Page 31 - RusRPTJul20

2.20 ​Politics - misc
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not ruled out that he will run for a new presidential term ​if such a constitutional amendment is adopted, he said in an interview for a film "Russia. Kremlin. Putin" on Rossiya-1 television. "I have not made any decision so far. I'm not ruling out that I will stand for [election] if this emerges in the Constitution. We'll see," Putin said. Meanwhile, the Russian leader cautioned officials against searching for a successor to him now, saying that they should rather focus on their work. "They need to work rather than search for successors," Putin said. "You know, I'll say absolutely frankly now: if this does not happen [passing a respective constitutional amendment] then in some two years, I know this from my own experience, instead of a normal rhythmical work at many levels of power they will start searching for potential successors," the president explained.
The EU on June 29 prolonged economic sanctions against Russia for six months​ for failing to comply with the 2015 Minsk peace accord with Ukraine. Sanctions include limits on Russian bank and company access to EU capital markets and outlaws financial assistance or brokering for Russian financial institutions.
Russia’s constitutional referendum is set for 1 July amid fraud fears.
Skeptics believe Russia’s race to ease lockdown is because Putin wants to hold a vote as soon as possible. Putin’s approval rating has dropped during the pandemic and social distancing rules will make vote rigging much simpler. According to the latest survey by VTsIOM, 67% of the electorate plan to vote and 61% say they will vote in favor of the changes. This is less than Putin received in the last presidential election, but propaganda efforts will redouble over the coming weeks. Outrage erupted over a video produced by a company controlled by Evgeny Prigozhin, a tycoon known as ‘Putin’s chef’ who allegedly founded the St. Petersburg ‘troll factory’ and mercenary company Wagner. The clip suggested if the constitutional changes were defeated, gay marriages could be legalized, and gay couple allowed to adopt. YouTube deleted the video after complaints.
The failed merger of the Arkhangelsk region and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug ​provides a stark example, one where it took a mere two weeks of peaceful protests and opposition from local power brokers for the authorities to pull the plug on an ill-conceived plan. The governors of both regions signed a memorandum on unification on May 13; by May 26, local officials were hinting that plans for a referendum on the issue would likely be postponed indefinitely, something the head of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug confirmed on Tuesday. Quick mobilization of civil society groups and resistance from the local political class led to plans for the unification of the two Arctic regions being shelved in a matter of days. The decision did not come from the regions themselves however: acting governor of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug Yury Bezdudny first announced on May 26 there was “no hurry” to conduct a referendum immediately following a meeting with the presidential envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District, Yury Trutnev. One day later, the arrival of acting United Russia general secretary Andrey Turchak to the regional capital of Naryan-Mar reportedly sealed the deal: Turchak had already visited the region earlier in the month to try and secure the support of local politicians but quickly realized that most deputies – including those from United Russia – would oppose the referendum. “Turchak flew in on May 27 and said that the issue of the
31​ RUSSIA Country Report​ July 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com