MOSCOW, July 13 (RAPSI) – MP Oleg Mikheyev (A Just Russia) has prepared an amendment to legislation that would introduce penalties such as fines or community service for brothel clients, Izvestia newspaper reported on Monday, citing the text of the bill.

The bill would amend an article on prostitution in the Administrative Offenses Code, which stipulates various fines for brothel clients depending on their family status. Bachelors would be fined between 1,500 and 2,000 rubles ($26.50-$35.30), while married men would be fined up to 5,000 rubles ($88.20) or receive up to 40 hours of obligatory community service.

“Similar measures have long been used in several countries. For example, fines for brothel clients were introduced in Sweden in 1999, which eventually reduced the number of prostitutes by about 50 percent. In Norway, brothel clients can be imprisoned for up to six months,” Mikheyev told Izvestia.

The MP believes that the amendments on fines for brothel clients could erode the economic foundation of prostitution, which is illegal in Russia.