ST. PETERSBURG, June 17. /TASS/. Law enforcers must bear personal responsibility, including criminal one, for taking groundless action that ruin businesses, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"There must be a cardinal reduction of opportunities for illegal criminal persecution (of businessmen)," he said at the full-scale meeting of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday.
"Moreover, law enforcement officials must bear personal responsibility for groundless action that ruin businesses," he said.
Putin stated that this is "a very delicate matter."
On the one hand, it would be wrong to bind the law enforcers by hand and foot, but there should certainly be a balance and a firm obstruction to any abuse of power," Putin said. He believes that the Prosecutor-General’s Office, the Investigative Committee, the Interior Ministry and the federal security service FSB are obliged to monitor the situation locally and, if need be, to take measures to improve legislation. He asked the working group for law enforcement in the business sphere to focus on these matters.
Putin recalled that he had submitted to the State Duma a package of bills for humanizing responsibility for economic crimes.
He promised that the further liberalization and improvement of the business climate in the country would continue.
‘We will be addressing systemic problems, which are still many," he said. Putin explained that improving transparency and balancing relations between government agencies and businesses was the issue of the day.
"These relations must be based on the understanding of mutual responsibility, strict compliance with laws, respect for the interests of the state and society and the absolute value of the institution of private property," he said.