MOSCOW, March 17 (RAPSI) – The Government has introduced into the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s Parliament, a bill seeking to extend the duration of administrative inquires into foreign legal entities operating in Russia over corruption allegations.

The Government proposes to amend Russia's Code of Administrative Offences so as to empower the heads of higher prosecutor’s offices to extend administrative investigations into cases over illegal gratification received from legal persons, where legal assistance is sought, for terms up to 12 months, a statement published on the official website of the State Duma on Friday reads.

According to the document, at present the cap on the duration of an administrative inquiry is at one month since the date an administrative case is initiated; as an exception, the time of investigation may be extended for an additional month.

However, the authors of the bill believe that the two-month period stipulated by the present law is too short in cases where legal assistance is sought from foreign states taking into account the time required to obtain necessary materials, as it is clearly insufficient to conduct full, complex and objective administrative investigations of alleged corruption-related offences.