MOSCOW, March 15 - RAPSI.  Russia may soon introduce the post of Consumer Rights Ombudsman, according to Gennady Onishchenko, director of the country’s federal consumer rights agency Rospotrebnadzor.

“The possibility of introducing the post of an ombudsman for consumers' rights protection is being seriously considered now,” Onishchenko told Ekho Moskvy radio Thursday. 

Noting that the post of a business ombudsman was introduced in Russia last year, he stated: “we need balance. If we protect businessmen, let’s protect consumers as well.” 

This is the latest in a series of moves reflecting the growing impact of consumer rights on the Russian legal market.

Last June, Onishchenko told reporters that consumer protection has proved to be an emerging field of law in Russia, noting that the number of consumer rights lawsuits filed in Russia had increased six-fold in the past five years.

“Consistent work, both in law-making and in law application, allows one to assume that a new legal and practice domain is being formed to protect the interests of each individual,” Onishchenko said. 

Earlier that year, then-president Dmitry Medvedev encouraged the idea of asking the Supreme Court to summarize legal practice in the sphere of consumer protection. 

The idea was initially advanced by Chairman of the national consumer protection movement Consumers Union of Russia, Alexei Koryagin, who stated: "We have sent a letter to the Supreme Court chairman requesting to hold the Supreme Court's plenary meeting which would examine the legal practice in cases dealing with consumer protection because such practice develops rapidly."