A "black list" of officials in Russia. Last year, the Russian Government decided to create a register of civil servants dismissed due to loss of confidence. During this period, 1243 names were added to it. Information about such employees is transferred to the government by employers and then added to the registry. It contains the name and surname of the official, place of work, position, date and reason for dismissal. The list includes mainly deputies from local governments (almost 50%), police officers, military officers, bailiffs and heads of educational institutions.

The President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin called corruption in the country "disgrace" during the Nationwide Teleconference (held on 20.06.2019). He added that he feels responsible for it. President Putin also noted that corruption cases should be publicly brought to the end [prosecuted], especially if they concern officials and law enforcement officers. In response to the comment about the feeling that the scale of corruption in Russia is growing, the President noted: "This is only by feeling. In fact, the number of corruption crimes is decreasing".

The International Youth Contest of Social Advertising Against Corruption “Together against Corruption!” is being organised by the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation. In 2018, young people from Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan took part in the contest “Together against Corruption!” In 2019, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation initiated a similar Contest for the young people with expanded geographic coverage which includes participants from the BRICS states - Brazil, India, China and the South African Republic. The initiative aims to draw attention to one of the most important problems – corruption. The participants are requested to create social anti-corruption advertisements in video and poster format on the topic “Together Against Corruption”. Every contest is a competition of ideas, positions and experience of people who are concerned about the problem of corruption. It is expected that the contest works will reflect the modern mechanisms for combating corruption at all levels and all aspects of social life. Contest works will be accepted from 1 June to 1 October 12019 through the Contest Official Website www.anticorruption.life.

In 2018, almost 6 thousand people were convicted for bribes in Russia. The Judicial Department at the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has published the latest data on judicial statistics on sentences for corruption crimes. According to the statistics based on the sentences of the courts in 2018, 2,167 persons were convicted for taking bribes worth more than 10 thousand rubbles [approx. 140 EUR], and 3,722 persons were convicted for “petty bribery” – less than 10 thousand rubbles. As a result, in 2018: 446 bribe takers were sent to prison, 305 were given a suspended sentence, 297 convicts were fined; 48 petty bribe-takers were sentenced to imprisonment, 35 got suspended sentences, 44 imprisoned, and another 1,987 people were fined.

According to the same statistics, more than 100 prosecutors and investigators were convicted of criminal offenses in 2018. 25 persons were convicted for receiving and giving bribes, 15 people were condemned for fraud.

Majority of Russian businesses do not consider Russia a safe place for business due to corruption. A survey conducted by the Federal Guard Service conducted for the Federal Business Ombudsperson Boris Titov which he presented to the President Vladimir Putin, showed that Russian business considers anti-corruption activities of the law enforcement structures ineffective and does not trust them. A total of 181 experts and 211 entrepreneurs in 37 regions were surveyed. Among experts, 69.2% do not consider doing business in Russia safe. According to the survey results in 2017, their share was 57.1%, in 2018 - 67.2%. Businessmen are even more skeptical about the prospects for doing business in the country - 84.4% consider it unsafe.

Foreign investors worsened the assessment of the business climate in Russia. According to the international communications agency FleishmanHillard Vanguard and the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the number of foreign investors, who positively evaluate the business climate in Russia, decreased 3 times in 2018, from 33% to 10%. The share of investors who did not notice any changes was 40%. At the same time, 55% of respondents negatively assessed the Russian entrepreneurial climate. This is twice as much as in 2017 (22%). More than 100 companies from the Fortune 500 list participated in the survey. Among the problems that businessmen encounter in Russia, foreign investors named corruption (about 60%), lack of qualified personnel (40%), tax administration (40% vs. 20% in 2017) and the quality of public administration (20% against 1% in 2017 year).

State Duma deputy Vadim Belousov was detained for a bribe of three billion rubles (42 million Euros). According to investigators, in the period from 2010 to 2014, Belousov, together with the former governor of the Chelyabinsk region, received a bribe from the head of a holding (unspecified) for providing patronage. As a result, the holding’s organisations won auctions in the field of road maintenance, and persons controlled by bribe givers were appointed to the posts of directors of state-owned enterprises. Nevertheless, the court decided to refuse the petition of the investigator to arrest the deputy.

The prospects for combating corruption in Russia were studied by the Foundation for the Protection of National Values (FPNV). According to the results of the survey conducted by FPNV, 37% of adult Russians are convinced that corruption can be eradicated. The greatest confidence was shown by respondents who rated the level of corruption in the country as medium (the proportion of positive responses within this group was 43%), the younger generation (44%), in particular, young people with higher education (50%). Citizens whose family income allows them to freely purchase food, clothing and household appliances, but not enough to make large purchases, such as buying a car (43%), demonstrated a high conviction of the possibility of an end to corruption. About 30% of respondents believe that the political leadership wants to overcome corruption, but is unable to do so. 31% believe that the authorities can, but do not want to eradicate corruption. Another 17% believe that representatives of the political establishment cannot and do not want to put an end to this problem.

Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation recorded an increase in corruption crimes. The number of corruption-related crimes in Russia in the two months of 2019 has increased by 8% compared to the same period in 2018.

Ex-governor of the Khabarovsk Krai Viktor Ishayev was detained in Moscow on 27 March 2017. Ishayev is suspected of a series of misconduct committed during the period of his governorship, including embezzlement of 5 million rubles from Rosneft (Russian Oil Company).