Russia on Friday disqualified Vladimir Putin's liberal challenger Grigory Yavlinsky from the March 4 presidential election, citing violations with his signature lists, the election commission said.

"I am sad to announce that we will not able to register Yavlinsky as a candidate," election commission member Sergei Danilenko said at a hearing, which concluded that 23 percent of the signatures Yavlinsky gathered from supporters to win registration had been photocopied.

Russia's presidential election rules require all independent candidates whose parties fail to win seats in parliament to collect two million signatures in a two-month span to win registration.

The restriction has been heavily criticised by candidates as well as the growing protest movement against Putin who will be standing for a third Kremlin term in the polls after his four year stint as prime minister.

The 59-year-old economist founded the liberal opposition Yabloko party in 1993 as Russia struggled with a post-Soviet economic crisis that left many impoverished and looking for social protection.

Yavlinsky always promoted more socially-oriented policies and twice ran for president, failing to break the 10-percent barrier in both 1996 and 2000.

He made a surprise return to Russian politics last year after refusing to face Putin or then his hand-picked successor Dmitry Medvedev in two past polls that he termed undemocratic.