Putin bans property support for foreign agents – Kommersant

President Vladimir Putin signed lawssupplementing the legislation on foreign agents. One of them contributes amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses. Another law assigns to the Ministry of Justice the authority to exercise state control over compliance with the legislation on foreign agents and provides for a ban on Russian citizens recognized as foreign agents to receive state property support.

The law establishes that a foreign agent is not entitled to receive from the state not only financial, but also other property support, including when carrying out creative activities, and unscheduled inspections are allowed to be carried out not only in relation to the foreign agents themselves, as it was before, but also in relation to persons who interact with them.

Another law establishes fines for failure to comply with the Ministry of Justice’s order to eliminate violations of the law on foreign agents within the prescribed period. Citizens in this case will face a fine of up to 50 thousand rubles, officials – up to 100 thousand rubles, legal entities – up to 300 thousand rubles.

Previously, the Ministry of Justice exercised state control exclusively over the activities of foreign agents, and they were deprived only of the right to receive financial support from the state.

In 2022, foreign agent status got 188 people against 108 in 2021. Foreign agents were fined 2.7 times more often than in 2021, and the amount of fines imposed on them increased 60 times.

Read about plans to tighten the law on foreign agents in the publication “Kommersant” “The highest measure of regulation”.

Maria Fedotova