Medvedev to hold meeting of anti-corruption Council

MOSCOW, January 13 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on
Thursday will hold a meeting of the Council for Countering Corruption.
This will be the first meeting of the anti-corruption authority in 2011
and the fourth since the beginning of the Council's work in May 2008. The
president believes the fight against corruption is a priority and created
the Council immediately after coming to power.
On Tuesday, preparing for Thursday's meeting, Medvedev met with
Chairman of the RF Audit Chamber Sergei Stepashin. He reported that the
Chamber in 2010 revealed violations worth more than half a trillion
roubles, opened dozens of criminal cases, revealed financial and budgetary
irregularities at 580 billion roubles.
More than 35,000 corruption crimes were exposed through the Interior
Ministry since the beginning of 2010. Last year, the Investigative
Committee opened more than 11,000 criminal cases of corruption that is
virtually identical to the number of prosecutions of corruption cases in
2009. In 2010, the RF Prosecutor General's Office brought to criminal
responsibility for corruption nearly 400 officials.
In the view of the president, the establishment of an anti-corruption
legal framework in Russia is virtually complete. So, in December 2008 the
federal law "On Combating Corruption" was signed, and in April 2010 - a
decree "On the National anti-corruption strategy and the National
Anti-Corruption Plan for 2010-2011." In addition, Russia has acceded to
the UN Convention against Corruption and the Council of Europe Criminal
Law Convention on Corruption.
The main objective of the Council is to develop a common policy of the
general fight against corruption. The Council, chaired by the Head of
State, consists of 24 people. Among them - Chairman of the Constitutional
Court Valery Zorkin, head of the Supreme Arbitration Court Anton Ivanov,
Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika, the head of the RF presidential
administration, Sergei Naryshkin, Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov,
Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev, FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov,
chairman of the Prosecutor's Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin.
In April 2010, the anti-corruption Council was enlarged by several members
of the Public Chamber and scientists.
The Council's presidium is established for the settlement of the
current issues of its activity, the presidium twice a year should report
to the President on the implementation of the plan to counter corruption.
According to the Kremlin, the National Anti-Corruption Plan, approved
by the President of Russia on July 31, 2008, contains specific
anti-corruption steps as well as general strategic measures. An analysis
of the activities of state and public institutions in implementation of
the plan revealed the need for two separate documents: the National
Strategy for Countering Corruption, which sets the key areas and phases
for implementing medium-term state anti-corruption policies, and the
National Anti-Corruption Plan, which is renewed every two years.
Several provisions of the National Strategy for Countering Corruption
have been or will be incorporated in other documents issued by the
President, the Government, the federal, regional and municipal
authorities. Thus, the National Anti-Corruption Plan for 2010-2011
specifies some measures which are not provided for in any other statutes
and which are of direct relevance to countering corruption.
In this way, the National Strategy for Countering Corruption, the
National Anti-Corruption Plan for a set period, and anti-corruption plans
of the authorities at different levels of governance comprise a dynamic
and regularly adjusted system of anti-corruption measures.
A formal adoption of such a set of measures is recommended by the
Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO).
The President's executive order also suggests that the Public Chamber,
the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Association of Russian Lawyers,
political parties, self-regulated organisations, non-governmental
organisations of industrialists and entrepreneurs, as well as other public
associations should promote social intolerance of corrupt practices.
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