Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov named head of Russian political party

Moscow, Russian Federation (AHN Sports) – Russian billionaire and New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, who recently announced a plan to join the pro-democracy movement in his country, has been elected to the leadership of the Pravoye Delo political party at the Right Cause Party Congress of 2011 Saturday.

The 46-year-old self-made billionaire, who bought the Nets in 2009, will lead the Russian pro-business political party Pravoye Delo or Right Cause into the December elections for the State Duma, the lower chamber of the Russian parliament.

Though it is not considered as antagonistic to Kremlin, Prokhorov’s party, comprising of 56,000 members, is likely to support President Dmitry Medvedev rather than Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, if the latter enters the 2012 presidential race.

In the battle for parliament seats, Prokhorov, the 3rd richest person in Russia, reportedly indicated that he expects Pravoye Delo to capture as much as 15 percent of the vote in December’s election.

He also reportedly indicated his availability to assume the post of prime minister of Russia, if such a proposition is ever made.

Putin’s United Russia currently dominates the State Duma with 315 of the 450 seats owned by party members.

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