The proposal by Oleg Mikheyev, a deputy in the State Duma, would make non-cash bribes punishable with fines from US$ 680 up to US$ 13.6 million, according to the state-owned Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
“The Russian economy is losing hundreds of billions of dollars due to corruption,” Mikheyev, a member of the Socialist party A Just Russia, told Rossiyskaya Gazeta. “This represents not only direct losses to the government, but also business barriers that are created by officials. I believe this situation must be radically changed.”
The Criminal Code of Russia currently accepts that bribes can take the form of “money, securities or other property,” as cited in a report from the Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO). Mikheyev’s plan would also classify gifts including positive performance reviews, meals, vacations, and sexual services as non-cash bribes.
The Prosecutor General of Russia proposed similar reforms in 2012 based on GRECO recommendations, according to ITAR-TASS.
The UN Convention Against Corruption, which Russia ratified in 2006, defines bribery of a public official more broadly, specifying that bribes can take the form of a “promise, offering or giving, to a public official, directly or indirectly, of an undue advantage, for the official himself or herself or another person or entity.”
