Government criticizes idea of licensing PR activities

The proposal of chairman of the Central Election Committee Alexander Veshnyakov to license the activities of PR-structures is "unreasonable and unrealistic, to put it mildly", said deputy head of the Government Staff Alexei Volin.

"Firstly, none of the structures gives 'black PR advice' officially. I do not think that official contracts for discrediting a rival exist at all," he said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

"Secondly, the government policy seeks to cut the number of licensed activities, instead of increasing them. If we follow Veshnyakov's logic we will soon need to license the services of carpenters and gardeners," Volin believes.

Thirdly, "practice shows that if there is a demand on the market for a particular service, it will be satisfied, whether the permission is given or not", he said.

"And, fourthly, the more limitations the election legislation has, the easier it will be violated. The thing is, increasing the number of prohibitive norms till an unreasonable level causes judicial nihilism. The more senseless prohibitions there are around elections, the more critical the public will be towards them," Volin stressed.