37 Business Leaders Back Navalny in Moscow Mayoral Race

A group of 37 CEOs and entrepreneurs from Russian internet companies and start-up businesses have announced their backing for opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s bid to become mayor of Moscow in a rare intervention in favor of opposition politics by Russian business. Their support for Navalny at the upcoming election, in which he is aiming to unseat incumbent Sergei Sobyanin, will be logistical, as well as financial, according to a “social contract” signed by the business leaders and published by Navalny on his blog. Russian business has largely avoided backing the opposition since billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky was jailed in 2003 and his oil company, Yukos, was broken up. Khodorkovsky remains in prison.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130807/182625362/37-Business-Leaders-Back-Navalny-in-Moscow-Mayoral-Race.html