События и комментарии экспертов фонда
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| 12 февраля, 2013 | | | Читать на сайте издания |
Putin Hits Deputies where it Hurts
RBC Daily publication
By Anastasia Novikova and Svetlana Makunina.
Russian Deputies spent too long mulling over how to correct a bill on banning officials from holding foreign bank accounts, now, they will only be required to support the document which Vladimir Putin himself submitted to the State Parliament yesterday. His intervention is a blow to the interests of that group of parliamentarians who decided to share the position of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and oppose the tougher measures.
It was not that long ago that Parliament passed the first draft of an initiative put forward by a group of deputies led by Vyacheslav Lisakov proposing the ban on property ownership and foreign bank accounts for officials. It was originally to go to a second draft for further consideration but it was at this point that a difference in opinion among the authors of the bill became apparent. The discussion was supposed to have been led by Irina Yarova - head of the Committee on Anti-Corruption and Security - but she hijacked discussion and refused to inform the authors of the amendments that had been made.
Sources told RBK Daily that some people within Parliament consider that the prominent ‘United Russia’ supporter, Yarova, did this to push through Dmitri Medvedev’s position - as the two of them have become close recently. One informed source said: ‘It seems that Yarova under-estimated her powers and so the President had to intervene.’
The bill, introduced by Vladimir Putin, appeared on State Duma listings on Tuesday. In essence, officials can rest easy when it comes to their villas on warm shores – they need only declare them and confirm revenue from their foreign property. However, government officials who have foreign bank accounts registered either in their names or in the name of children who are minors will have to be closed and the monies transferred to
Konstantin Kostin, head of the Civil Society Fund, said that he had foreseen that it would be the President who would submit the final version of the bill. ‘This is undoubtedly one of the priorities that the President talked of in his address. It is entirely logical that all this is the President’s initiative.’
The Kremlin option will help to remove all the questions posed by members of the National Council who had previously fiercely opposed the ban on ownership of property abroad. Many senators secured ‘distant dachas’ for themselves in Europe and the
The people affected by the presidential bill will be government officials, deputies to the Attorney General, members of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank, employees of State corporations and companies and a number of other categories of officials. The law will also apply to spouses and minors. The ban will not affect employees of consulates and other official representatives of
If the official does not close his account and transfer the money to
