MOSCOW, May 14 (RAPSI) – A bill on punishment of up to 4 years in prison for assistance in enforcement of sanctions against Russia bears risks of unreasonable pressure on business, Russia’s business ombudsman Boris Titov said on Monday.

Titov believes that this “dangerous legislative initiative” poses great risks to all businessmen involved in international economic activity. According to the ombudsman, crooked law enforcers and rivals will therefore get a trump card for putting pressure on honest entrepreneurs, his press service quotes him as having said.

The bill on criminal penalty for abiding by and support of anti-Russian sanctions in the country's territory was submitted to the State Duma on Monday.

Under the draft law, actions or inactivity aimed to adhere to sanctions imposed by foreign states against Russian nationals and companies would result in fines of up to 600,000 rubles (about $10,000), supervised release, community service or imprisonment for up to 4 years.

Moreover, the initiative stipulates punishment for deliberate acts contributing to imposition of sanctions against Russia. Thus, Russian citizens would face fines of up to 500,000 rubles, supervised release for up to 3 years, detention for up to 6 months or prison sentence for up to 3 years with a 200,000-ruble fine for such actions.