Russian government to thoroughly prepare capital amnesty law - premier

MOSCOW, December 10. /TASS/. Certain time will be required to thoroughly prepare a law on amnesty for Russian offshore capital, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with five Russian TV channels on Wednesday. This document should be thoroughly prepared to list assets that will enjoy amnesty, as well as liability, from which the owners of particular assets will be relieved, the premier said. “All decisions should be well-thought-out. That is why, a decision on capital amnesty will require certain time and this is not a matter of a week. This will require longer time to prepare a qualitative document,” Medvedev said. The law on capital amnesty “should answer two questions: the subject matter of amnesty - only money or other property, and also “liability from which persons will be relieved,” the premier said. Russia’s previous capital amnesty measures were taken in 2007 but “yielded no special results,” the premier said. “The idea of money return, the idea of capital amnesty is needed not so much for the sake of receiving as much money as possible, although this would not be bad, but for the sake of creating a normal investment environment,” the Russian premier said. A normal investment climate implies that “the terms of doing business in the country as the same as in other parts of the world,” Medvedev said. “We are, of course, not creating offshore zones on the territory of Russia, although such an idea existed,” the premier said, mentioning advanced development territories that would appear in Russia soon to spur the social and economic development of particular Russian regions. “They [advanced development territories] are similar to offshore zones in a way but these are not offshores,” Medvedev said. “We should tell all of our businessmen: well guys, it is time to come back because conditions in our country will not be worse than those in other places,” the Russian premier said. The task to bring Russian capital back home is a complex task,” Medvedev said. “The fiscal task of collecting money is of subordinate nature and the main task is precisely linked with the investment climate,” the Russian premier said. Read more