin, Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov, as well as other supporters of Pavel Grudinin also spoke at the rally. The rally lasted an hour and ended with shouts of "Grudinin is our President!". Initially, it was planned that up to 5,000 people would come to the rally, however, only 700 people came to it.На митинг Грудинина в Москве пришли 700 человек
Program On 10 January 2018, the program of Pavel Grudinin became officially published, consisting of 20 items."20 шагов Павла Грудинина. Кандидат в президенты России обращается к каждому". Archived from the original on 25 March 2018.
1. The change of economic strategy. The priority will be the welfare of the people, not the oligarchs. The use of Russia's wealth, its natural, industrial and financial resources for the service of the people. 2. The restoration of the economic sovereignty of Russia. Withdrawal from the WTO. 3. Credit resources – the recovery of the economy. The decrease in Bank interest. 4. New industrialization, modernization of the economy and its output to innovation. 5. Ensuring food security of Russia, overcoming a situation when much of the food is imported from abroad. The return of the GOSTs and the introduction of criminal liability for falsification of food products. 6. Our historic task is to ensure the revival of the "provincial" Russia. Equalization of opportunities of regional budgets. Gasification of the country. 7. Price controls on basic foods and commodities, to housing prices. 8. Taxes – in the interests of justice and development. The introduction of a progressive tax. The abolition of value added tax, transport tax, and the Platon system. 9. Recovery guarantees for labor and 8-hour working day, providing people with work and a decent salary. Minimum salary of 25,000-30,000 rubles. 10. The destruction of the social sphere will be stopped. Free and qualitative secondary and higher education and health care. 11. Mothers and children will receive full support. Equating the monthly child allowances to the subsistence level of the child. Increasing the payment of monthly benefits by one and a half to three years. 12. Citizens a decent pension. The adoption of the law on "children of war". Maintaining the current age of retirement (60 for men and 55 for women). The return of indexation of pensions to working pensioners. Cancellation of the reduction factor of 0.54 for military retirees. Establishment of the average old-age pension – not less than 50% of the average wage. 13. We will protect the spiritual health of the nation. Support for museums, theaters, libraries. 14. We guarantee massive construction of high-quality and affordable housing. Introduction of the provision of flats or houses for young families, the elimination of dilapidated housing. Declining mortgage rates to 3-4%. For many children and young families, interest-free loan for up to 30 years. 15. To curb the greed of the moneylenders. The introduction of criminal liability for involvement in a bonded transaction, the prohibition of "correctors" activities and assignment of debt obligations of the citizens. 16. To ensure the protection of nature. 17. To ensure the defense capability and security of the country.