OREANDA-NEWS. February 18, 2010. The meeting summed up the Interior Ministry 2009 performance.

The main subject of the meeting was the reform of the Ministry. The President announced the signing of an executive order and a number of bills to be submitted to the State Duma aimed at improving the Ministry’s effectiveness.

Among the proposed measures is increasing responsibility of the Interior Ministry’s officers. One of the bills provides for amendments to the Criminal Code, establishing stricter punishment for offences committed by active police officers, and introducing criminal liability for the officers who refuse to obey lawful and rightful orders of their superiors.

The President also noted that in the near future the senior officers of the police force will be rotated and new appointments to the top positions will be primarily made from among the candidates in the federal pool. Optimisation of the Interior Ministry will result in transfer of some of its functions, such as the administrative expulsion of illegal immigrants from Russia, vehicles checkup, etc. to other agencies.

The Board discussed combating corruption, including in the police force. The President requested a reliable set of measures preventing corruption in agencies within Russia’s Interior Ministry to be elaborated. In particular, starting this year the police are obliged to file declarations on their properties and those of their family members.

Dmitry Medvedev outlined the priorities of the Ministry in 2010. They include the launch of programmes to prevent delinquencies by minors, the fight against economic crime and the overall suppression of crime in the North Caucasus.