Sergei Mavrodi is at war. The evil genius of the MMM investment scheme, whose financial antics bankrupted millions of investors when his pyramid came crashing down in July, 1994, is, he says, under attack from the government.


"I cannot say who began this war, or what their motives are, because I have no concrete facts," he told a news conference Thursday. "But can there really be any doubt that the state is at war with me?"


The latest skirmish involves Mavrodi's electoral bloc, the People's Capital Party, which has just been denied the right to register for the Dec. 17 elections by the Central Election Commission.


A spokesman for the CEC attributed its decision to a directive Mavrodi issued in July, granting shareholders who joined his party priority in receiving compensation for their stock. According to the CEC, the directive violates the rights of Russian citizens.


While Mavrodi said that he intends to appeal, the timing is crucial: The party cannot begin collecting the 200,000 signatures necessary to get on the ballot until it is registered, and all signatures must be collected and verified by Oct. 22.


"There is a 99 percent chance that we will not be allowed to take part in the elections," said Mavrodi.


Bowed but not daunted, Mavrodi said he will run in a single-mandate constituency, "probably in central Moscow."


Winning the election is of supreme importance to the maverick financier. Jailed for tax evasion in August, 1994, he was released only after collecting enough signatures to mount a successful bid for election to the Duma from the Mytishchi electoral district in October. Now he is waging a desperate battle to stay in the Duma -- and hold on to the parliamentary immunity that goes with it.


He denies that his personal freedom is his primary motivation, however.


"I am trying to protect the interests of my shareholders," he said. "I am like a troop commander, waging war. Would it be better if I do not win, if they put me in jail, and no one cares about the investors?"


Mavrodi has not let his deputy obligations weigh upon him too heavily. In the year since he has been elected he has visited the Duma once.


"I know it is bad not to go," he said, smiling disarmingly. "But if I am elected this time, I promise to attend every session."


He also was not overly scrupulous about fulfilling his campaign promise of investing $10 million in the Mytishchi district.He readily admitted to this failing as well, saying that he had not really been given the chance: The Duma, angry at Mavrodi's manipulation of the electoral system, denied him confirmation for 11 weeks after his election. Even after allowing him a seat, the deputies continued a campaign to have Mavrodi's immunity lifted.


"And besides," he continued, "in Mytishchi they wanted the money to build some sort of big monument to a worker or something in the center of town. I am sure that would have made life a lot better for people."


If elected this time, Mavrodi promised, he will begin to implement his grandiose platform, including a total freedom from taxes, social welfare for all, and a strong, rebuilt army.


Where will the money come from? According to the campaign literature, Mavrodi will use his company, MMM, as "a giant pump, incessantly pumping the world's financial resources into Russia."


How, exactly, this will happen is best left unexplored by the average voter.


"Few people know how a telephone works, but that does not prevent anyone from using it," writes Mavrodi in his campaign booklet "Russia for Russians." Apparently, the Alexander Graham Bell of the financial world will solve all the complicated problems for his supporters -- who, he said, number in the millions.


"We are the most numerous party in Russia," he said confidently.


Mavrodi's example is being followed by scam artist Valentina Solovyova, head of the notorious Vlastelina firm, who absconded last year with over $200 million of her investors' money. In jail since July, Solovyova is now gathering signatures to run for the Duma .