We had the "Dima Yakovlev Law" (also known as the "scoundrels' law"). Now we’re going to have the "Dima Peskov Law," and I suggest we call it exactly that.
The FSB has once again rushed to defend corruption and illicit enrichment: a bill has been introduced under which we will no longer be able to freely obtain extracts from the real estate ownership registry.
It is obvious, of course, that the "Dima Peskov Law" is a direct result of ACF’s work in general, and of the #20 campaign in particular.
RBC, which published the story, quite rightly illustrates it with our cases in support of #20:
This is all being done precisely to prevent investigations like these.
So this is what the dialogue between the authorities and society looks like:
ACF: — we will compare your officially declared income with the property we can trace through the databases. That is the best proof of your illicit enrichment.
Officials: — oh, is that so? Then we’ll shut down all the real estate databases — you won’t find anything, and if you do, you won’t be able to prove it.
Many people are surprised that it is the FSB that is pushing hardest to classify information about palaces. But that is perfectly understandable. We found Patrushev’s palace worth 1 billion rubles. We found the palace of FSB operational information and international relations chief Beseda. Novaya Gazeta found a secret apartment belonging to the FSB deputy director, and its investigation into a country settlement where the entire FSB leadership was implicated in a corruption scheme drove all these crooks in uniform into a frenzy — we know that for certain.
But the “liberal group” has no objections either.
The "Dima Peskov Law" is the point at which the interests of all the “Kremlin towers” (rival factions within the Kremlin), the government’s security hardliners, the government’s liberals, and every other elite grouping converge. This is a non-ideological alliance, and the strongest kind: one forged by the desire to protect their right to enrich themselves corruptly with impunity.
It is striking, by the way, how easily the government sacrifices the interests of an entire industry just to hide officials’ palaces. After all, it is not ACF that needs an open real estate ownership registry — we account for 0.001% of the requests there. Thousands of realtors, real estate agents, developers, builders, and surveyors use this registry. And, finally, millions of citizens planning to buy or sell property need a quick way to verify that it is legally clean.
To hell with the millions, so long as no one finds the fur vaults of the chosen few.
We will, of course, actively campaign against this bill and appeal personally to every deputy, urging them not to vote for it. And we will appeal to voters to make sure that anyone who votes for it does not receive a single vote from decent people.