MOSCOW, October 13 (RAPSI) – Russia’s State Duma has approved in the third and final reading a bill on criminal punishment, including long prison terms, for bribing an arbitrator. The document has been published on the official database of the lower house of the parliament.

The authors of the bill, a group of the United Russia lawmakers and Deputy Chair of the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia’s parliament, proposed to amend respectively the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

The initiative envisages fines of up to 400,000 rubles ($5,000), or from 5 to 20 times the amount of the bribe, or restriction of liberty, community service or imprisonment for up to 2 years for illegal giving money, securities and other assets to judges of the court of arbitration, providing them with monetized services, granting other property rights.

A maximum sentence for such crimes is imprisonment for terms ranging from 4 to 8 years with or without a fine up to 40 times the amount of the bribe, and a ban on holding certain posts or involvement in certain activities for up to 5 years.

Arbitrators would face fines of up to 700,000 rubles ($9,000), or those amounting to from 10 to 20 times the sum of the bribe, or imprisonment for up to 3 years with or without a fine up to 15 times the amount of the bribe for receipt of such bribes. A maximum sentence is imprisonment from 7 to 12 years, with a fine amounting to 50 times the sum of the bribe, and a ban on holding certain posts or involvement in certain activities for up to 6 years.