Question

Why would BP personnel think they could get way with bribing an employee in the Russian anti-bribery prosecutor's office? If a company decides to bribe, how many years need to go by so that they are safe from prosecution?

Answer 1

Companies in Russia may avoid liability in domestic bribery cases if they assist in identifying the offence (e.g. by disclosing information), assist in investigation of the bribe, or if the bribe has been extorted, according to a new law which goes into force on August 14, 2018 (the “Law”).

The maximum sanctions are as follows:

• a) fine of up to 3 million roubles or of the amount equivalent to income for a period of up to three years, or up to 80 times the amount of the bribe; and
• b) imprisonment for up to 12 years.

These sanctions may be combined together or with disqualification for up to seven years.

An intermediary would be released from liability if he or she actively helped to discover or prevent the crime, and voluntarily notified the authorities of the fact that he or she had acted as an intermediary for the bribery.

Minor public bribery

Like bribery intermediation, minor public bribery was recently introduced as a separate crime and is defined as giving or receiving a bribe personally or through an intermediary for a maximum amount of 10,000 roubles. A person found guilty of minor public bribery may be fined up to 200,000 roubles or of the amount equivalent to income of up to three months or sentenced to correctional work for up to one year or limitation of freedom for up to two years, or imprisonment for up to one year.

A person who has a criminal record for bribery or bribery intermediation is sanctioned more severely for minor bribery and may be fined up to 1 million roubles or of the amount equivalent to income for a period up to one year, or sentenced to correctional work for up to three years or limitation of freedom for up to four years, or imprisonment for up to three years.

A donor of a small bribe would be released from liability if he or she voluntarily reported the bribe to the authorities or if the bribe was extorted by the official and if he or she actively assists with case clearance or the investigation (or both).

The Law also allows courts to freeze the property of suspect companies during bribery investigations.

The Law supplements Article 19.28 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offences, which prohibits bribery by companies and which has been broadly applied to prosecute companies for the mere promise of a bribe by any person on behalf or in the interests of the company. Offenders are subject to severe fines of up to 3, 30 or 100 times the amount of the bribe.

Courts may now freeze the property of companies under investigation for bribery up to the maximum amount of any potential fine. They will also be entitled to freeze the bank accounts of a suspect company if they believe it does not have enough property to pay the potential fine. The courts may consider the prosecutor’s request to freeze property or bank accounts without notifying the suspect (who will be subsequently sent a copy of the court order). The accounts will then remain frozen until the company is found not guilty, or until it pays the fine.

It remains to be seen how effective the new leniency grounds will be in facilitating the discovery of, and reducing the amount of, corruption in the conduct of business in Russia.

The introduction of freezing orders, however, only reinforces the importance of having a robust anti-bribery program, well documented and effectively enforced.