The Russian parliament’s anti-corruption committee has rejected a new bill that would have banned politicians and their families from owning property abroad.
According to lawmakers, the proposal would have undermined the constitutionally enshrined right to own property, the news site Lenta.ru reported.
“Our existing anti-corruption legislation is already sufficient,” said the committee's deputy chairman, Anatoly Vyborny. “We have adopted a number of restrictions, they are quite effective, and there is no reason to expand on them,” he said.
The bill belonged to Communist Party member Valery Rashkin, who argued that existing laws banning officials from holding bank accounts abroad can be bypassed by buying property overseas.
In order to pay for real estate abroad, a "bank account in the same state is all that's required," he said.
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