20 April 2004 00:52
Duma rejects initiative to give citizenship to foreign investors (Part
2)
MOSCOW. April 20 (Interfax) - The State Duma declined the initiative to simplify citizenship procedures for foreign
investors in an almost unanimous vote.
Members of the Union of Right Forces Boris Nemtsov, Irina Khakamada and Boris Nadezhdin as well as several United
Russia deputies came up with the initiative in the previous Duma. The United Russia deputies later withdrew their
authorship of the motion.
member of the Communist Party, said that "only villains with evil
intentions would submit such a bill." In his opinion, no Western
On Tuesday only three deputies voted for amending the law on citizenship. The required majority is 226 votes.
Nikolai Moskalets, deputy chairman of the Duma committee for constitutional legislation, who presented the
initiative, said his committee made negative comments on the bill, saying that in general "investments don't
look very attractive as a payment for citizenship."
Communists and Rodina members agreed, stating a deeply negative attitude toward the initiative. For instance, Nikolai
Kondratenko, a
investor will be injecting money into the industries in which Russia is really interested.
Sergei Baburin, deputy speaker for Rodina, stressed that even if the bill is passed, it won't resolve economic
problems. "We will open the door to legalizing illegal immigration, primarily from China and Arab states," he
said.
He said the bill cannot be supported because it is directed against the nation and state.
The bill was then dropped from consideration. [RU EUROPE EEU EMRG POL] ml aw <>
[Interfax] |
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