Corruption in Russia: careless Moscow citizens, ‘honest’ Khakassia

185 cases over 9 months of 2022 and 169 in 2021

In January-September 2022, 185 cases of bribery were registered in Tatarstan, according to the data of the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia. This is more than in the whole previous year, when 169 crimes prescribed in Article 290 of the Criminal Code of Russia were detected in the republic.

For comparison, in the first 9 months of 2021, 165 cases of bribery were registered in Tatarstan. According to their number, the republic was the 3rd in the rating of the Prosecutor General's Office, behind Moscow (292 facts) and Krasnodar Krai (236).

According to the results of the first three quarters of 2022, Tatarstan is on the 4th line in the rating of the Prosecutor General's Office in terms of the number of detected cases of bribery. Moscow is still the leader in the number of registered crimes under Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation — 340 were recorded in January-September. The 2nd is Stavropol Krai (224), the 3rd — Krasnodar Krai (189).

Among the regions included in the Volga Federal District, Bashkiria (159) and the Orenburg Oblast (126), neighbouring Tatarstan, were also in the top ten in terms of the number of detected cases of bribery, taking 6th and 9th place, respectively. The top ten regions for registered crimes under Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation also include Moscow Oblast, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Voronezh Oblast, and St. Petersburg.

The minimum number of cases of receiving a bribe in January-September 2022 was registered in three regions — Khakassia, the Jewish Autonomous Region, and the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug — two each. Three crimes prescribed in Article 290 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation were registered in Mari El and Kamchatka during this time.

According to Article 290 of the Criminal Code of Russia, it can be a fine in the amount of 3 to 5 million rubles or in the amount of a salary or other income of a convicted person for 3-5 years, or in the amount of eighty to one hundred times the amount of a bribe with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 15 years or from 8 to 15 years of imprisonment freedom with a fine of up to 70 times the amount of a bribe or without it and with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 15 years or without it.

Tatarstan is the leader in detected cases of bribery

If Tatarstan ranks 4th in the rating of the Prosecutor General's Office in terms of the number of cases of receiving a bribe in the first three quarters of 2022, then the number of registered facts of its giving continues to hold the lead. In January-September, 262 crimes were recorded in the republic, the composition of which is fixed by Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

In 9 months of 2022, almost as many cases of bribery were registered in Tatarstan as in the whole of last year. In 2021 — 266 of them. Then the republic was also on the first line of the rating of the Prosecutor General's Office.

Moscow is the second in terms of the number of cases of bribery registered in January-September 2022. There are only two fewer of them than in Tatarstan — 260.

Volgograd Oblast is the third (213 criminal cases under Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The top 10 also includes Moscow Oblast, Primorsky Krai, Altai Krai, Stavropol Krai, and Krasnodar Krai, Dagestan and Bashkiria.

Only in one region not a single case of bribery has been registered for 9 months. This is Khakassia. Whether this is due to that bribes are not given in the region, or to the fact that such cases were not included in the statistics, is not disclosed.

Let us remind that the maximum sanction under Article 291 of the Criminal Code of Russia is provided for in Part 5 — a fine in the amount of 2 to 4 million rubles or in the amount of a salary or other income of a convicted person for 2-4 years, or in the amount of seventy to ninety times the amount of a bribe with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 10 years or without one. Also, the court may appoint from 8 to 15 years of imprisonment with a fine of up to 70 times the amount of a bribe or without it and with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 10 years or without it.