MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. The congress of Russia’s ruling United Russia party has unanimously supported incumbent President Vladimir Putin’s self-nomination as candidate for Russian president at the 2024 election.

The 21st United Russia congress in being held at the Russia exhibition at VDNKh.

"The decision is passed unanimously," the party’s leader, Dmitry Medvedev, said.

On Saturday, an initiative group of 750 voters unanimously supported Putin’s self-nomination in next year’s presidential election. This procedure is mandatory for a self-nominee.

Under Russian laws, a group of at least 500 voters should be formed to support a candidate’s self-nomination. After the meeting, Putin is to apply to the Central Election Commission before December 27 to register the group. The application should contain personal data on the candidate and each member of the group. The Central Election Commission will have five days to consider the application. After it makes a positive decision, Putin will be able to open an account to finance his campaign and begin collecting signatures.

On December 8, Putin announced his intention to run for re-election next March. His current term as president expires on May 7, 2024.

The Federation Council, or the upper house of Russia’s parliament, designated March 15-17 as the dates for holding next year’s presidential election.