MOSCOW, July 20 (Itar-Tass) —— Deputy speaker of the State Duma representing United Russia Sergei Zheleznyak said on Thursday he supported the initiative from Ilya Ponomarev of A Just Russia to publish information on officials keeping at foreign banks most of their savings.
“A deputy of A Just Russia Ponomarev, probably joking, suggested introducing a legal norm where it would be obligatory to publish information on officials who keep at foreign banks over half of their savings. We support this idea no joking and believe we should start with deputies of the State Duma,” Zheleznyak told reporters on Friday.
The deputy speaker suggested the deputies “started from themselves and reported to the electorate the state of their accounts.”
“Those who voted for deputies or political parties, including A Just Russia, have a right to know whether deputies act in the interests of foreign states,” he continued.
Zheleznyak said he would be ready to urge the United Russia faction support a bill during the autumn session of the State Duma.
On Wednesday, Ponomarev promised in his Internet blog to design a bill of the kind by the autumn session. He assured “it would be a law, which would truly protect from foreign influence.”
“If an official or deputy of the State Duma /or his or her family/ keeps in foreign banks’ accounts over 50 percent of savings, FSB and investigative authorities would initiate a probe to find out if that person acts in the interests of foreign countries and whether or not his or her relatives are spies,” Ponomarev wrote.