The State Duma may consider a bill developed with the participation of a foreign agent

On June 21, the State Duma may consider at a plenary session a bill, one of the authors of which is ex-deputy Magomed Gadzhiev, who was recognized by the Ministry of Justice on May 26 as a foreign agent. Vedomosti drew attention to this. The fact that the bill can be considered at the end of June is stated in the card of the bill on the website of the State Duma.

Hajiyev was a member of the State Duma of the IV, V, VI and VII convocations. He was not elected to the current convocation. The Ministry of Justice motivated the inclusion of Gadzhiev in the register of foreign agents by the fact that he “being outside the Russian Federation, in order to obtain foreign citizenship, expressed his readiness to cooperate with foreign sources, declared support for the authorities of Ukraine.”

The State Duma Committee on Tourism proposed to reject the bill. It was introduced in the last convocation – November 15, 2019. The initiative was introduced by a group of deputies from three Duma factions (“United Russia”, LDPR, “Fair Russia”), including among the authors, for example, was the chairman of the State Duma Committee on State Construction Pavel Krasheninnikov, however, on March 2, 2023, he removed his last name from the bill, then six more United Russia members did it besides him (only Gadzhiev remained, he had already been expelled from the party).

The bill changed the concept of “accommodation facility” in such a way that it concerned only the non-residential fund. The explanatory note stated that the concept of “accommodation facility” includes both residential and non-residential facilities, which “allows introducing into the legal field the business of providing accommodation services in residential premises, which is contrary to the current housing legislation.”

The bill does not have a marking indicating that one of its sponsors is now a “foreign agent”. Lawyer Garegin Mitin draws attention to the fact that this does not apply to initiatives already submitted: this only applies to publications in the media and social networks, in addition, foreign agents must indicate this status in the elections. The legislation did not prescribe the aspect related to rule-making, which takes place with the participation of foreign agents.

Now, seven more bills remain under consideration by the State Duma, where Gadzhiev is indicated as the author. The State Duma has no unconsidered bills of other ex-deputies recognized as foreign agents, including the deputy of the VI convocation from United Russia Maria Maksakova, who is recognized as a foreign agent.