Anti-corruption plan. The Presidential Administration is the main fighter against crime

National Anti-Corruption Plan for 2016–2017. According to the decree, heads of federal government bodies must, by May 15, 2016, make changes to departmental anti-corruption plans aimed at achieving specific results in terms of preventing corruption. The document reflects many of the ideas expressed earlier by the Government of the Russian Federation.

Most of the proposals of the Expert Council under the Government aimed at combating corruption were reflected in the approved National Anti-Corruption Plan for the next two years. They are aimed, inter alia, at developing anti-corruption education among officials, expanding measures to prevent conflicts of interest, monitoring the expenditure of public funds allocated for the implementation of large infrastructure projects with the participation of the state, and conducting research work regarding anti-corruption activities. In past years, the quality of implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Plan activities often left much to be desired, and there were also many comments on departmental anti-corruption plans. In order to avoid a repetition of such practices, it is important to increase the personal participation and personal responsibility of the heads of ministries and departments themselves in the implementation of all points of this fundamental document,” noted Mikhail Abyzov, Minister of the Russian Federation for Open Government.

One of the experts' suggestions included taking measures to prevent conflicts of interest. The National Anti-Corruption Plan pays great attention to this issue. The Government of the Russian Federation, among other things, has been instructed to take the necessary measures to improve mechanisms for resolving conflicts of interest. At the same time, issues related to the prevention or resolution of conflicts of interest should be considered by ministries and departments and other advisory bodies. Already now, on behalf of the Russian Minister for Open Government, Mikhail Abyzov, departmental reports on the implementation of departmental anti-corruption plans should be considered at meetings at the federal executive authority.

The anti-corruption plan also included a proposal from experts for mandatory training of heads of federal executive bodies and their deputies, as well as heads of regional government agencies and state-owned companies in anti-corruption activities. The Expert Council, in particular, proposed introducing mandatory training in the preparation of internal acts in the field of anti-corruption. The national plan provides for annual advanced training for civil servants and holding seminars and meetings on the application of anti-corruption legislation for heads of relevant departments of government agencies.

The plan also involves the creation of a specialized information and methodological resource on the implementation of the requirements of anti-corruption legislation. Previously, the creation of such a resource was recommended to coordinate the activities of the Open Government.

The proposal of the Expert Council under the Government to continue improving the legislation on anti-corruption expertise was also reflected in the National Plan. Thus, senior officials of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation have been instructed to issue regulatory legal acts that establish additional guarantees for ensuring an independent anti-corruption examination of regulatory legal acts.

As for the proposal to conduct a study on the formation of anti-corruption standards, the document signed by the President provides for the organization of a scientific and practical conference on topical issues of the formation of anti-corruption standards and their application in the first half of 2017.

Regarding the introduction of personal liability for officials within the framework of the National Plan, the Government was instructed to make proposals by August 15, 2016 to improve disciplinary measures against persons holding public positions. The Expert Council advocated the introduction of personal liability for heads of federal executive authorities and regional government agencies for failure to comply with the provisions of departmental anti-corruption plans, as well as the National Anti-Corruption Plan.

It is the establishment of personal responsibility for the implementation of anti-corruption legislation and the organization of constant monitoring of this work that will contribute to the effective implementation of the tasks outlined in the National Plan. The strict deadlines for submitting reports on the work done, which are spelled out in the presidential decree, should also play a positive role,” says Kirill Kabanov, head of the anti-corruption working group of the Expert Council under the Government.

According to him, the working group did a lot of work to prepare proposals for the National Plan; ideas also came from representatives of the Presidential Council for Human Rights, public and expert organizations, and all of them were not only heard, but also implemented in the new document.

The National Plan also provides for the Government to conduct sociological research to assess the level of corruption in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and organize scientific interdisciplinary research into anti-corruption legislation. The Expert Council under the Government previously proposed developing a methodology for conducting research into the effectiveness of implementing anti-corruption legislation.

Other proposals that were previously expressed by Open Government experts and included in the National Anti-Corruption Plan for 2016–2017 include ensuring joint participation of the business community and government authorities in combating corruption, especially within the framework of the implementation of the Anti-Corruption Charter of Russian Business; return from foreign jurisdictions of assets obtained as a result of corruption crimes; as well as the fight against theft of funds allocated from the budget for the implementation of large infrastructure projects, in particular, the infrastructure of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. In 2015, the Expert Council under the Government analyzed the most typical corruption problems that arise during the implementation of large infrastructure projects, then the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev approved the rules developed on the basis of this analysis that define the procedure for monitoring the implementation of large projects with state participation and the criteria for assessing the possibility of corruption.

