The Ombudsman for the Protection of Entrepreneurs' Rights in Bashkiria, Flur Asadullin, proposed giving businessmen a special legal status. The business ombudsman sent a proposal to the State Duma, the Federation Council and the Russian government to pass a bill that actually equates businessmen with deputies and other persons who are subject to a more complicated procedure of criminal cases. Senators, judges, lawyers and a number of other categories have the same status.

Roman Voronin, Advocate, Managing Partner of RI-Consulting, comments on the likelihood of such an initiative. What does the special legal status of such cases imply? And how will the changes alter the course of business cases?

"I think this is completely inappropriate, because the proposed option of initiating a criminal case only by the head of the investigative body is unacceptable. Because there are too many cases and, accordingly, the system simply will not be able to digest it all. So I think these proposals of the Ombudsman are pure formalism and an attempt to introduce some kind of initiative allegedly in the interests of business without any understanding of why and to whom it is necessary," the lawyer said.

Read more about the initiative and the expert opinion here