MOSCOW, May 14. /TASS/. Draft legislation imposing criminal liability for complying with Western sanctions on Russian soil has been submitted to the State Duma, according to information posted on the database of the lower house of Russia’s parliament on Monday.

The speakers of the lower and upper houses of Russia’s parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin and Valentina Matviyenko, respectively initiated the bill, along with the leaders of all the parliamentary factions. These include Gennady Zyuganov (the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, KPRF), Vladimir Zhirinovsky (LDPR), Sergei Neverov (the United Russia party) and Sergei Mironov (the A Just Russia party), and also Duma First Vice-Speakers Ivan Melnikov and Alexander Zhukov and First Deputy Head of the United Russia faction Andrei Isayev.

Amendments to Russia’s Criminal Code

The bill proposes supplementing Russia’s Criminal Code with a new article - 284.2 "Restricting or Refusing to Perform Ordinary Business Operations or Transactions for the Purpose of Assisting the Enforcement of Restrictive Measures Imposed by a Foreign State, a Group of Foreign States or by an International Organization."

Part 1 of the new article envisages liability "for action or the lack of action" for the purposes of enforcing anti-Russian sanctions, if they restrict or deny Russian citizens, corporate entities, the Russian Federation, its regions or municipalities, and also their controlled entities the performance of ordinary business operations or transactions. Violations of this provision entail a penalty of up to 600,000 rubles ($9,700) or placed in custody for a period of up to four years, or penal labor for the same period or imprisonment for a term of up to four years, along with fiscal penalties of up to 200,000 rubles ($3,230).

A separate clause (part 2 of article 284.2) proposes introducing criminal liability for aiding and abetting the imposition of restrictions against Russia. This is understood to mean "the performance of willful actions by a Russian citizen that help a foreign state or a group of foreign states or an international organization to impose restrictive measures on Russian public and private entities and also on their controlled entities." This provision also covers "the issuance of recommendations and the transfer of information" that have caused or may have caused the imposition of restrictions against Russian companies and citizens.

Violations of this type envisage a penalty of up to 500,000 rubles ($8,100), or placed in custody for a term of up to three years, or penal labor for the same period, or an arrest for up to six months, or imprisonment for a term of up to three years, along with fiscal penalties of up to 200,000 rubles ($3,230).

The draft law defines "ordinary business operations or transactions" as legal actions that "are freely performed as part of normal economic and other law-abiding activity by persons that do not differ from private or public entities, and also from their controlled foreign entities against which the restrictive measures have been imposed."

State Duma Speaker Volodin earlier said the bill might be examined during May because the bill was a "priority issue.".