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Ministry 'Blacklists' Uncooperative Officials

The Communications and Press Ministry put together a "blacklist" of officials hindering the progress of the long-awaited system of coordination of government ministries, RBC Daily reported Friday.

The list names 12 high-ranking officials, including Federal Financial Markets deputy director Sergei Kharlamov, Deputy Natural Resources Minister Oleg Monastyrnykh, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Andrei Denisov and Deputy Defense Minister Mikhail Mokretsov.

Starting Oct. 1, Russians will be able to receive services from one ministry without providing a score of documents from others. The documents are supposed to be available automatically through electronic databases at all ministries.

The majority of the country's 59 ministries are fully prepared for the transition. The ministries mentioned on the blacklist are not at all ready, according to Interfax news agency, which has a special web page, interfax.ru/spravkinet, monitoring the progress of the project's deployment.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov denied the existence of the list. Every government position requires personal responsibility, but the government does not make "blacklists," Peskov said.

"They didn't check their information, unfortunately this happens," Peskov said.

RBC Daily reporter Anastasia Litvinova said she has the list, but could not disclose where she got it.

"I'm 100 percent sure I have it," Litvinova said.

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