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Article 58
 
Article 58. Procedure for Establishment of Electoral Funds, Referendum Funds
1. Candidates shall establish their own electoral funds for funding their election campaigns in the period between service of written notice of their nomination (self-nomination) on the relevant election commission and their registration by this election commission. The law of a subject of the Russian Federation may establish that, at elections of bodies of local self-government with a certain number of voters in the electoral district (that shall not exceed five thousand), a candidate need not establish an electoral fund, provided that the candidate does not fund his election campaign. In this case, the candidate shall notify the relevant election commission of the said circumstances. Electoral associations, electoral blocs that nominated lists of candidates shall, for the purpose of funding their election campaigns, establish electoral funds after their authorized representatives, including authorized representatives for financial matters, are registered by relevant election commissions.
2. A referendum initiative group shall establish its own fund for funding its activities related to advancement of the referendum initiative, organization of the collection of signatures in support of such initiative, and activities aimed at obtaining a certain result at the referendum. The law of a subject of the Russian Federation may establish that, when an initiative to hold a local referendum with a certain number of referendum participants on the territory of the relevant municipality (that shall not exceed five thousand), the referendum initiative group need not establish a referendum fund, provided that the group does not fund the preparation and conduct of the referendum. The maximum limit of expenditures from a referendum fund, sources of its formation, and the maximum limit of donations and contributions to the referendum fund shall be established by law. The law of a subject of the Russian Federation that regulates the preparation and conduct of referendums shall provide for the possibility of establishing referendum funds by other referendum participant groups, including funds for propaganda against holding a referendum, participation in a referendum, against questions submitted for a referendum. The said funds shall be governed by the rules established by this Federal Law for a referendum fund established by the referendum initiative group.
3. Candidates shall be entitled to, and electoral associations, electoral blocs, an referendum initiative group must appoint authorized representatives for financial matters. Registration of authorized representatives for financial matters shall be effected by commissions in the procedure established by law.
4. Candidates standing for election only on a list of candidates nominated by an electoral association, electoral bloc shall not be entitled to establish their own electoral funds.
5. Electoral funds of candidates, electoral associations, electoral blocs may be formed only from the following sources:
a) the own money of a candidate, electoral association, electoral bloc;
b) sums allocated to a candidate by the electoral association, electoral bloc that nominated him ;
c) voluntary donations of citizens;
d) voluntary donations of legal entities;
e) funds allocated to a candidate, electoral association, electoral bloc by the relevant election commission in cases established by law.
6. No donations to electoral funds of candidates, registered candidates, electoral associations, electoral blocs, to referendum funds shall be allowed from:
?) foreign states and foreign legal entities;
b) foreign nationals, save the case referred to in Clause 10, Article 4 of this Federal Law;
c) stateless persons;
d) citizens of the Russian Federation who have not attained to the age of 18 years on voting day;
e) Russian legal entities with foreign participation if the foreign stake in their charter capital exceeds 30 percent as of the day of the official publication of the decision to call the election, referendum (for open joint-stock companies - as of the date of the list of shareholders for the previous year);
f) international organizations and international public movements;
g) bodies of state power and local self-government;
h) state and municipal institutions and organizations;
i) legal entities with a charter capital where the state or a municipality has a stake exceeding 30 per cent as of the day of the official publication of the decision to call the election, referendum;
j) organizations established by state and municipal bodies and by organizations indicated in Sub-clauses e) and j) of this Clause;
k) military units, military institutions and organizations and law enforcement authorities;
l) charity organizations and religious associations as well as organizations established by them;
m) anonymous donors (regarded as an anonymous donor shall be a citizen who has not indicated or indicated incorrectly any of the following data: the surname, first name and patronymic, the address of the place of residence; a legal entity which has not indicated or indicated incorrectly any of the following data: the taxpayer's identification number, the name, the bank details);
n) legal entities registered less than a year before voting day of the election, referendum.
7. When making a donation, a citizen shall indicate in the payment document the following personal data: surname, first name, patronymic, date of birth, address of his place of residence, series and number of passport or equivalent identity document, citizenship.
8. When making a donation, a legal entity shall indicate in the payment document the following data: the taxpayer's identification number, the name, date of registration, the bank details, absence or presence of a foreign stake in the charter capital and the size of such stake, absence of state or municipal bodies or legal entities referred to in Sub-clauses e) and j) of Clause 6 of this article among the founders.
9. Donations referred to in Clause 6 of this article, donations made in violation of the requirements of Clauses 7 and 8 of this article, or that part of a donation which is in excess of the amount established by law shall be returned to the donors, and donations made by anonymous donors shall be remitted to the relevant budgets.
10. Maximum limits for sums that may be transferred to electoral funds, including own money of a candidate, an electoral association, electoral bloc, money allocated to a candidate by the electoral association, electoral bloc that nominated him, voluntary donations by citizens and legal entities, as well as the maximum limits for expenditures out of electoral funds shall be established by law. Such maximum limits for expenditures out of electoral funds may be increased by up to 20 percent for electoral funds of registered candidates included in the ballot for a repeat voting. A candidate who is simultaneously nominated in more than one electoral district at different elections, if such elections are conducted on the same territory or on territories one of which is located within the other, shall establish electoral funds in accordance with Clause 1 of this article, however, the maximum aggregate limit of expenditure from the funds shall be calculated by the greatest of the above limits.
11. All sums of an electoral fund, a referendum fund shall be transferred to a specialized electoral account, referendum account that is established, with the consent of the relevant commission, by the candidate or his authorized representative for financial matters, authorized representative for financial matters of an electoral association, electoral bloc, referendum initiative group at a branch of the Savings Bank of the Russian Federation, and, in the absence of such branches, at other credit institutions located on the territory of the electoral district, referendum territory. In the absence of any credit institutions on the territory of the electoral district, referendum territory a candidate, an electoral association, electoral bloc, referendum initiative group shall, with the concurrence of the relevant commission, choose a credit institution at which a special electoral account, a special referendum account is to be established.
12. At elections of federal bodies of state power, referendums of the Russian Federation, the procedure for establishment and maintenance of the said accounts, keeping records of electoral funds, referendum funds, and reporting of such funds shall be established by the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation with the concurrence of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. At elections of bodies of state power of subjects of the Russian Federation, and to bodies of local self-government, a referendum of a subject of the Russian Federation, a local referendum, the procedure for establishment and maintenance of the said accounts, keeping records of electoral funds, referendum funds, and reporting of such funds shall be established by the relevant election commission of the subject of the Russian Federation with the concurrence of the main office (the national bank) of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in the subject of the Russian Federation.