GORKI, March 13 (Itar-Tass) —— The Russian president and his administration propose to control the most expensive acquisitions of public officers, such as land, real estate, bonds, cars, jets and yachts. The principle is laid down in the draft law on control over expenditures of public officers, which will be put on public debate on Tuesday.
The draft law will be posted on the Open Government website, Presidential Administration Head Sergei Ivanov said after a meeting of the Anti-Corruption Council. “We are waiting for proposals. They will be summed up before March 22 and submitted to the president, who will refer them to the State Duma,” Ivanov said.
“It is impossible to control all buys,” so the control will start from land, real estate, bonds and vehicles, he said. “The initial edition of the bill declared control over cars, but Russia is a big country and a car is vital for traveling in some regions. This is not a luxury but a means of transport. So we changed cars to vehicles in order not to forget the most expensive acquisitions, such as jets, helicopters and yachts,” he said.
“It is impossible to control acquisitions of fine art items, such as vases, watches and jewelry,” Presidential Aide – Head of the Presidential State and Legal Department Larisa Brycheva said. The president suggested starting with control of one expensive deal, she added.
The minimal sum of a buy subject to control is approximately 3,000 rubles. Highly paid public officers submit their declarations, and an average salary in the government office is 102,000 rubles. In all, an official may earn three million rubles within three years, she said.
“There will be no sweeping inspections; that is impossible,” she said. However, large buys of public officers will be monitored. “There will be no declarations of expenditures, and verifications will start after income declarations are submitted. A public officer will have to prove that the value of his property is smaller than the three-year income or to declare additional lawful sources of income,” Brycheva said.