Business proposed amendments to the Criminal Code to reduce pressure on entrepreneurs

The Association of Entrepreneurs “Business Russia” sent proposals with amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation to the Administration of the President of Russia. About it reported “Kommersant” with a link to the document.

Among the proposals of Business Russia is the abolition of the use of the article on the organization of a criminal community (Article 220 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) in relation to entrepreneurs.

In addition, Delovaya Rossiya proposed adjusting the approach to accounting for “entrepreneurial” elements of crime. According to the community, now there are statistics only on those articles that certainly relate to business – fraud, illegal entrepreneurship, creation of a legal entity through dummies, etc. At the same time, statistics on the number of prosecutions of entrepreneurs under ordinary criminal articles (for example, parts 1–4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) is not maintained.

Other proposals include the creation of a special clause in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for fraud in VAT refunds. An investigation of a case under ordinary criminal charges leads to the entrepreneur being taken into custody and failure to comply with deadlines for the return of seized property, which creates risks of bankruptcy, added Delovaya Rossiya.

“The proposed changes to the legislation will make it possible to better protect the rights of entrepreneurs and, in the event of claims from law enforcement agencies, to save more operating enterprises, and with them tax revenues and jobs,” noted the head of the expert center on criminal legal policy and the execution of judicial acts “Business Russia” Ekaterina Avdeeva.

In March, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) prepared a set of measures to reduce criminal and administrative pressure on business. In particular, we are talking about the decriminalization of violations under 10 articles, including illegal entrepreneurship (Article 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), fraud without causing significant damage (Part 1 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), illegal use of an invention, utility model (Part 1, Article 147 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), etc. Some articles are outdated or liability for them is already provided for in the Code of Administrative Offenses, others do not pose such a danger as to be considered a criminal violation, the RSPP believes.

On March 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with representatives of big business. According to its results, the head of state gave instructions to submit proposals to reduce pressure on business by June 1. On May 26, Putin also took part in the annual forum of the public organization “Business Russia”, following which he instructed the business community to prepare proposals with amendments to criminal and criminal procedural legislation by October 1.