Also taking part in the meeting were Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, St Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko, State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Economic Development Oleg Fomichev and others.
Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov presented a report on Russia’s preparations to hold the Sixth Session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption in St Petersburg. The Council Presidium instructed the conference organising committee to work together with the relevant federal agencies and the St Petersburg authorities to coordinate the preparations.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Alexander Petrikov reported on the Agriculture Ministry’s anti-corruption measures. Following the discussion, the ministry was instructed to make an assessment of the situation with fighting corruption in the ministry itself and the federal executive agencies under its responsibility in the first quarter of 2016, and to pay particular attention to anti-corruption work in the Federal Agency for Fishery.
Labour and Social Protection Minister Maxim Topilin briefed the meeting on improvements to legal and organisational provisions for protecting people who have reported instances of corruption from persecution and violations of their lawful rights and interests by the officials whose actions they have denounced. Mr Topilin presented a draft federal law, drawn up by the Ministry, to protect people who act in society’s interest by reporting unlawful activity within state agencies from negative consequences, including consequences arising from their decision to report.
The Council Presidium discussed the draft law and instructed the Labour and Social Protection Ministry to revise it, taking into account the comments and proposals made at the meeting.