Fifteen assistants in Russia’s State Duma were dismissed following an internal investigation which revealed their involvement in the unauthorized sale of participation in parliamentary roundtable discussions, according to a report by the RBC news agency on Monday, citing two insiders.

Vyacheslav Volodin, the Speaker of the State Duma and member of the ruling United Russia party, initiated the inquiry during a private meeting last Wednesday, as reported by the newspaper Vedomosti.

The investigation indicated that these aides had been offering paid access to State Duma roundtables to external parties and business organizations, thereby undermining the principle of free and regulated access to parliamentary events.

RBC’s sources indicated that the terminated aides were associated with Andrei Svintsov and Kaplan Panesh of the far-right Liberal Democratic Party, Roza Chemeris of the more centrist New People party, and Yevgeny Fyodorov from United Russia.

Svintsov confirmed to RBC that twelve of his volunteers had been let go, but he claimed this was a standard annual rotation rather than a disciplinary action.

Chemeris stated she had dismissed her aide due to “nervous strain,” whereas Fyodorov refuted any involvement in the firing of his assistant.

All three lawmakers expressed ignorance regarding the paid-access arrangement.

The controversy came to light last week when New People representative Sardana Avksentyeva revealed she had encountered a Telegram post promoting paid access to a State Duma roundtable, supposedly connected to a little-known business association.

Avksentyeva mentioned that the group, identified as the World Entrepreneurs Alliance, had conducted a business roundtable in the State Duma the previous month and was planning further events focused on healthcare in December and psychology in January.