Russian businessman Alexei Nechaev will stand in as President Vladimir Putin’s “liberal” rival during Russia's 2024 presidential race, the independent news outlet Mozhem Obyasnitreported Tuesday, citing two anonymous sources in the pro-business political party he created nearly four years ago. Nechaev, who owns one of Russia’s leading cosmetics companies Faberlic, stepped into politics when he founded the New People party in the run-up to the 2021 State Duma elections, which saw the party secure 15 seats in the 450-seat lower house of parliament.

According to Mozhem Obyasnit, the businessman-turned-politician's role in the 2024 presidential race will be to attract liberal voters to the polls, just as his party has done in other elections in recent years. New People has reportedly already begun work on Nechaev’s campaign and is expected to announce his candidacy at its December convention.Nechaev is also a member of the All Russia People’s Front (ONF), a political coalition created by Putin in 2011.

He has made several pro-Putin remarks during his time in politics, and he has also backed Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. Putin is widely expected to announce his re-election bid in the coming weeks, though he has said that he plans to wait until after Russia's parliament officially calls the presidential campaign in mid-December.The Kremlin has said before that Putin would face “no competition” if he ran in 2024.