Agrarian Party of Russia

The Agrarian Party of Russia (APR; Agrarnaya Partiya Rossii, Аграрная Партия России, АПР) was an agrarian political party in Russia. Founded in February 1993, it was among the earliest parties in the Russian Federation. History The Agrarian Party of Russia was founded on 26 February 1993, by the head of the Altai Republic, Mikhail Lapshin and Vasily Starodubtsev, governor of the Tula region and former member of the Soviet Union's State Committee on the State of Emergency. During their leadership (1993–2004), the party made an alliance with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) and the Fatherland – All Russia bloc. Until 2008, the party supported agrarian socialism and collectivism. Founder Mikhail Lapshin led the party until 2004; its most recent leader was Vladimir Plotnikov. In the legislative elections in December 1993, the Agrarian Party obtained 37 seats in the Duma and won 8% of the popular vote. Between 1994 and 1996, one of its party members, Ivan Rybkin, was the speaker of the Russian Parliament. In the legislative elections in December 1995, the APR did not make it over the 5% threshold, obtaining only 3.78% of the votes. In the legislative elections on 7 December 2003, the party won 3.6% of the popular vote and three out of 450 seats in the parliament.