Get down to business - reluctantly

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev can be congratulated on another serious domestic political victory. It took only seven months to force the Investigative Committee to open a criminal case on bribery in the purchase of Mercedes. This case, as is known, was promoted by the US Department of Justice, which established that representatives of the Daimler concern bribed officials in 22 countries, including Russia. Kickbacks of several million euros were, according to American data, received during purchases for the special purpose garage (GON) of the FSO, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, the Moscow government, and the municipalities of Ufa and Novy Urengoy. Back in the spring, Medvedev ordered an investigation. But somehow things didn’t work out. According to the Vremya Novostei newspaper, our investigators were extremely dissatisfied with the work of their American colleagues. They provided the names of banks and dates of transactions, without naming the names of corrupt officials. It is clear that establishing the names of those who entered into transactions on behalf of the state is a daunting task for Russian detectives. But the president moved the place anyway, and investigators will begin work. Which, however, does not guarantee results.