The State Duma called unsafe trips of deputies abroad

The norm, according to which State Duma deputies will warn about their trips abroad, will be considered at a plenary meeting on January 24, Mikhail Romanov, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Control, told Vedomosti.

“These are amendments to the regulations of the State Duma, obliging the deputy to notify the commission about the departure. Do not get permission – I emphasize, but notify. <…> This norm will be submitted today at the end of the meeting and is planned for adoption in accordance with the instructions of the Chairman of the State Duma [Вячеслава Володина]”, he noted.

Earlier, on January 24, State Duma deputy Mikhail Matveev (KPRF) spoke about Volodin’s proposal. In accordance with it, deputies need to notify the committee of the lower house for control about leaving Russia, and the chairmen of committees and vice-speakers – the speaker of the State Duma. Matveev clarified that the changes will not affect business trips.

After that, the head of the control committee, Oleg Morozov (United Russia), said that the norm would be recommendatory, and the regulations would encourage deputies to inform about the reasons for leaving. “There may be good reasons, or there may be trips for a walk,” he told RIA Novosti.

Attention to travel abroad is a “security issue,” Dmitry Gusev, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Control Committee, told Vedomosti, adding that he had not yet seen the amendments to the regulations themselves.

“Deputies [Госдумы] – under sanctions. Despite the fact that the majority of the world, namely three quarters, did not join the sanctions, we have only recently had several cases when children of governors in Europe [сына губернатора Красноярского края Александра Усса Артема] detained and tried to initiate cases,” he explained. In addition, criminal cases have been opened against a number of deputies in Ukraine, for some of them they have been put on the wanted list, and if they fly to any country, they can “simply be closed” on this statement, Gusev believes.

“Notify – do not notify, who will save you later? That is, a person, knowing about the risk, goes there [за границу], and then we spend public money when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other organizations are trying to save him,” the deputy said. Tougher measures, such as travel restrictions for deputies, are not yet discussed, Gusev said. But if the pressure on Russia intensifies, there may come a time when they “seem normal.”

In September 2022, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed decree imposing sanctions on 606 representatives of Russian authorities. The list includes 28 members of the Russian Security Council, 154 members of the Federation Council and 424 State Duma deputies.

In January 2023, there were several scandals involving regional deputies who made no secret of their holidays abroad. On January 10, Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Vologda Region Denis Dolzhenko was excluded from among the supporters of “United Russia” after the publication of a photo from a run from Dubai. Then he was expelled from its composition by the “ER” faction. After that, the governor of the Vologda Oblast, Oleg Kuvshinnikov, called on deputies and officials at various levels to refrain from vacations abroad and instead start helping those in need.

During the New Year holidays, Secretary of the General Council of United Russia Andrei Turchak criticized the video from Mexico, the deputy of the Kursk Regional Duma Maxim Vasiliev. On it, he poured beer into a glass, congratulated everyone on the New Year and wished “a lot of money and a lot of good mood.” In response, Turchak offered Vasiliev and his wife, also a deputy, to surrender their mandates. He called the video a manifestation of “cynicism and inhumanity.” “No homeland, no flag. No honor, no dignity. No brains, wrote Turchak.

There are currently no hardware restrictions on the vacation of deputies and officials abroad, this is “rather an ethical issue”, declared Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov.