GORKI, February 1 (Itar-Tass) —— Russia joined the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials. President Dmitry Medvedev signed into law the relevant bill adopted by the State Duma and approved by the Federation Council in January 2012.
“The law is always the first step. Now it is necessary to ensure the new rules become operational as soon as possible and are integrated into judicial practice,” Medvedev said at a meeting devoted to the operation of the judicial system.
“Liable to criminal and administrative punishment will be not only acts of corruption as such, but proposals and promises made to foreign officials of money or other assets for performing any action,” Medvedev said.
“The convention is to promote Russia’s international cooperation in resisting bribery of foreign public officials, and it is one of the conditions for its admission to the OECD,” the Kremlin’s press-service said. The implementation of the new law will require extra federal budget spending in an amount of up to 100,000 euros per year in the form of contributions to maintain Russia’s participation in the activity of the OECD working group.