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Russian MP demands government regulate private military companies

The Just Russia MPs already sent a draft law regulating private military companies activity to the government

© Zurab Javakhadze/TASS

MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/. Chairman of the State Duma Committee for Defense and former Commander of the Airborne-Landing Force Vladimir Shamanov has argued in favor of government regulation for private military companies (PMC) and confirmed that a relevant State Duma committee is gearing up for expert-level discussion of this issue.

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"It (media reports about deaths of PMC fighters in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor Governorate - TASS) notes that the importance of PMCs mentioned by Russian Foreign Minister [Sergey] Lavrov requires a state approach and study, because this is a fact of life already," Shamanov told reporters on Wednesday. "The state should directly influence these processes to avoid guesswork," he added.

The State Duma committee head confirmed that it is handling this issue. "We are delving at full length (into the matter). Yesterday, an expert council’s working group studied the issue of how we will gather experts to assess all developments on this issue," he specified.

The Just Russia MPs already sent a draft law regulating PMC activity to the government, Shamanov said. One of the initiators, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Mikhail Yemelyanov from A Just Russia, earlier reported about this project's development. The issue of PMC activity surfaced at Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s news conference on January 15. Speaking about the existence of such organizations in some countries, the Russian top diplomat favored hammering out a legislative base to provide people working in these companies "with a legal status" and protection under the law.

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