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Bill on fines for information disclosed to foreigners submitted to Russia's lower house

Individuals may face penalties of from $776 to $1500 while officials risk being fined $9000, and penalties for legal entities set in the bill would range between $15,000 and $150,000
Russian State Duma Valeriy Sharifulin/TASS
Russian State Duma
© Valeriy Sharifulin/TASS

MOSCOW, October 30. /TASS/. A bill on fines running into millions of rubles for unsanctioned disclosure of information at the request of foreign authorities has been submitted to the State Duma lower house of parliament.

In proposals tabled by the Duma Property Committee and chairman Sergey Gavrilov, the bill envisages "a ban on providing information, other than already circulated information, at the request of foreign government agencies and their authorised organisations, without preliminary consent from the authorised Russian government agency, unless otherwise stipulated by international agreements of the Russian Federation or federal laws."

Individuals may face penalties of from 50,000 roubles ($776) to 100,000 roubles. Officials will be penalised 600,000 roubles to 1 million rubles or may face disqualification. Penalties for legal entities set in the bill would range between 1 million roubles and 10 million roubles.

The bill is aimed at protecting "national interests of the Russian Federation in the economy and economic security", says the explanatory note.