Russian strawberry grower and leader of the Communist Party Pavel Grudinin will stand against Vladimir Putin in the presidential elections in March. The Moscow Times said of him he “might be the biggest surprise in the election campaign so far.”
The 57 year old presidential candidate runs a strawberry farm based on Lenin’s model outside of Moscow. Last year he became the leader of the Communist Party. The strawberry farm does him no harm, it is said he can add 300,000 euro to his bank account every month. The company is a “socialist oasis in the capitalist jungle of Moscow,” and has various social facilities for employees, according to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.
The strawberry grower says he wants to end corruption and ensure the billions of dollars that have flown abroad in recent years find their way back to Russia. He also wants to end the influence of the people who supported Putin in recent years.