MOSCOW, October 19 (Itar-Tass) — Russia may adopt the U.S. experience to place photos of sought alimony debtors on pizza boxes. Chief Russian Bailiff Artur Parfenchikov does not rule it out.
It applies to those debtors who are sought, he noted.
Photos of such persons are already placed on information boards, banners, in media and the Internet.
For example, one resident of Penza in various ways escaped from bailiffs, but after a talk with his relatives, when a bailiff explained that his photo would be placed on a board "Attention! Wanted!"and in media to establish his whereabouts, the debtor, not to become known all over the region, himself came to the bailiffs and paid off all the sum of the alimony debt (170,000 roubles), the official said.
Bailiffs discussed during a meeting recently that boards should be used wider in public places. Under discussion was the experience of American colleagues to place alimony debtors' photos on pizza boxes. It is within the law, he noted. Maybe it is unusual, but one can realize that if he does not pay alimony, his face will appear on a pizza box.
If a person is on a wanted list, he must be searched for. And how the one can be found, if the public is not asked to help, especially when criminal cases may be opened against the sought people, the official noted.
The chief bailiff also noted that the number of debtors began to decrease in Russia, for the first time.
In the eight months of this year, bailiffs dealt with 1,630,000 alimony debt cases, 63,000 fewer than in the same period of last year.
The main thing is that the number of new cases decreased. The cases numbered 1,230,000 in 2007 and 881,000 in 2011. That is about a third down.
In the past five years, bailiffs carried out the programme to optimize the work to force alimony payment. Special groups were formed in regional structures of bailiffs to force such payments.
As a result, public consciousness has changed. The former image of a hero – a father who does not pay alimony and runs from his children all over the Soviet Union, is replaced with the understanding that if you have a child, you must support the one, he noted.
This has been achieved with the systematization of work with debtors, the official believes. They are divided in segments. There are cases when a debtor voluntarily pays, and bailiffs only control him. There are debtors on a wanted list. And there are cases when legal proceedings are initiated. The systematization simplifies the work of bailiffs and those who check their work.
The return of the regulations prescribing imprisonment and other measures, such as property seizure and a ban on leaving the country, is also helpful.
A total of 34,000 criminal cases were opened in the past half of this year over alimony non-payment, but there are a lot of examples when a debtor changes his behaviour after receiving a warning about prosecution. A debtor in the Tambov Region after a warning immediately paid over a million roubles.
Barring from travelling abroad is also helpful. Bailiffs did not allow more than 82,600 alimony debtors to leave the country. As a result, over 202.8 million roubles were paid.
Cooperation with religious denominations also helps bailiffs. Sometimes, a warning about prosecution does not work, but after a talk with a priest, the man often goes to look for a job, the official added.
About a third of children who receive alimony have it as a result of control of bailiffs, he said.