Putin pledges that all high-profile corruption criminal cases will be brought to an end - parliamentarian
MOSCOW. Nov 30 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has assured the heads of parliamentary parties that investigations into a number of high-profile criminal cases dealing with corruption will be brought to an end and promised that he would give instructions to examine the situation in the agribusiness sector in terms of possible abuses, Vladimir Vasilyev, the head of the United Russia party parliamentary faction, told Interfax following Putin's meeting with the heads of the four parliamentary factions on Friday.
"In the closed part of our meeting, my colleague from the Communist Party faction asked the president - this question can be considered open as it concerns many - whether the high-profile corruption cases in connection with which the names of high-ranking officials were mentioned are just a campaign," Vasilyev said.
"The answer, in our view, was exhaustive: Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] said unambiguously that all these investigations will be brought to an end within the framework of the law and those guilty, regardless of their rank, will be punished," Vasilyev said.
Moreover, referring to the situation surrounding the company Oboronservice affiliated with the Defense Ministry, the president said he had dismissed Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov in order "to ensure impartiality of the investigation," he said.
When Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky noted that "there are quite a lot of questions" concerning abuses in the agribusiness sector, Putin said he would "give instructions to consider this issue in a most serious way," Vasilyev said.
