MOSCOW, August 20. /TASS/. The war on corruption is important, but it must not be used as an instrument of political struggle. Russia will be doing its utmost to uproot corruption, President Vladimir Putin told a news conference following talks with Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Kremlin on Friday. 

"The war on corruption is a very important thing, but it must not be used as an instrument of political struggle. We are perfectly aware that this tool is used to attain political aims and is recommended for achieving political aims by those organizations that mastermind the activity of such people," Putin said. "But the war on corruption as such is an extremely important thing. We pay much attention to it and will be doing everything in our powers to uproot corruption in the broadest sense of this word."

He stressed those fighting corruption must be impeccable from the standpoint of compliance with the law.

"This is one of the basic conditions for this struggle to be effective," Putin said.

Earlier, Putin approved a national plan for resistance to corruption in 2021-2024. The chiefs of federal bodies of power were instructed to ensure the plan’s implementation and to make the corresponding amendments to their own plans for resistance to corruption by October 1. The regional and other anti-corruption programs must be actualized in the same way.

The presidium of the anti-corruption council under the presidential office was told to annually review a report by its working group on progress in the implementation of this national plan.