Instructions following meeting with Government members 2025-04-01 20:00:00 Vladimir Putin approved a list of instructions following a meeting with Government members held on March 5, 2025. The instructions to the Government of the Russian Federation concern amending legislation to allow the constituent entities of Russia to use the funds released as a result of budget loan write-offs for the implementation of national projects and for financing expenses related to the special military operation, on the condition that at least 50 percent of these funds are invested in the implementation of infrastructure projects in the housing and utilities sector. In particular, the Government and the Bank of Russia have been instructed to coordinate a single systemic approach to preventing crimes committed with the use of information and communication technologies, and to make relevant amendments to legislation; to assess the effectiveness of digital literacy projects and draft measures to enhance it and promote digital skills; to reduce the number and validity of payment cards issued by lending organisations to their clients, including foreign citizens. The instructions issued to the Government together with the State Duma and with the participation of the Bank of Russia and the FSB pertain to making amendments to legislation aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of measures to prevent crimes committed with the use of information and communication technologies. The Government, working together with the Interior Ministry, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the FSB and the Bank of Russia, has been instructed to regularly monitor measures taken to prevent crimes committed with the use of information and communication technologies, in order to ensure a sustainable reduction of these crimes. The Government, working together with the Supreme Court, the Interior Ministry, the Investigative Committee and the FSB, is to consider the possibility of accepting the use of artificial intelligence technologies for committing offences/crimes as a circumstance aggravating responsibility or punishment. If necessary, relevant amendments are to be made to legislation. The Government, working together with the Bank of Russia, the FSB, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Investigative Committee, the Interior Ministry, the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring (Rosfinmonitoring) and the Supreme Court, is to submit proposals for amending legislation to stipulate criminal liability for deliberate transfer of electronic payment instruments to third parties or for giving them access to these instruments with the aim of conducting illegal financial transactions, as well as for conducting illegal financial transactions with the use of electronic payment instruments on instructions from and in the interests of third parties. The Government, working together with the Bank of Russia, the Investigative Committee, the Interior Ministry and the FSB, has been instructed to ensure interdepartmental coordination of operations conducted by relevant government agencies and organisations against phone and internet scammers, and to consider the possibility of establishing a permanent body for this purpose. The Russian Popular Front is to conduct monitoring to identify drawbacks in the protection of citizens from criminal actions committed with the use of information and communication technologies, as well as to forward information about the results of such monitoring to the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation.