Adjusted for spring – Kommersant

At the end of last week, the State Duma approved the calendar for the consideration of bills for May and early June, and on April 19, the Council of the Chamber supplemented the approximate program of work for May with a number of new initiatives. The plans of the deputies, in particular, include several bills to help citizens called up for military service by mobilization. For example, mobilized civil servants working on a fixed-term contract will be able to keep their jobs, and tourists will be able to return the full cost of the tour. The legislators also plan to consider issues related to the control of foreign agents and the fight against terrorism.

On May 23, the State Duma plans to consider government amendments to the anti-corruption law and other regulations that establish a five-year period during which an official dismissed due to loss of confidence will not be able to return to civil service or get a job in a state corporation. Also in May, the Chamber may consider amendments made by the Parliament of Bashkiria to increase the age limit for civil servants in senior positions in the apparatus of regional legislative assemblies.

Among the bills that the Duma Council recommended to the chamber for consideration in May are amendments by a group of deputies and senators to the law “On the System of the Civil Service of the Russian Federation.” According to the current law, if a civil servant is called for mobilization, his civil service is suspended. But this rule does not apply to fixed-term contracts, which must be terminated if the term expires during the employee’s conscription service. In this case, the civil servant will have to re-employ, but the preservation of his former position is not guaranteed. Therefore, the authors of the bill propose to suspend the fixed-term service contracts of civil servants and renew them after returning to civilian life for the period remaining before the expiration.

The deputies will also consider the amendments of the United Russia group headed by the chairman of the State Duma Committee on Security Vasily Piskarev, which provide for the introduction of criminal liability for violation of the requirements for anti-terrorist protection of buildings and territories. If the violation of such requirements through negligence caused serious bodily harm or major damage (from 1 million rubles), then this will be punished by up to three years in prison. In the event of the death of a person, the punishment for the same act will be up to five years in prison, and in the event of the death of two or more persons, up to seven years.

The Duma’s plans for the coming month are expected to include another initiative by Vasily Piskarev and members of the commission he heads to combat foreign interference. On April 18, at a meeting of the commission, another package of amendments was discussed, tightening control over foreign agents. So, the deputies want to deprive them of not only financial, but also property support from the state, it is also proposed to punish those who help foreign agents to circumvent the prohibitions provided for by laws. In addition, the authors of the amendments plan to allow only those foreign non-governmental organizations that officially register their Russian subdivisions with the Ministry of Justice to work in Russia.

In addition, the Council of the Chamber put amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses on liability for the illegal use of foreign messengers into the program for May. Recall that since March, the use of foreign instant messengers for sending personal data by banks and state-owned companies has been banned. For violating this ban, officials are proposed to be fined from 30,000 to 50,000 rubles, and legal entities – from 100,000 to 700,000 rubles. One of the authors of the document, Anton Gorelkin, wrote on his Telegram channel that officials would not be punished for using foreign messengers for personal purposes.

At the end of last year, the Duma adopted in the first reading a bill of deputies from the defense committee. According to the Duma calendar, in May the deputies will discuss this initiative in the second reading. The bill removes the requirement to obtain the consent of commanders to register military personnel at the place of military units in order to avoid unreasonable refusals.

Finally, on April 19, the Duma adopted in the first reading another bill that had been stale since the end of last year. We are talking about the initiative of the deputies of the New People and the Liberal Democratic Party factions, which allows citizens who bought a vacation ticket, but instead went to the front line either by mobilization or volunteers, to return the full cost of paid tourist services. The deadline for consideration of the project was postponed four times, but in the end it was approved, and until May 3, the responsible committee of the State Duma on tourism is collecting amendments to it. The government supported the bill, commenting that the text should indicate the sources of financing for the unforeseen expenses of the tour operator, in particular the tour operators’ personal liability fund.

The next plenary session of the Duma will take place on May 16. Before that, the deputies will have an official two-week vacation and a traditional week of work with voters in the regions.

Ksenia Veretennikova