ST. PETERSBURG, June 7. /TASS/. Businessmen should remember a Bible commandment "you shall not steal," Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a plenary session at SPIEF.

Putin was commenting on the statement by Sophie Shevarnadze, the moderator of the session, who said that vague rules may scare foreign investors.

"Take the Bible and read there: "You shall not steal, you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife…". Everything is written there," the Russian leader said.

"Look at what is happening in other countries: in the US they sentence businessmen to 100, 150 years in prison, so what of it?" the Russian President went on.

"Do not steal, behave yourself, and be done with it," he concluded.

Touching upon the case of Michael Calvey, founder of the Baring Vostok private equity firm, Putin stressed that either the alleged theft should be proved, or all charges should be dropped.

"As we know, he (Calvey - TASS) is accused of embezzling 2.5 billion rubles. Some, in particular many of his Russian partners, who are present here, argue that this is not the case. Maybe, but law enforcement agencies should sort it out," Putin said

Under to generally accepted international rules, as long as there is no court conviction, Calvey is considered innocent, the Russian president stressed.