Page 19 - RusRPTOct23

It is not surprising that Communist politicians criticized the elections, since the party will suffer the most as a result of the votes. Over the past few years, the Communist Party has become a kind of catch-all choice for dissatisfied voters, due to its position as the second strongest party nationally and the grassroots organizing of some of its chapters. This status has been significantly weakened, while the Liberal Democratic Party’s position has improved. This is likely in line with the Kremlin’s desire not to allow a clear choice to emerge for disgruntled voters. Regional legislatures are often used by local elites to protect their interests. A significant shift in favor of United Russia signals to them that from now on, they have to gravitate towards the ruling party to do so.
The elections also showcased that, apart from the curious case of Khakassia, the Kremlin seems to have gubernatorial elections fully and regional legislative elections mostly under control. However, in some cities and smaller municipalities, there are still remnants of genuine political competition. The liberal Yabloko party, whose candidates ran anti-war campaigns in some regions, made it into the municipal councils of four cities, including Yekaterinburg and Novgorod. In the Leningrad Region, local environmental activists allied with the Communist Party defeated United Russia candidates in local elections, and a Karelian city also punished United Russia in its local elections.
2.9 EU revs up to impose twelfth package of sanctions on Russia
The EU is gearing up to impose its twelfth package of sanctions on Russia as members states are due to meet and debate new punishments in October.
Eleven packages have been imposed to date although the last package contained almost no new measures but attempted to enforce the previous ten packages more effectively.
The new package could contain sanctions on buying Russian diamonds for the first time, a major source of income for Russia, Bloomberg reported. Until now Belgium has vigorously lobbied against sanctions on diamond says as much of Europe’s diamond trade is conducted in the Belgium city of Antwerp.
Sources also suggest that the EU is on the verge of approving a proposal to make use of the proceeds generated from the assets of some $300bn of frozen Russian central bank funds that could be sent to aid in the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Certain EU member states, notably Poland and the Baltic countries, are pushing for intensified sanctions against Russian liquefied gas and IT services.
Additionally, they seek to impose restrictions on Russia's nuclear sector. However, these proposals face limited support from other member states as Russia remains the major supplier of nuclear fuel to the rest of the world. The
19 RUSSIA Country Report October 2023 www.intellinews.com