On January 9, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted a law on the denunciation of the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption to the State Duma.
“On the basis of Clause 'd' of Article 84 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and in accordance with the Federal Law "On International Treaties of the Russian Federation," I am herewith submitting to the State Duma a draft federal law "On the Denunciation by the Russian Federation of the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption," the document says. The document was sent to Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin.
The explanatory note to the bill says that Russia denounces the convention due to Russia's inability to be a full-fledged member of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO). Another reason for the move is to prevent discriminatory attitude towards the Russian Federation.
Even though Russia denounces the EU's Criminal Law Convention on Corruption, the fight against corruption in Russia will continue, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, TASS reports.
According to him, the decision to denounce the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption does not undermine the Russian legislative potential, which the Kremlin spokesman called "very, very rigid.
“You know that there's a whole system working. Of course, one can not say that the problem has been eradicated, it has not been eradicated anywhere. But this [fighting corruption] is not a form of companionship, but consistent multi-year actions that will continue,” he said.
Answering a question about the consequences of the denunciation of the convention for the exchange of suspects and those accused of corruption crimes, Peskov said that certain difficulties may arise at this point.
“You know that this move is connected with a common line as Russia earlier pulled out from the Council of Europe,” Putin’s press secretary said.
Russia will continue its anti-corruption cooperation with friendly states. Russia has not had any interaction on the problem with unfriendly states, and the state of affairs is not going to improve in the area anytime soon, Dmitry Peskov added.