Overview
- On January 12, the State Duma’s Committee on State Building and Legislation recommended three separate bills for approval in a first reading.
- A government-initiated bill raises criminal fines for a range of economic offenses, including up to 1 million rubles for copyright violations and customs evasion and up to 1.5 million rubles for unlicensed business, illegal banking and certain tax abuses.
- The same bill sets a 5 million ruble fine for making, transporting or selling counterfeit currency or securities in large amounts and increases penalties related to securities crimes and unlawful trade in precious materials.
- A senators’ bill led by First Deputy Federation Council Speaker Andrei Yatskin boosts administrative fines for border-rule violations to 5–25 thousand rubles for individuals, 100–250 thousand for officials and 1–2.5 million for legal entities, with higher penalties for breaches in the border zone and for carriers failing to prevent illegal transit.
- A separate initiative increases fines for failing to meet animal care requirements to 50 thousand rubles for individuals and 300 thousand for legal entities and extends the limitations period for such offenses to one year.