First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Igor Shuvalov joined the All-Russian Popular Front (ONF). Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov announced this on Wednesday.

Previously, the media called Shuvalov one of the contenders for the post of leader of the Right Cause party, which was eventually headed by Mikhail Prokhorov.

The First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation is not a member of United Russia, recalls RIA Novosti . He has held his current position since May 2008, when Putin began his chairmanship in the Cabinet of Ministers. Before that, he held the positions of chief of staff of the government, deputy head of the Kremlin administration, and assistant to the president. In the government, 44-year-old Shuvalov oversees the entire block of economic and social issues, as well as foreign economic relations.

According to Putin, the ONF should unite all supporters of the policies of the government and United Russia and, on the eve of the December elections to the State Duma, become the main platform for expressing the constructive ideas of “front-line soldiers.” Based on the results of the primaries, ONF members, including non-party members, can enter the lower house of parliament on the United Russia party lists. The party has already expressed its readiness to provide members of the ONF with up to a quarter of its mandates in the Duma of the next convocation.

At the moment, more than 500 different associations have already joined the People's Front, including the labor collectives of MMK and Severstal, as well as entrepreneur Alexander Lebedev.

Igor Shuvalov joined the Popular Front