The Ministry of Justice has prepared an amendment to the law "On Corruption Prevention". Such principles to stop bribery as "publicity" and "the inevitability of punishment" stated by law, are proposed to have another - "primary assignment of corruption offenses to criminal acts." Currently, some articles of the Criminal and Administrative Codes meet, and corruptionists have a chance to get a more lenient administrative punishment. This initiative was the result of the Kremlin dissatisfaction with the results of anti-corruption campaign. To adjust the criminal statistics, it was decided to transfer all offenses of corruption to the criminal offence".
A typical example: Article 19.28 of the Administrative Code requires punishment for the transfer, offer or promise on behalf of or for the benefit of an official legal entity of money, securities or other assets. For inducing an official or a company CEO to any activities beneficial for the bribetaker there is an administrative fine not less than one million rubles (or triple the amount of the bribe) and confiscation for legal entities. At the same time in the Criminal Code of Russia there is Article 204 - "Commercial Bribery", which provides up to three years of imprisonment for practically the same criminal acts. Each time the Court decides which way to choose. Conflict of interest and lobbying - such actions today don’t seem to have a material gain for an official, and, respectively, there is no corpus delicti". Lawyers believe that the Ministry of Justice can extend the concept of corruption itself. Today, the punishment for the officials almost always is limited to "administrative fine" with an exception of the cases where direct material gain of the suspect is proved. The Bill of the Ministry of Justice aims primarily to assist investigators who will qualify this or that offense of the officials.
It will be instructed to look for a criminal component in every offense. In the MIA of Russia they believe that no special result in corruption prevention should be expected from this Bill. After the Bill is adopted, it may be difficult to qualify an act because the notion of "corruption offense" itself is not judicial but colloquial. Such offenses don’t have a type neither in the Administrative Code nor in the Criminal Code, but indeed there are sections and articles in the Administrative Code which are devoted to offenses involving officials, including in business". For example, according to experts, corruption related is Article 14.9 of the Administrative Code on the action (inaction) of officials, which can lead to preventing, restricting or eliminating competition. The punishment for it varies from a fine to suspension for up to three years.