MOSCOW, January 21 (RAPSI) – The Government's Law-Making Commission has examined an initiative to criminalize non-payment of special, antidumping, and equalizing duties introduced by the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), according to Chair of the Association of Russian Lawyers Vladimir Gruzdev.

The bill is to criminalize respective large and especially large arrears by introducing amendments to the Russian Criminal Code; the punishment is to make up to two years in prison for failures to pay large non-payments and up to five years of confinement for such in especially large amounts. Even stricter punishment is envisaged for such crimes committed by an organized gang or by an official in abuse of office.

The measure is to protect producers from the countries being the members of the EAEU, Gruzdev observes.

As on May 1, 2020, the amount of arrears related to EAEU duties made about 150 million rubles ($2 million at the current exchange rate).