Press Release, 23.04.2024

Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

Chairman of the Yabloko party Nikolai Rybakov submitted more than a thousand signatures, as well as individual appeals to each deputy and senator of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation demanding that income and property declarations for 2023 be disclosed and made public. Similar appeals to deputies will be sent to the chairpersons of legislative assemblies of Russian regions.

“Openness of information about incomes and property of senior government officials, State Duma deputies and senators is one of the few real achievements of civil society in recent decades. But after 24 February, 2022, after a number of public investigations, publication of such information was made optional. Hundreds of citizens of our country believe that this achievement is important to maintain and appeal to the State Duma and the Federation Council so that deputies, even though it is not obligatory, publish declarations on their income and property this year,” Rybakov emphasised.

It should be noted that, since 1 March, 2023, the law allows deputies and senators not to publish declarations: data on income and property will be posted in an anonymised form, and regional and municipal deputies may not declare their income at all, if deputy activity is not their main activity. In addition, according to the decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated 29 December, 2022, declarations are not published on the official web-sites of government agencies and are not transferred to the media for detailed study.

In early March, Chairman of the Yabloko party Nikolai Rybakov, Director of the Yabloko Anti-Corruption Policy Centre Alexei Karnaukhov and the initiative group ChelovekPrav called on deputies of the State Duma, members of the Federation Council, as well as regional and municipal deputies to disclose their income data. A special web-site was launched where Russian citizens could sign the corresponding petition.

The text of the petition runs that “public trust in government directly depends on the openness and due diligence of deputies at all levels. This is the key to preventing unjust enrichment and building fair governance. The income and property declaration system is an important tool for increasing the transparency and accountability of government bodies and combating corruption.”