Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, announced that the bill on accreditation of visa centers has been withdrawn from the Duma, Interfax reports.
“Today, together with my colleague Oleg Morozov, we recalled our “The bill on the need for accreditation of visa centers,” K. Kosachev wrote on Facebook.
However, he is confident that the very idea of regulating the activities of data centers is sound. "We will seek its legislative codification in the interests of protecting the interests of Russian citizens. A situation in which there is a fundamental lack of legal regulation and oversight of the activities of private companies whose ownership is unknown, but which handle citizens' personal data and provide mass services to the public, is unacceptable," the senator believes.
He is also outraged by the "rabid information campaign launched by opponents of the idea." He believes the campaign is being fueled by the owners and beneficiaries of such centers. "They've attributed everything to our bill—from the supposedly inevitable price hikes for services to the inevitable closure of the centers themselves. We leave this rabid campaign to the conscience of those who orchestrated it. We can only sympathize with the citizens who were blatantly misinformed and intimidated. We ourselves, without a doubt, would have voted against a law closing visa centers," K. Kosachev emphasizes.
According to him, work on the bill will continue in the fall. "Incidentally, during the ensuing discussion, we also saw several sound ideas that we will certainly take into account during further work on the bill. So, yes, we're withdrawing it, but no, we're not abandoning the idea itself and will definitely return to it during the fall session. And before the bill is reintroduced in a new version, we invite the reasonable and sensible professional community and all interested citizens to continue the dialogue," the senator writes.
As previously reported, last week the State Duma received a proposal to amend Federal Law No. 114 "On the Procedure for Exiting and Entering the Russian Federation," drafted by Federation Council members Oleg Morozov and Konstantin Kosachev. The amendments mandate the mandatory accreditation of all companies providing visa intermediary services to Russian citizens by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These amendments require the operator to have branches (representative offices) in at least 20 constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The maximum foreign shareholding in the authorized capital must not exceed 20%. Applicants must also have technical equipment for processing confidential information (including biometric personal data) certified in accordance with Russian law. Furthermore, at least three years of experience providing services related to the collection and processing of visa documents on behalf of diplomatic missions and consular offices is required.
The Russian Union of Travel Industry has suggested that introducing mandatory accreditation for companies operating visa application centers (VACs) in Russia could lead to their closure, as none of the companies operating in the Russian market meet accreditation requirements. One of the most problematic provisions is the limitation on foreign ownership to 20%. According to the organization's press secretary, Irina Tyurina, the closure of the centers would lead to huge queues at consulates and problems obtaining visas.
United Russia rejected the bill proposed by members of the Federation Council. Sergei Krivonosov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture, Sports, Tourism, and Youth Affairs and a member of the United Russia faction, stated that he sees no need for accreditation for companies operating visa centers.
Source: trn-news.ru
