<P> United Russia 's predecessor was the Unity bloc , which was created three months before the December 1999 Duma elections to counter the advance of the Fatherland -- All Russia ( OVR ) party led by Yuri Luzhkov . The creation of the party was heavily supported by Kremlin insiders , who were wary of what looked like a certain OVR victory . They did not expect Unity to have much chance of success since President Boris Yeltsin was very unpopular and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin 's ratings were still minuscule . The new party attempted to mimic OVR 's formula of success , placing an emphasis on competence and pragmatism . Charismatic Minister of Emergency Situations Sergei Shoigu was appointed as the party leader . </P>
<P> United Russia 's predecessor was the Unity bloc , which was created three months before the December 1999 Duma elections to counter the advance of the Fatherland -- All Russia ( OVR ) party led by Yuri Luzhkov . The creation of the party was heavily supported by Kremlin insiders , who were wary of what looked like a certain OVR victory . They did not expect Unity to have much chance of success since President Boris Yeltsin was very unpopular and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin 's ratings were still minuscule . The new party attempted to mimic OVR 's formula of success , placing an emphasis on competence and pragmatism . Charismatic Minister of Emergency Situations Sergei Shoigu was appointed as the party leader . </P>
who became the first leader of the united russia
who became the first leader of the united russia
Sergei Shoigu
Sergei Shoigu