MOSCOW, December 17 (RAPSI) - A former public officer has been ordered to pay 950 million rubles ($29 mln), the largest ever fine in Russia, for attempted bribe-taking, the Ministry of the Interior reported Tuesday.

Lev Lvov, former first deputy head of the Leninsky District administration in the Moscow Region, was found guilty of attempted major bribe taking. The order of the Moscow Regional Court has now taken legal effect.

“The court has imposed a fine of 950 million rubles. Lvov’s accomplice, Igor Komarov, will have to pay 500 million rubles to the state,” the statement says.

On December 4, Head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin said that over 1,600 Russian lawmakers and heads of local government bodies have been indicted for corruption over the past two years, adding that corruption related offenses had caused the state about nine billion rubles' worth of damages during this period.

Russia is perceived to be the most corrupt of the world’s leading economies in surveys conducted by anti-graft organization Transparency International, on a par with Pakistan, Gambia and Mali.

Despite a recent high profile anti-corruption drive, even government officials admit that billions of dollars are paid in bribes in Russia every year and that graft remains endemic.