The Expert Council under the Government and the Russian Minister for Open Government, Mikhail Abyzov, were previously executors on a number of points of the previous National Anti-Corruption Plan for 2014–2015. Thus, the Expert Council under the Government of the Russian Federation implements individual anti-corruption plans of ministries and departments. As part of the implementation of the instruction to develop measures to prevent conflicts of interest among employees of state corporations, the Expert Council analyzed global experience in the field of declaring, recording and resolving conflicts of interest and began to create a model standard for state corporations. Experts also analyzed the practice of heads of state-owned companies providing information about income, expenses and property and the practice of posting this information on the official websites of companies. The result was a number of specific proposals to improve the situation. As part of the implementation of the National Plan, experts also identified and analyzed the most typical corruption risks in the sphere.

It is difficult to estimate the losses of states from corruption. Experts estimate them from 15 to 40% annually; these are global figures based on individual cases and investigations. Russian figures are mixed. The Presidential Administration claims losses of 1 trillion rubles annually, the Prosecutor General’s Office – 20 billion. The discrepancies are colossal, no one knows the truth.

Planned anti-corruption activities

Since 2010, Russia has been conducting a systematic fight against corruption, with a new plan being approved every two years. And on April 1, 2016 V.V. Putin signed a decree “On the national anti-corruption plan for 2016-2017.” It describes a list of measures aimed at reducing budget losses and developing the economy through transparency of government spending. The plan points include:

• Introducing changes to mechanisms to prevent conflicts of interest in the activities of civil servants at the level of the Russian government and regional governments.
• Strengthening the activity of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in preventing theft during the implementation of important domestic and international projects. Pay special attention when implementing a capital repair program.
• Conducting regional and international conferences to discuss the problem and search for a solution.
• Involving citizens in anti-corruption activities through social campaign events.

The adopted national anti-corruption plan for 2016-2017 is designed to involve all branches of government - legislative, executive and judicial - in the fight, and to further expand citizen participation.

The situation with corruption. Search for truth

Looks nice on paper. What's really happening? The crisis in the economy of 2015 led to the inadmissibility of increasing costs and the search for new growth points. The trend indicates the dominance of federal-scale companies and the stagnation of small and local firms. The corruption component plays a significant role in this. Giants such as Gazprom, Rosneft, Sberbank and others resolve issues at the expense of administrative resources, local producers and institutions are not allowed to the top of the government. They are forced to “find ways” to solve problems. As a result of such competition, the titbits of the market go to monopolists. Are they interested in fighting corruption?

As a result, even at the top of the government there is no consensus on corruption, although in words everyone votes for “clean hands,” but in fact someone profits from criminal activities and does not want to cut the branch on which they are sitting.

The Presidential Administration is the main fighter against crime

At the moment, the ideologist of the cleansing of bribery is the Presidential Administration and its head Sergei Ivanov. He is the head of the anti-corruption committee. Sergei Borisovich notes that there are successes, in particular:

• upon entering service, officials are required to report their property;
• certain categories of bureaucrats are prohibited from having assets abroad;
• A categorical ban on officials engaging in commercial activities was introduced.

At the same time, Ivanov admits that success in the fight against kickbacks has been more than modest. 37 thousand people currently work in anti-corruption units, hundreds of thousands of inspections are carried out. However, the results of their work can hardly be called successful.

A striking example of an effective fight against corruption is the armed forces. The aggravation of the international situation is forcing the country's leadership to pay close attention to the state of affairs in the army. Thus, the Main Military Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee announces an increase in registered facts of bribery by 60% in one year. The state can solve problems if their severity threatens the security of the country.

Statistics

According to the Indem Foundation, in the 90s, losses from corruption were more than the costs of science, art, health care and culture combined. So there is no point in arguing about the dangers of bribery. Although there are some sociologists who claim that a bribe simplifies the work of a business. But it’s like a goat in a garden, it will eat two cucumbers and trample another three dozen, the bribe taker will “help” one business develop and ruin ten.

In 2015, 20 thousand violations were identified, the total damage amounted to 15.5 billion rubles. They managed to return only 500 million to the state.

66% of the Russian population consider the level of corruption in the country to be “high”, and only 20% - low. This is data from 2014. In 2013, these figures were even worse - 80% and 12%. This data was provided by the Public Opinion Foundation. What do these numbers say?

On the one hand, two-thirds of those surveyed are confident that this problem exists. But the dynamics indicate significant shifts. On the other hand, the survey was conducted among ordinary citizens who in their lives encounter traffic police officers, doctors and teachers. Yes, there are noticeable changes here. But this is the tip of the iceberg; significant capital leaves the treasury at a level unnoticeable to citizens. And this area is now closed to public attention.

The Anti-Corruption Plan for 2016-2017 is largely aimed at combating crime at the lower echelons. Thus, a bill has been introduced to the State Duma on classifying information about the owners of expensive real estate, airplanes and yachts, which minimizes the ability of civil society to control the welfare of moneybags. The country is being divided along social lines: the rich can do everything, and the rest can do everything else. And in order for changes to occur at a higher level, a systematic approach and political will of the country’s leadership are required.