Sergey Katyrin: termination of cases with payment of arrears will allow to keep the business working

According to him, the law was developed and submitted to the State Duma by the Government of the Russian Federation taking into account the initiatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation previously expressed and discussed at various venues, including the presidential administration.

"The Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation is supplemented by provisions according to which a criminal case cannot be initiated, and the initiated criminal case is subject to termination in case of payment in full of arrears and corresponding penalties, as well as the amount of the corresponding fine. This will avoid the adoption by the investigative authorities of security measures against the entrepreneur (seizure of documentation, equipment, seizure of accounts, etc.) and will save the business", - Katyrin said.

In addition, according to the adopted law, the terms of the maximum penalty in the form of imprisonment for crimes under Part 2 of Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Evasion of taxes, fees payable by an organization") and Part 2 of Article 199.1 ("Failure to fulfill the duties of a tax agent") are reduced from six to five years. And also from seven to five years - for crimes under Part 2 of Article 199.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Concealment of funds or other property").

As Katyrin explained, the adopted changes will entail the transfer of crimes provided for by these compositions from the category of serious crimes to the category of medium-gravity crimes. Accordingly, the statute of limitations for these crimes will be reduced, which will be six years (instead of ten years under the current provisions of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). 

In addition, the maximum sentence under Article 199.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is reduced from four to three years of imprisonment ("Evasion of the insured organization from paying insurance premiums for compulsory social insurance against industrial accidents and occupational diseases to the state extra-budgetary fund"). Now such a crime will belong to the category of crimes of minor gravity.

In general, according to the head of the CCI of the Russian Federation, the implementation of the amendments introduced by the federal law "will contribute to improving the effectiveness of measures aimed at protecting the rights and legitimate interests of citizens and entrepreneurs".