MOSCOW, September 27 (Itar-Tass) — The State Duma commission on verification of reliability of information on the income and assets of MPs, led by United Russia member Vladimir Vasilyev on Thursday will discuss materials on the alleged business activity of a number of parliamentarians, it is stated in the lower house commission’s official release, received by Itar-Tass.
The Duma commission intends to conduct a check on the inquiry concerning the activities of members of the United Russia faction – Vasily Tolstopyatov, Airat Khairullin, Grigory Anikeyev, Alexei Knyshov, Ilya Kostunov, Yelena Nikolayeva and a member of the LDPR faction Vladimir Semenov.
In addition, the meeting agenda includes the issue of “verification of the accuracy and completeness of data on income, property and property obligations,” presented by deputies of the State Duma Vladimir Pekhtin and Andrei Skoch for 2011.
On September 14, the State Duma stripped of powers deputy head of A Just Russia faction Gennady Gudkov because it was found that he was engaged in business activities, which is incompatible with the status of a parliament member. The Vasilyev commission, which, based on the materials of the Russian Investigative Committee (SK) found the grounds for stripping the MP of his mandate, was dealing with the “Gudkov case.”
Meanwhile, Gudkov’s colleagues in the faction sent to the State Duma leadership materials on six representatives of United Russia (their cases will be considered on Thursday) with claims similar to those that had been earlier put forward against the member of A Just Russia faction. Speaker of the lower house Sergei Naryshkin said that he received a letter with a request to initiate an investigation against several MPs - members of United Russia. “I’ve received a letter and sent it to the relevant committee and the commission headed by Vladimir Vasilyev,” he said. The head of the relevant commission for his part on September 11 confirmed that the lawmakers whose names are specified in the inquiry were informed about the claims put forward against them by A Just Russia.
In addition, on September 20, the commission announced the results of verification of information on five United Russia deputies conducted at the request of the Yabloko party leader Sergei Mitrokhin. Vasilyev reported on the check results that the question on the four United Russia members - Vladislav Reznik, Ivan Demchenko, Oleg Lebedev and Adam Delimkhanov is closed, as all the explanations provided by them were regarded sufficient. As for Skoch, the commission has decided to invite him for explanations about 19 million rubles that were given to him by his father.
Earlier, the leader of the United Russia faction in the Duma, Andrei Vorobyov, pledged that if the check concerning the faction members confirms their involvement in business activities, they will be stripped of their mandates. “If the fact of operational business management is established, then, undoubtedly, yes,” he said. “But certainly there will be no crusading.”