MOSCOW. Dec 13 (Interfax) - The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) expects to receive an invitation from the Russian authorities to monitor preparations for and the organization of presidential elections in Russia as soon as possible.

"We still hope that we will receive an invitation from the Russian authorities in a more timely manner than for the Duma elections. The presidential election has already been called and we don't see any reason why there should be a delay in inviting," ODIHR chief spokesperson Urdur Gunnarsdottir told Interfax.

"Candidate registration is obviously one of the issues election observers should be able to observe," she said.

The Russian Central Elections Commission Chairman Vladimir Churov said earlier that, in deciding how many ODIHR observers should be invited to the presidential elections and when, Russia will follow a pattern similar to that during the December 2 elections to the State Duma.