MOSCOW, September 2 (RAPSI) – Lawmakers from the Communist Party have submitted a bill to the State Duma that would prohibit the funding of political parties by offshore companies (Russian companies based outside of Russia), according to the lower house’s website of planned legislation.

The bill would change the procedure for financing political parties and the election campaigns of political parties and their candidates in order to preclude donations from companies controlled by offshore entities and to increase the transparency of political campaign funding.

The authors of the bill point to many cases when political parties and their election campaigns are financed by Russian companies that were officially founded by other Russian companies but are ultimately controlled by foreign legal entities.

The bill would prohibit the funding of political parties and the election campaigns of political parties and their candidates by Russian companies that are controlled by foreign legal entities and foreign nationals that hold stakes in said companies.

“New wording for the related federal law would rule out the funding of political parties and their election campaigns by offshore entities, no matter how long the chain connecting the donor to an offshore company via intermediary firms may be,” reads an explanatory note to the bill.