New Kremlin Registry Cracks Down on Russian Bailiffs

Dec. 16, 2016

Russia's Justice Ministry now has the power to regulate Russia's private bailiff agencies, thanks to a new decree signed by President Putin.

From Jan. 1, 2017, only collection companies registered with the Federal Bailiffs Service (FBS) will be able to continue their work.

Officials claim that more laws will need to be introduced in order to help the FBS properly supervise private bailiff firms, the Kommersant newspaper reported Thursday. Russia's Finance Ministry rejected the FBS' request for extra funding to regulate the debt collection market earlier this year, the Interfax news agency reported.

More from The Moscow Times: Russia's debt collectors bring back the brutality of the 1990s.

The move follows increasing public pressure to crack down on private bailiff firms and their often violent debt collection methods.

A toddler was injured bailiffs attacked a home in central Russia's Ulyanovsk with a molotov cocktail in January, while one collection firm faced criminal charges for threatening to blow up a kindergarten to recover debts in November.

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