Russia approves anti-corruption plan for 2021−2024

In August, president Vladimir Putin issued a decree requiring numerous authorities at the federal, regional and municipal levels to adjust their anti-corruption plans, prepare reports on their corruption analyses and assessments, as well as make legal and regulatory proposals and recommendations of practice to deal with various aspects of corruption. The plan is based on an anti-corruption law approved in 2008 and extends the plan for 2018−2020.

The measures include extending the scope of legislation on anti-corruption restrictions to include public servants in temporary posts as well as more comprehensive application to members of regional parliaments, temporary prohibitions on persons fired from public service to work in the government sector or state-owned enterprises, as well as development of rules on receiving and reporting gifts. Persons sanctioned for corruption will see restrictions on work in the public sector on a wider basis. Procedural recommendations will be prepared to deal with general restrictions on participation in private sector entities.

Analyses will focus on various topics such as risks of corruption that arise when civil servants participate without compensation in the activities of state-owned enterprise governance bodies. The law shall be amended to define more accurately conflicts of interest. Improved procedures are needed for reporting corporate connections of persons arranging public procurements, as well as assessing risks of corruption associated with transfers of funds between government sector budgets. The procedures for verifying reported income, expenses and property of civil servants will also be improved. Transparency is needed in determining property value at sale or rental of government property, and at acquisition of property by the state.

In conjunction with anti-corruption measures, protection of information is set to improve, including procedures to provide such information to other official agencies, as well as protections for whistle-blowers. The plan pays considerable attention to education about anti-corruption measures and citizen participation.

Russia has long ranked low in international corruption surveys

Sources: Transparency International, World Bank and BOFIT.