Putin cancels public declaration of officials' income from 2026
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that cancels the mandatory public declaration of income and property of Russian officials from 2026. This was reported by the National Security and Defence Council's Disinformation Counteraction Centre.
Instead of open declarations, Russia is introducing the so-called permanent anti-corruption control. It will be non-public and fully managed by government agencies. In fact, it means the elimination of even formal transparency mechanisms that allowed the public to track the growth of the wealth of government officials.
The CPJ emphasises that regular declarations remained the only tool of public control over the enrichment of elites. In the context of war and rising social tensions, such publicity has become politically risky for the Kremlin
The cancellation of open reporting is seen as a way to protect the financial interests of the ruling elite from public scrutiny. At the same time, there is no real weakening of control over officials. It only becomes selective and dependent on political loyalty
According to the Centre for Countering Disinformation, the Kremlin is finally abandoning demonstrative openness and relying on closed agreements with the elites. The state guarantees the protection of their wealth from public scrutiny in exchange for supporting the regime and participating in the financing of the war
