CEC Registers Billionaire Prokhorov as Presidential Candidate

Russia’s election authorities on Wednesday officially registered tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov to run in the presidential elections in March.

The billionaire has now become one of five campaign hopefuls. The four other registered candidates are Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, moderate social democratic leader Sergei Mironov, populist firebrand Vladimir Zhirinovsky and communist leader Gennady Zyuganov.

The signatures collected by Prokhorov satisfy all requirements, the Central Election Committee (CEC) said. The checking of signature sheets in support of Prokhorov revealed 4.38 percent were invalid, which is under the legal 5 percent threshold.

Yabloko party founder Grigory Yavlinsky has been disqualified from the race over invalid support signatures, the CEC said on Tuesday.

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