Some 60 representatives of Federal and Regional Business Ombudspersons Offices from 16 regions of the Russian Federation, including regional and municipal authorities and business and lawyers’ associations of the Stavropol Krai met in Pyatigorsk on 8-9 November 2018, to discuss the corruption risks in the provision of public services and the regulation of conflict of interest.

The participants in the 4th regional workshop on “Corruption risks in the provision of public services to business entities at the municipal level” discussed corruption factors and risks in the area of state and municipal services, provided to business entities in the Russian Federation, including a special focus on municipal services related to land regulations. The workshop on “Regulation of the conflict of interest in the Russian Federation” was the second workshop in a series of activities aimed at analysing the legislative framework regulating conflict of interest in relations between business and public officials.

The event drew interest from a broad range of stakeholders, and included among other high level speakers - Deputy Chairperson of the Stavropol Krai Duma, Head of Office of the Federal Ombudsperson for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs, and Head of the Council of Europe Programme Office in the Russian Federation.

Four Council of Europe experts presented the main findings and recommendations of the relevant technical papers, which were developed with the input of the respective Working Groups based on the information collected from the project’s 15 pilot regions, as well as discussions during previous regional workshops. The participants took active part in the discussion of identified gaps and potential legislative, policy and institutional solutions for improvement in line with applicable international standards and good practices.

The technical papers will be finalised in light of the participants’ feedback and made available to all relevant stakeholders in Russian and English.

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