Expenditure control: detailed procedure

Expenditure control is a top priority for the state bodies to combat corruption. If a civil servant or his/her spouse makes a purchase, which sum is over and above the threshold established by law, this fact will initiate an anti-corruption monitoring procedure of both expenditures and revenues of that particular civil servant. An important stage of the monitoring procedure is data acquisition of the civil servant’s financial standing. The official in charge of the monitoring procedure turns to state bodies and other agencies for relevant information. He is entitled to getting that information by Federal Law and regulatory legal enactments of constituent entities of the Russian Federation. However this legislation is not specific on what the requests for information should specifically contain, and what specific disclosures are to be gained. The criteria for unveiling corruption element in the monitoring data is not specified. The present article seeks to bridge this gap. It contains recommendations based on the author’s own first-hand experience, which will help execute expenses monitoring, assemble a full-fledged dossier and write a consistent monitoring report.