Communist lawmaker plans legislation against politicians' ‘fake divorces’

Communist Party Duma deputy Vadim Solovyov says he plans to introduce legislation that would require deputies, senators, and officials of various kinds to declare the income of former spouses, in order to ensure that the actual income of their families is not hidden behind fake divorces.

According to existing Russian legislation, various kinds of state officials are required to report their income and assets annually before April 1. These declarations must include information about the property owned directly by the person in question and by any spouses and underage children.

“This bill would act as an amendment to a law against corruption. According to this amendment, a spouse is a person to whom one is legally married, but also a person with whom an official has legally terminated a marriage, but with whom that official continues to live and run a household, i.e. maintain a civil union,” Solovyov said in an interview with RIA Novosti. Therefore, even in the event of official divorce, deputies living in civil unions with their ex-spouses would be required to declare their spouses' income.

“We reviewed the statistics. In the previous Duma, there were only seven divorces, but now, 2.5 years after the adoption of an anti-corruption law, there are 102 divorces. In my opinion, there was nothing, other than the law on the fight against corruption, that could have thus affected the marital statuses of my colleagues,” said Solovyov.

The deputy believes that other deputies, high-ranking officials, and members of the political elite should “set an example of respecting the law and of being responsible for the laws that they themselves introduce, instead of looking for loopholes.”