Russia revises anti-corruption norms

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to further elaborate acts against corruption, Kremlin Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov said Tuesday.Civil servants are obliged to submit declarations on their "incomes, expenditure, properties and ownership rights as of 2012 by July 1, 2013," and the presidential department for civil service and human resources will be allowed to verify the declarations at any level, Ivanov told a press briefing.He did not rule out the possibility that some civil servants would step down following the enactment of new rules banning Russian officials from owning foreign securities and bank accounts."Every person is allowed to make a choice. Some can choose to resign quietly," the Interfax news agency quoted the official as saying.Meanwhile, the new rules permit officials to close their bank accounts in other countries and dispose their foreign securities by July 1.People who report corruption, excluding anonymous ones, "will receive free legal assistance if needed," Ivanov added.Top managers of state enterprises, including Gazprom and Rosneft, will also have to relinquish their foreign bank accounts and equities by July 1, Ivanov said.A report on the implementation of the anti-corruption decree is expected to be submitted to Putin before Oct. 1.