ST. PETERSBURG, April 24./TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has endorsed the initiative to continue the fight against corruption, but emphasized that some people use it as an instrument for self-promotion and grandstanding.
"We must distinguish between those who indeed want to do this [fight corruption] and to really strengthen the state and those who seek to use it as an instrument in their own political games, for self-advertisement," the president said as he met with members of the Council of Legislators.
"We have already seen it in the case of the so-called ‘Arab spring’, and we know well what that turned into. We see this through the example of Ukraine," Putin stressed.
Putin recalled that participants in the Ukrainian coup of 2014 clamored for a fight against corruption among their main slogans. However, corruption in the country has skyrocketed since then. "Everyone who arrives from Ukraine complains about exactly the same thing - earlier, kickbacks used to be 50%, while now it is at 75%. "This is what the fight against corruption has resulted in," he said.
Putin said fighting corruption was among the key trajectories for strengthening statehood. " These sorts of occurrences undermine trust in government agencies," the president stressed.
"We will continue doing this consistently and we will be adopting relevant statutory enactments, and directing the law enforcement system towards the anti-corruption struggle," the president stated. It is important not just to inform people, but to do a real job in this respect, Putin said.
"We must spare no effort to fight against it [corruption]. And in order not to let all sorts of dubious individuals use it for their self-serving purposes, we must demonstrate to people that the state is capable of fighting corruption efficiently and that it is doing so," he said at the meeting of the Council of Legislators.