Page 15 - RPTRusFeb17

competition over 2017-2019 has been completed by the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) and submitted to the government. Per FAS head Sergei Puzyrevskiy, the document has been discussed in several ministries and is now being completed. The regulator aims to reduce the share of state and municipal companies in several ways: the order would forbid SOEs and state unitary enterprises from acquiring new assets, either directly or through subsidiaries. It would also mandate sales of both their core and non-core assets, though only for companies deemed inefficient. The order would also forbid the formation of new unitary enterprises in competitive markets. Sales of non-core assets by SOEs and unitary enterprises have moved very slowly so far, with the liquidation of only 318 of Russia's 1200 Federal State Unitary Enterprises planned over the next three years.
The Russian Ministry of Labour has proposed to change the Federal Law on Countering Corruption by adding a new article on protection of whistleblowers , who provided information regarding corruption. The bill was published on the website for legal acts on February 7. According to the bill, a person with knowledge of a corruption offense is to inform a representative of the employer, prosecutors or law enforcement agencies with those being obliged to take measures regarding reported offenses in accordance with the legal procedure. A person, who is reporting a crime offense or is taking other measures to counter corruption is to be put under protection of the state, the draft law reads.
Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Chairman of the NATO Military Committee General Petr Pavel have held negotiations on NATO’s initiative for the first time after the relations with Russia were frozen, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Friday. The alliance made a decision to unilaterally freeze relations with Russia in April 2014. "On March 3, 2017, on the initiative of the NATO side, Chief of Russia’s General Staff - First Deputy Defense Minister Army General Valery Gerasimov has held a telephone talk with Chairman of the NATO Military Committee General Petr Pavel. This is the first high-level military contact after the NATO Council made a decision on the freeze of relations with Russia," the ministry’s press office said.
2.3 Polls & Sociology
Support for anti-corruption blogger and Russian opposition leader
Alexey Navalny's 2018 presidential election has dropped to 10% f rom 33% in the run up to the previous elections in 2011, according to independent pollster the Levada Center. The share of respondents that said they would definitely not vote for Navalny was up to 84%. With the state tightly controlling the media – especially TV – Navalny also struggle to get his name out to the public. Half (53%) of all Russians still don't know who he is, nearly the same (54%) in October 2013 but way up from 6% in April 2011. His main political shortcoming is that he has no government or state organ experience, which is very important to the Russian vote. In such a young democracy the Russians still find the idea that absolutely anyone can simply stand up and run for president slightly ridiculous; the Russian voters expect their leaders to “come from somewhere.” Navalny is a lawyer and has never worked in government. Only 3% of respondents said they had respect for Navalny experience, down from 6% in 2013. In support of the phrase, "Can not say anything bad about him," 9% agreed, down from 17% in the run up to the previous election. Navalny has been persecuted by the Kremlin and faced multiple court cases, which are
15 RUSSIA Country Report February 2017 www.intellinews.com