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Kremlin says work still underway on drafting by-laws for anti-terrorist laws package

Mobile network operators said telecom service prices could double or even triple after the law comes into force

MOSCOW, November 2. /TASS/. The Kremlin said that the Russian government was working on drafting by-laws for implementing the Yarovaya Package of anti-terror laws. However, much is yet to be done and the process is far from over.

"Work is indeed still in progress there (in the Cabinet). May be not all provisions have been finalized, but work is underway," Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

In his view, "one cannot say that it has not been done fully." "It is a large-scale task, I will not go into detail at the moment, we will inform you once the process of formulating the legislation is over," Peskov noted.

Two federal officials earlier told Vedomosti that Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Russian government had failed to draw up some by-laws in time for the package of anti-terrorist amendments drafted by lawmaker Irina Yarovaya and Senator Viktor Ozerov.

The package of anti-terrorist bills (the so-called "Yarovaya Package") stipulates that as of July 1, 2018, telecommunications operators are obliged to store data about reception, transmission, delivery and processing of voice and text messages, images, sounds and video for three years.

The "heaviest" files - the content of messages, images, sounds and video - must be stored by operators for six months. They are obliged to provide all this information on-demand to security services.

In addition to telecommunication operators, the law also obliges Internet companies to store certain data. In particular, they will be required to store information about data transmission facts and data about users for one year.

Mobile network operators said telecom service prices could double or even triple after the law comes into force.