Former Presidential Candidate Nadezhdin Faces Bankruptcy After Campaign Debt Judgment

Boris Nadezhdin, a former candidate for the presidency, has been compelled to declare bankruptcy due to a court ruling linked to previous campaign debts, according to a report by the business publication Kommersant on Thursday.

At 61 years of age, Nadezhdin attempted to run against President Vladimir Putin in the upcoming presidential elections scheduled for March 2024, promoting an anti-war agenda, but he was prohibited from participating. Despite his campaign’s brief duration, he garnered support from those within Russia who opposed the invasion of Ukraine, even in the face of severe governmental repression of dissent.

In May 2024, Rosenergobank, which had declared its own bankruptcy in 2017, sought a ruling from a Moscow arbitration court to officially declare Nadezhdin bankrupt. He stepped down from his position as a municipal deputy in the Moscow region shortly after.

The court determined that Nadezhdin had a debt of 77.4 million rubles (approximately $920,500) owed to Rosenergobank, which included interest and penalties, as reported by Kommersant. It is said that his assets have been confiscated, with the exception of a personal vehicle.

Nadezhdin informed the newspaper that his bank accounts were frozen and anticipated that limitations on his spending would follow.

As reported by Kommersant, the previous owner of Rosenergobank lent Nadezhdin $200,000 in 2011 to support his now-defunct political party during that year’s legislative elections. The party, named Right Cause, finished last out of seven candidates.

Following the bank’s failure, Russia’s state-run Deposit Insurance Agency took over the loan and petitioned the Moscow arbitration court in May 2024 to retrieve 112 million rubles from Nadezhdin, according to the report.