Russia’s lower house of parliament has voted in favour of a bill that will lift the requirement for lawmakers to make their annual income and assets reports public, in a move that will significantly decrease transparency.
According to a statement on the website of the State Duma, after 1 March publicly available information about Russian lawmakers’ income declarations will not allow for identification of them.
Lawmakers will still be obliged to submit their declarations to the tax authorities every year and a “summary” will be released based on this information.
“This is about the protection of personal data,” one lawmaker, Pavel Krasheninnikov, was quoted as saying on the Duma website.
The bill was approved on its third and final readings on Wednesday.
It must still be approved by the Federation Council, Russia’s upper house, and signed into law by the president, Vladimir Putin – usually a formality.
Credit: theguardian.com
