Transparency International found their illegal businesses

Press Release, 25.04.2018

Yabloko Chair Emilia Slabunova on the request of Transparency International – Russia demanded that the State Duma conduct an investigation into illegal businesses of five of Duma deputies. The five deputies are suspected of owning business in Russia and France. Four out of five deputies are from the United Russia faction. According to Transparency International – Russia, the four deputies of the State Duma of the 7th convocation who own businesses in spite of the fact that MPs are prohibited to participate in business activities are Vladimir Bortko, Natalia Kostenko, Abdulmazhid Magramov and Svetlana Maksimova. Investigators suspect that these deputies are engaged in businesses, participate in the management or run the firms. According to information from open registries, another deputy – Andrei Golushko – owns a share in the French company. Such participation in business is prohibited by law.

Transparency International – Russia sent statements to the State Duma and the Presidential Administration asking to conduct an audit, but the organisation was refused to do it on formal grounds. Yabloko supports the efforts of Transparency International – Russia and demands that an official investigation should be held.

“How can we hope on consistent struggle of the state against corruption, if the lawmakers do not comply with the requirements of the law?! This fact is a confirmation that the present system of power in the country is based on corruption and it is not going to fight it, and if some kind of struggle is going on, it is selective and held in someone’s interests. Irremovability of the authorities and lack of political competition have led to the fact that corruption has become a threat to national security, a much more terrible threat than any other,” Yabloko Chair Emilia Slabunova said.

Federal structures of political parties are a few structures that can initiate such an investigation.

“The law on the status of a member of the Federation Council and a deputy of the State Duma allows to initiate an inspection only for the law enforcement, national media, the public chamber, as well as all-Russian public organisations and parties. There is legal evidence of violations on the deputies from the Transparency International list. Therefore, we insist on an open audit,” notes Alexei Karnaukhov, lawyer and deputy head of the Yabloko Anti-Corruption Policy Centre.

According to Yabloko lawyers, possession of business should lead to deprivation of these deputies of their mandates. The deputies can defend the advantages for their companies, therefore such possession is dangerous and must be prosecuted.

Yabloko has been consistently defending the need to divide the business and the power and increase the transparency of the state. Yabloko’s Anti-Corruption Policy Centre developed an anti-corruption programme for Grigory Yavlinsky for the presidential election in 2018. The programme also offers to disclose information about the actions of officials and publish deputies’ inquiries for transparency of lobbying.