The Russian Kremlin is stepping up anti-corruption measures by encouraging confiscation of property as a punishment, a Russian business daily said on Friday.
Vedomosti said that of the 51 articles of the Russia's Criminal Code punishable by property confiscation, only three (power abuse, commercial bribery and bribe-taking) concern corruption.
The paper said the head of the Russian presidential administration Sergei Naryshkin has ordered the Russian Justice Ministry and other official bodies to develop a new package of anti-corruption legislation.
He ordered wider confiscation of property for all types of corruption crimes by May 12, and a law to prohibit officials from accepting gifts by May 30.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in April at an anti-corruption conference that, although deprivation of property does not always work in Russia it could be a serious blow for those who take bribes.
Medvedev signed in April a bill on the creation of a national anti-corruption program for 2010-2011, aimed at eliminating corruption, including among top officials.
The Berlin-based non-governmental anti-corruption organization Transparency International has persistently rated Russia one of the most corrupt nations in the world. In the 2009 Corruption Perception Index, Russia was ranked 146th of 180, below countries like Togo, Pakistan and Libya. The United States was ranked 19th.
A total of 4,500 corruption cases were brought to court in the first half of 2009 in Russia, with 532 public officials and 700 law-enforcers being convicted.
MOSCOW, May 21 (RIA Novosti)
