Sergei Yushenkov: SPS will be the second edition of Unity
— You refused to join the new SPS party - does this mean that you are leaving politics altogether?
— On the contrary, I expect to create a right-wing liberal party based on the Liberal Russia movement. It is already clear that the “Union of Right Forces” in its new form will essentially represent the second edition of “Unity”. And Grigory Yavlinsky’s Yabloko will remain left-liberal, social democratic. So the right-wing liberal niche in our country still remains vacant.
— Almost nothing is known about “Liberal Russia”. What it is?
— It was created a year ago as a movement protecting the interests of medium and small businesses. I emphasize - not oligarchic, but medium and small. It is precisely because of this that there are few well-known names there, but by definition it is right-wing liberal. Today there are already 60 regional branches there. On Saturday, at the liquidation congress of the Far Eastern Republic, representatives of Yekaterinburg, Kursk, Novosibirsk, Tambov, Volgograd and other regions already approached me and expressed their readiness to join this movement. In the fall, I hope, “Liberal Russia” will hold its congress and turn into a party, in full accordance with the new election law. I think the next powerful public action will be the Congress of Medium and Small Entrepreneurs.
—Who will be the leader?
“I have already held negotiations with Sergei Adamovich Kovalev and I really hope that he will agree to cooperate with me in creating this new party. Once upon a time, at the dawn of the creation of “Democratic Choice of Russia”, when it was still a right-wing liberal party, independent of the Kremlin’s moods, Sergei Adamovich was its leader, and I was its deputy chairman. Maybe we can create something together again...
— Do you really expect that “Liberal Russia” will be able to independently overcome the five percent barrier in the next elections?
- Why not? We will be the only representatives of the interests of the right-wing liberal-minded part of the population. In addition, I do not rule out that before the elections we can conclude a coalition with the Union of Rightist Forces. This is normal European practice.

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 85/P dated May 21, 2001, p. 2

Themes:

Activities of the Union of Right Forces (SPS)