Information about securities and credit histories of civil servants will be checked without trial

The Russian Government Commission on Legislative Activities has approved an initiative developed by the Ministry of Labor to strengthen control over the reliability of information about the incomes of officials, significantly expanding access to information about securities and credit histories.

If the amendments are adopted (available to Vedomosti), employees of the presidential administration, the White House staff, the Central Bank, regional governments, etc. will be able to receive relevant information about their subordinates and applicants. The bill should enter into force 180 days after its official publication. It is noted that such a period “is due to the need for the preparation and publication by the Bank of Russia of relevant regulations.”

Today, prosecutors, courts and investigating authorities have the opportunity to obtain such information, says Anton Bibarov-Gosudarev, a member of the Russian Bar Association. “But it is quite obvious that it is not always appropriate to involve these bodies in anti-corruption checks of government officials,” he said. The document establishes a closed list of officials to whom a credit institution is entitled to issue certificates of operations. That is, it will become more difficult for corrupt officials to hide their income, and the possibilities of anti-corruption checks of civil servants have been expanded, Bibarov-Gosudarev specified. “Given that such a right is not given to everyone in the draft law, this can be considered as an indicator of a special level of protection of conscientious civil servants from unreasonable attention,” he believes.