Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Monday, September 10, 2012

The game of political corruption in Russia

Fighting corruption in Russia involves more than transparency, ethics, and honesty. It's also a way to fight the opposition.

In Russia, Opening Inquiries and Settling Scores

When the Russian authorities began a series of investigations this spring into the business affairs of a prominent opposition lawmaker, it was widely viewed as thinly veiled political retribution.

Gennady V. Gudkov

But in a sign of how quickly the tables can now be flipped in such disputes, allies of the politician, Gennady V. Gudkov, have begun pointing at other members of the Duma, the lower house of Parliament, with private business holdings or whose obvious personal wealth — fancy cars, opulent real estate holdings — could not possibly be afforded on their five-figure government salaries…

Investigators… accused the elder Mr. Gudkov of having a management role in two Russian businesses, a construction market… and a textile company… as well as active business interests in Bulgaria. And they raised allegations of tax fraud.

Members of United Russia are now threatening to strip Mr. Gudkov of the legislative immunity that would shield him from prosecution.

According to Russian law, Duma members “may not engage in business or other paid activities” and also may not serve on boards of directors or in any other leadership capacity of a business. But many lawmakers maintain investments that seem not to be restricted by the law, or earn money from family businesses though they may not be listed as owners.

[United Russia] legislators [are] being featured in blog posts by the younger Mr. Gudkov, and his friend and ally Ilya V. Ponomarev, who is also a Duma deputy from Just Russia…

“We continue to acquaint the ungrateful Russian people with the most honest deputies from the ‘Party of Power’ who have been relentlessly battling corruption and illegal enrichment,” Mr. Ponomarev wrote sarcastically on Thursday, as he posted another installment of their efforts.

Among the 10 featured lawmakers was Boris D. Zubitsky, a billionaire whose family controls the KOKS Group, a metallurgical company, and who along with his wife has reported owning multiple homes and apartments, a Bentley Mulsanne… and three Mercedeses.

Also on the list was Aleksei V. Knyshov, who is described as having annual income of about $4 million, owning two houses and six apartments, including a property in Miami Beach, and being the founder and co-manager of a wholesale business in Slovakia.

In August, Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the federal Investigative Committee, which has led the inquiries into the Gudkov family businesses as well as criminal investigations into other opposition leaders, declared at a news conference that investigators had found “evidence providing violations of Constitutional and legal bans by Gudkov.” But Mr. Markin’s office said it could not immediately respond to written questions about whether it is examining the business dealings of other lawmakers… MORE EXCERPT