Candidates for the State Duma will once again be selected through a competition.

The first season of “Leaders of Russia. Politics” (LRP) commenced in February 2020, and by October, 49 winners were selected. At that time, the organizers spoke cautiously about the prospects of the participants, merely noting that they were looking for politicians who could potentially run for elections at various levels. However, the timing of the competition indicated that it was indeed organized in relation to the elections to the State Duma.

Indeed, many of the project's winners entered the federal parliament in the autumn of 2021.

Among the newly elected deputies were Tatyana Butskaya, who specializes in issues related to large families, the founder of several pharmacy chains, Evgeny Nifantiev, the current senator from the Kherson region, Igor Kastyukevich, political scientist Oleg Matveychev, member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation Artem Kiryaynov, and volunteer Artem Metelyov. All of them ran as candidates from the “United Russia” (ER) party, but some parliamentary opposition parties also welcomed new members from the “Leaders” initiative: for instance, political technologist Dmitry Gusev became a deputy from “Just Russia – For Truth,” while former president of the Russian Public Relations Association, Stanislav Naumov, was elected from the LDPR. Both are now holding significant positions within these parties that are directly related to elections.

However, it cannot be said that all these individuals emerged in the competition “out of nowhere”: they were already well-known to the presidential administration (AP) and other authorities, possessing at least a basic level of media recognition. For example, Matveychev and Gusev were regarded as experts closely associated with the Kremlin's domestic political bloc. In fact, the competition provided the AP with a basis to promote familiar and aligned figures within the parties as promising politicians.

According to Sergey Kirienko, at the opening of the second season of “Leaders of Russia. Politics,” 24 of the winners from the first competition are represented in both chambers of parliament, but other participants have also taken on important roles.

For instance, Roman Karmanov has taken the helm of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, Maxim Dreval leads the “Knowledge” society, Yulia Belekova chairs the committee for the families of homeland defenders, and Alexey Koshel has become the vice-rector of the National Research University Higher School of Economics. “The winners and finalists of the LRP competition have proven to be in demand not only in the Federal Assembly, but also in executive authorities, as well as in various fields and industries,” emphasized the first deputy head of the AP.

This year, due to an earlier start, the organizers have allocated more time for the training of participants. It will begin in May 2025, involving approximately 200 individuals, and will last for ten months. “Some people can mobilize for one or two months, but are not prepared for the long haul,” explained Mr. Kirienko regarding the duration of the training. He also expressed hope that among the winners of the competition there would be participants of the special military operation.

Rector of RANEPA Alexey Komissarov listed the training topics for the competitors: “Russian statehood and current challenges,” “Constitutional structure of the Russian Federation and the system of public authorities,” “Political administration,” “Managing the information agenda,” “Modern management technologies,” “Team building and increasing personal effectiveness,” “Public speaking skills,” and “Theory and practice of management.” Meanwhile, the head of the expert council of “Leaders of Russia,” Pavel Bezruchko, noted that one of the key selection criteria will be analyzing the value orientations of the participants: “Willingness to serve the interests of Russia, to bear the limitations that accompany the role of a State Duma deputy… You know very well what I’m talking about. Love for one’s homeland.”

“Those guys who pass all the tests and acquire sufficiently quality foundational knowledge will undoubtedly serve as a personnel reserve for the State Duma elections in 2026,” assured, in turn, the acting secretary of the general council of ER, Vladimir Yakushev. His party colleagues from the Duma and Federation Council expressed their readiness to become mentors for the competition finalists. At the same time, event participants assured that representatives of the parliamentary opposition are also prepared to observe the best competitors and would be among the mentors. However, the opposition members did not participate in the opening ceremony of the competition for some reason.

Andrey Vinokurov