Deputies from the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), led by its leader Leonid Slutsky, submitted a draft law to the State Duma, which proposes to prohibit persons who hold key positions in matters of security and sovereignty of the country from owning property abroad. The document was recently published in the database of the Russian parliament, Sega.bg reports, citing Rador.

This applies, in particular, to deputies and senators of the State Duma, ministers of the Russian Federation, persons who hold certain positions in the prosecutor’s office, the Investigative Committee, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, the Central Bank and the Accounting Chamber.

If passed, the bill would also apply to influential Russians who own real estate in Bulgaria, where there are entire gated Russian complexes in resort areas.

According to the Consulate General of the Russian Federation, more than 400,000 Russians own almost 500,000 properties in the eastern part of Bulgaria alone. According to the approximate estimates of brokers, over the past 10 years, Russians have invested at least 30 billion levs in real estate in Bulgaria.

The authors of the initiative remind that currently people who hold “positions important for the security and sovereignty of the country” cannot have foreign citizenship and bank accounts outside of Russia. However, this category of persons still has the right to own real estate abroad, the explanatory note says.

The People’s Democratic Party believes that “in today’s realities, the introduction of such a ban is more relevant than ever.”

“The draft law proposes to prohibit Russian legal entities from owning real estate in a foreign country and in territories that commit unfriendly actions towards the Russian Federation, in relation to the circle of persons established by Article 2 of the Federal Law “On the Prohibition” of certain categories of persons from opening and having accounts (deposits) , to deposit money and securities in foreign banks located outside the Russian Federation, as well as to have and (or) use foreign financial instruments.”