MOSCOW, December 18. /TASS/. Russia’s presidential administration will not scrutinize the business of Prosecutor-General Yuri Chaika’s children but may check whether the situation is a conflict of interest, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
Peskov told reporters the Kremlin’s mechanism of checks into corruption-related activities does not control free entrepreneurs. "If you ask me whether this mechanism will control the business of Chaika’s children, who are adult and independent entrepreneurs, then the answer is clearly no."
He added that control into if there is a possible conflict of interests in line with the legislation is of course implemented.
This mechanism, involving presidential aide Yevgeniy Shkolov, the control directorate under the presidential office and the anti-corruption directorate, is under control of Kremlin chief of staff Sergey Ivanov, he said.
"In case when specialists of these directorates believe this is needed, the necessary checks are carried out," he said, adding that these checks can concern all Russian officials, including the prosecutor-general.
Russian opposition figurehead Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation on December 1 published its findings claiming that one of the prosecutor-general’s sons allegedly owned a hotel in Greece and that his sons had stakes in key affiliates of the Russian railways company RZD.
Chaika has dismissed all charges as groundless and claimed that "the false TV documentary had been ordered by British subject William Browder and secret services behind him." A Russian court tried Browder in absentia to find him guilty of tax crimes and sentence him to nine years in prison.
Chaika, 64, who assumed office in June 2006, is expected to be reassigned as prosecutor general next year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested finding out first if Chaika is involved in some conflict of interest before making some conclusions.