Russia Plans to Significantly Increase Fines for Economic Crimes

© Правительство России

The Russian government plans to toughen penalties for economic crimes. The corresponding bill has been submitted to the State Duma and envisages a multiple increase in fines for a number of articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The initiative of the cabinet is aimed at creating a more effective barrier to economic crimes that cause damage to citizens, honest businesses, and the state budget.

Penalties may be toughened in several areas of economic activity where violations are most systemic and destructive.

• Intellectual property and counterfeit goods. The fine for illegal circulation of counterfeit products in large quantities may reach 1 million rubles.
• Corporate debts. Managers who deliberately fail to pay large debts to creditors or holders of securities may also face fines of up to 1 million rubles.
• Customs and licensing. Evasion of customs payments in significant amounts is proposed to be fined in the amount of 200 thousand to 1 million rubles. Running a business without a license, causing significant damage, may result in a fine of up to 1.5 million rubles.

Particularly severe sanctions are envisaged for illegal activities in the financial sector:

• Illegal lending (up to 1.5 million rubles).
• Banking operations without a license (up to 1.5 million rubles).
• Tax sphere. Legal entities concealing income by providing deliberately false data may face responsibility on a par with illegal financial structures.
• Counterfeiting. The most severe punishment - a fine of up to 5 million rubles - is proposed for large-scale production and sale of counterfeit money and securities.

The new bill will ensure the protection of consumer rights and honest businesses from unfair competition and financial fraudsters, as well as make the financial sector more transparent, driving out illegal operators from the market. Revenues to the budget will also increase due to the fight against shadow schemes and evasion of taxes and customs payments.