Kudrin’s Fund To Cooperate With Prokhorov’s Party
By Ria Novosti
Former Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin’s nascent economic reform fund may cooperate with billionaire politician Mikhail Prokhorov’s party, Kudrin said in his Twitter microblog.
“I met with Mikhail Prokhorov today,” he wrote. “The fund I am going to establish will be ready to cooperate with Prokhorov’s party on specific problems.”
Prokhorov, who plans to create a right liberal party, earlier said he saw Kudrin as a future ally.
Kudrin, who resigned as the country’s finance minister and deputy prime minister last year following a row with President Dmitry Medvedev over budget issues, said in early March that he was going to set up a fund in support of civil initiatives and democratic reforms in the country.
He has supported the protest movement that swept across Russia following the December 4 parliamentary election, triggered by allegations of widespread vote fraud in favor of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party.
Kudrin, who is considered a longtime ally of Prime Minister and President-elect Vladimir Putin, earlier said he would contribute to the appearance of a new liberal party, and said he was ready to be a mediator in talks between the Kremlin and opposition activists.
Putin won the March 4 presidential election by a substantial majority. Self-nominated Prokhorov came third at the polls.
