President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Monday obliging Russian officials to get his permission before receiving any award or honorary title from abroad, the Kommersant newspaper reported Tuesday.
The rule applies to the military, customs workers and officials appointed by the president, including the head of the government, judges of the Constitutional and Supreme courts, federal judges, the head of the Central Bank, prosecutor general, Investigative Committee head, members of the Security Council and the presidential administration, the report said.
Officials who fall into these categories should file a motion to their superiors, which will then be sent to the Kremlin. If the decision is negative, the official shouldn't accept the award. If the official has already received it, they should return it, Kommersant reported.
In the document Putin recommended several other state bodies to implement similar rules. Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Kommersant that it is common practice “in all [other] countries,” the report said.
The decree doesn't cover academic or sports awards and titles.
Russian officials regularly receive foreign awards and titles, according to Kommersant. In 2007, for example, Sergei Naryshkin, then deputy prime minister and now the State Duma speaker, became an officer of the French Legion of Honor. In 2013 Boris Titov, Russia's business ombudsman appointed by the president, became a knight of the same organization.
Neither of them asked the president for permission to receive the French titles, the report said.