Russian lawmakers want to further tighten the rules governing the income of those considered "foreign agents" to include almost all forms of property, the speaker of Russia's parliament said on December 13th.
Russian law requires any person or organization that receives support from outside Russia or is under foreign influence to register as a "foreign agent," a label that carries negative Soviet-era connotations and carries heavy bureaucratic requirements.
Russia says the law is less stringent than the US Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, although the Russian law has been applied to almost all leaders of the divided opposition and is considered a badge of honor by some dissidents.
Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament, said the Duma was seeking to tighten the rules even more than originally proposed.
Initially, the proposal was to force all "foreign agents" to use special accounts in rubles for earnings from intellectual activities - including all brands, scientific works, literature and art, performances, broadcasting, inventions and trademarks.
The deputies want to go further, said Volodin.
Additional proposals would require the "foreign agent" to transfer all income from the sale of property, vehicles, all rental income, interest on deposits and dividends to the accounts as well.
The second reading of the law is scheduled for December 17, Volodin said.
Supporters of President Vladimir Putin say the "foreign agent" law is necessary to counter Western attempts to meddle in Russia's internal affairs amid Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which Putin has described as a "war in Ukraine between Russia and the West."
Putin's opponents say the law is part of an intricate system of repression that has turned Russia into a fragile authoritarian state, stifling Russia's legendary artistic and scientific creativity.
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