Officials with foreign property will not have access to state secrets

MEPs propose closing access to state secrets to officials with foreign assets. The corresponding draft has been submitted to the State Duma for discussion, said Vasily Piskarev, one of its authors, chairman of the Security and Anti-Corruption Committee. Interfax writes about it.

“Entry to state secrets can now be refused if a citizen or his close relatives have accounts and deposits in foreign banks outside Russia, real estate abroad, as well [при] possession and use of foreign financial instruments,” the MP explained on Monday.

Legislators therefore hope to “minimize the risk” of pressure on “secret carriers” from the so-called unfriendly countries. According to Piskarev, during the war, foreign intelligence increased interest in Russian state secrets and officials who had access to them. The amendments will help ensure the security of state secrets and protect citizens from “criminal interference” by Western intelligence services, the MP says.

At the same time, the law will allow people who have restrictions on traveling abroad to temporarily leave Russia in emergency cases, such as the death of loved ones or the need for medical treatment.

The Interdepartmental State Secrets Commission will determine access to classified information, Piskarev explained.

Passports have already been taken from Russian officials and employees of state-owned companies so that they cannot leave the country, the Sistema project (created by journalists from Current Time and Radio Liberty) wrote the day before, citing informed sources.

According to the publication, the documents are to be transferred “for safekeeping to the FSB” or to a special department at the place of work. Those who fail to do so face dismissal, said a source in the management of one of the state-owned companies. In some cases, FSB officers warn that if you refuse to issue your passport, it may be “cancelled”. Some employees leave without waiting for the threats to materialize.