On Thursday, Russia’s lower house, the State Duma, approved a set of legislation that exempts government officials from submitting annual public financial disclosures, a change that lawmakers claim will enhance oversight.
According to the new law, financial monitoring of officials and their immediate family members will be handled through a secured state information system called Poseidon, which provides real-time tracking of income, assets, and property. This system is interconnected with various government databases, including those maintained by the Federal Tax Service and the financial oversight agency, Rosfinmonitoring.
“This will… also allow for quick responses to corruption-related offenses,” stated Vasily Piskaryov, a representative from the ruling United Russia party, characterizing the update as a departure from an “outdated system.”
Access to Poseidon will be restricted to specific authorized government entities, such as the Presidential Administration and the Federal Protective Service.
Officials will still need to file financial declarations when they assume new roles, transfer between government agencies, or make purchases that exceed their family’s total income over the past three years, as outlined in the bill.
These amendments are expected to come into effect on January 1, pending approval from the upper house, the Federation Council, and a signature from President Vladimir Putin.
The legislation was put forward by deputies from all factions of the State Duma just ten days prior to Thursday’s vote, though members of the Communist Party voiced their opposition during discussions.
In December 2022, Putin halted the mandatory disclosure of officials’ financial declarations for the duration of the war in Ukraine. Shortly thereafter, disclosures, including those submitted before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, began to vanish from official online platforms.
Prior to this decree, Russian law mandated that civil servants publicly report their income and assets, as well as those of their immediate family members, as part of an anti-corruption initiative implemented in 2008.
