INVESTIGATION COMMITTEE SENDS ANTI-CORRUPTION PLAN TO RUSSIAN PRESIDENT
RIA Novosti
June 25
MOSCOW
The Investigations Committee of the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office
has submitted a blueprint for countering corruption to a presidential
anti-corruption working group, a committee spokesman said on Wednesday.
"The blueprint outlines… the general principles of government policy
in countering corruption… domestic and international experience
in fighting corruption, and mechanisms for its implementation,"
said Vladimir Markin.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a former lawyer, has made the
fight against corruption one of his main goals since taking office
in early May.
He has headed a new anti-corruption council and has also given
instructions to draw up a national action plan to counter corruption.
Markin said Russian legislation still lacked a clear-cut definition of
corruption and should therefore be brought in line with international
legal practice and the provisions of those international treaties
and conventions that Russia had signed.
"To achieve these goals, the blueprint provides for an array
of measures designed to enhance the ‘transparency’ of executive
agencies… and take effective action as regards citizens’ complaints,"
he said.
The committee also proposes a system of incentives and safeguards for
individuals who have provided reliable information about corruption,
as well as mechanisms ‘stimulating anti-corruption behavior’ among
civil servants.