MOSCOW, March 18 (RAPSI) – The State Duma has adopted a government-drafted bill on tougher penalties for corporate espionage in the first reading, RIA Novosti reported Wednesday.

According to an explanatory note, the bill would amend Article 183 of the Criminal Code on the “illegal acquisition and disclosure of information that includes commercial, tax or bank secrets.”

The limit of the fines for this crime should be increased because the current limit is negligible for lending organizations, the concerned federal executive authorities say.

Under the bill, fines for collecting proprietary commercial, tax or bank information through document theft, bribes, intimidation or otherwise illegal methods would be raised from 80,000 ($1,300) to 500,000 rubles ($8,100).

Fines for disclosing or using information that includes commercial, tax or bank secrets without the permission of their legitimate owner by persons who are entrusted with keeping this information or who gain access to it in the line of duty would be increased from 120,000 rubles ($1,940) to 1 million rubles ($16,200).

Fines for such crimes that result in major damage or are committed for mercenary purposes would be increased from 200,000 rubles ($3,240) to 1.5 million rubles ($24,300).

Alternative penalties such as community service and prison terms would remain the same and include a prison term of up to seven years.

Viktor Pinsky, first deputy chair of the State Duma Committee on Civil, Criminal and Procedural Legislation, said the adoption of the initiative would offer a choice of more widely differentiated penalties depending on the circumstances and the gravity of the crime, the individuals involved and other factors.