MOSCOW, October 15 - RAPSI. Next week a bill will be introduced to the State Duma which sets out a more detailed procedure for the adoption of Russian children by foreigners. Every case of this kind will need to be monitored by the governor of the region in which the adopted child was born, Izvestia daily reports.

According to the sponsor of the bill, Evgeny Fyodorov (United Russia), this will help avoid cases of child abuse and will encourage the local authorities to pay greater attention to the regional adoption programs. The governor will be personally responsible for all cases where Russian children are adopted by foreigners.

In addition, the deputy wishes to grant regional authorities the right to decide for themselves whether or not to allow foreigners to adopt children from its region. Fyodorov believes that the North Caucasus in particular would be keen to impose restrictions as the adoption rate there is extremely high.

In 2008, Ingushetia had the highest child adoption rate at 100 percent, while Chechnya came second at 96 percent. These regions, therefore, may well look to ban foreigners from adopting children in their region.