37 business leaders support Navalny in Moscow mayoral race

MOSCOW, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- Thirty-seven CEOs and entrepreneurs from Russian start-ups and Internet companies said they support Alexei Navalny's bid to become the mayor of Moscow.

The business leaders signed a social contract to support the opposition leader, and Navalny published the document on his blog Wednesday, RIA Novosti said.

"We expect Navalny to defend the rule of law, support independent courts and ensure that officials are really accountable before society," the business leaders stated in the contract. "And we will support Navalny's policies with reputational, financial, organizational and other resources."

The 37 businessmen include Dmitry Navosha, the director of the sports website sports.ru, Shakhar Vaiser, who set up the online cab ordering company Get Taxi and Kamil Kurmakayev, the founder of the Russian online trading platform Wikimart.ru.

RIA Novosti said the agreement does not necessarily mean Navalny will receive financial support directly from the companies.

Only individuals have donated to the campaign thus far, Navalny's campaign manager, Leonid Volkov, said.

Moscow's mayoral election will take place Sept. 8.

Acting Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who is supported by the ruling United Russia party, is the clear front runner, RIA Novosti said.