Putin: Bill on amnesty for economic crimes is not thought through sufficiently

The draft bill on an amnesty for economic crimes is not thought through, and it is necessary to analyze it further. This opinion was expressed today by Vladimir Putin at a meeting with business representatives in Voronezh.

"I think you will agree with me that at the moment it (the offer of amnesty) is not really thought through well, not researched properly," Putin said, addressing the representative of the ombudsmen for Businessmen, Andrei Nazarov, RIA News reports.

For the first time the idea of such an amnesty was mentioned last year by the ombudsman for businessmen, Boris Titov. In early May this year, he said he intends to offer amnesty bill to the State Duma for the Day of the Entrepreneur, celebrated on May 26. Leadership of the "United Russia" faction and the head of the relevant committee on criminal legislation, Pavel Krasheninnikov, supported the proposal, but noted the need to take a close look at the statistics.

"I suggest it is all carefully analyzed and together with you, along with the experts in the field, along with the Attorney General's Office to see, draw conclusions and then make an informed decision," Vladimir Putin said today.

Speaking of the absence of a thorough proposal, Putin said that first of all it concerns the composition of those convicted of economic crimes. "Even among the 240,000 (convicted of economic crimes in recent years), the 13 thousand (in places of deprivation of liberty at the moment) fall into different categories of prisoners. I mean, there are the so-called counterfeiters, people who have been convicted of criminal export of dual-use materials that can be used in the manufacture of weapons and even weapons of mass destruction," the head of state remarked.

"There are other categories of people that are formally sentenced for economic crimes, but the degree of public danger that they present goes far beyond the nature of the problem you're talking about," Putin said.