Medvedev, legislators to discuss anti-corruption measures

MOSCOW, July 2 (Itar-Tass) - President Dmitry Medvedev of the Russian Federation (RF) is to attend a session of the Council of Legislators here on Wednesday to discuss matters concerning legislative support for counteraction to corruption.

Members of the Federation Council (FC) upper house of parliament and
of the Council to the President of the RF on Counteraction to Corruption,
chiefs of security-related agencies, government officials, and members of
the Public Chamber will be also present at the session.

It has become known to Itar-Tass that participants in the session are
to discuss the elaborated draft of a national anti-corruption plan and to
touch upon the question of adopting as soon as possible a Federal law on
counteraction to corruption and the need to work out an
Access-to-Information Bill.

According to FC Speaker Sergei Mironov, who is also the head of the
Council of Legislators, participants in the session want to hear what the
President is planning to do in this country to fight corruption. The House
Speaker considers it very important that those present at the Legislators
Council session be able to bring to the notice of the Head of State their
proposals on how to shape anti-corruption legislation at both Federal and
regional levels.

On May 19, this year, Medvedev held a big conference, those present at
which adopted a decision on the preparation of a national plan to fight
corruption and set up an anti-corruption council under the direction of
Sergei Naryshkin, head of the presidential administration.

When speaking at the conference, Medvedev said corruption in Russian
had developed into a systemic problem and that the State must counterpose
a systemic response to that systemic problem. He gave statistics according
to which more than 10,500 corruption cases had been investigated within
2007 alone, but that, he stated, "is simply the tip of an iceberg".

The Head of State believes that a package of measures is essential to
raise the effectiveness of counteraction to corruption. He mentioned such
measures as "the modernisation of anti-corruption legislation,
counteraction to and prevention of corruption in the economic and social
spheres, the creation of stimuli to anti-corruption behaviour, as well as
legal education and a common intolerant assessment of corruption on the
part of society".

On June 25, Sergei Naryshkin submitted a national anti-corruption plan
to the Head of State. The plan comprises four sections: legislative
support for counteraction to corruption and the presentation of a draft
Federal law on counteraction to corruption before October1; measures to
refine State management of prevention of corruption; measures to raise the
professional training of the juridical personnel; and first-priority
measures to implement this plan, which directs Federal and regional state
power bodies to work out before November 1 their own plans to counteract
corruption.

The President had agreed to take part in the session of the Council of
Legislators early in June during a meeting with FC Speaker Sergei Mironov.
The Council of Legislators had been set up at the end of May 2002. It
comprises the heads of the legislatures of all the constituent entities of
the Russian Federation and FC members.
During preparations for Wednesday's session, more than 28 regions sent
in concrete proposals on anti-corruption policy in this country and on
their participation in this process, including the shaping of Federal and
regional legislations.