"We will form our team with a presidential candidate and go forward to the election," Zyuganov told journalists in Russia's second city.
Russia will hold a presidential election in March 2008.
There has been speculation that President Vladimir Putin, who is extremely popular in Russia and is credited by many for ensuring relative order and growth in the country, will nominate his successor or amend the Constitution to stay in power. However, he has repeatedly denied both options as undemocratic.
Several figures have been frequently mentioned as possible Putin successors, including First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov.
Medvedev, whom Putin put in charge of sensitive "national" social welfare projects, has received a great deal of coverage on television recently. And Ivanov, who has a KGB background like Putin, has been active on the international scene.
In the 2004 presidential election, Putin won 71.2% of the votes. He was followed by Nikolai Kharitonov from the Communist Party, who won 13.7%, Sergei Glazyev from the Homeland (Rodina) Party with 4.1%, Irina Khakamada, a leader of the Union of Right Forces, with 3.9%, Oleg Malyshkin from the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia with 2.0%, and Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov with 0.8%.
The Communist Party, which still enjoys substantial backing in some regions, won 18.3% of the State Duma vote in 2003, but was left behind by the pro-Kremlin United Russia Party, which gained over 37%.
