Russia Joins the OECD Working Group on Bribery

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Russia Joins the OECD Working Group on Bribery


Fact Sheet
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC

May 26, 2011




On May 25th at the OECD’s 50th Anniversary Commemoration, the Russian Federation was invited to become a full participant in the Working Group on Bribery in order to accede to the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Official in International Business Transactions.
The invitation was made possible when Russian President Medvedev signed new legislation in May 2011 outlawing bribery of foreign officials, a first step in the process of acceding to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention that occurred in May 2011. This was a significant step forward for Russia, both in advancing the rule of law and reducing opportunities for corruption. Acceding to the Convention commits Russia to a comprehensive process of peer review in the Working Group on Bribery, of both the legislation and Russia’s efforts to implement it.
The United States welcomes the entry into force of Russian legislation criminalizing bribery of foreign public officials and Russia's invitation to join the OECD's Working Group on Bribery. The United States has supported Russia’s advancement toward accession to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention bilaterally and through the Working Group on Bribery.
The United States looks forward to Russia’s formal accession to the Anti-Bribery Convention, and hopes this procedure will be completed in the next few months. As other members of the group, Russia will then be subject to the peer review mechanisms under the Working Group’s Phase 1 and 2 evaluations of Russia’s law and implementation of the Convention, as well as assessments of Russia’s performance against the OECD’s core anti-bribery principles.
The United States strongly supports Russia’s accession to the OECD and notes that Russia’s accession to the Anti-Bribery Convention will be an important step toward this goal.


PRN: 2011/838