Volodin believes that PACE should Russia return previously paid premiums
MOSCOW, 1 Feb — RIA Novosti. Speaker of the state Duma Vyacheslav Volodin considers that the parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) should return Russia paid its contributions — about 10 billion rubles, while Russia did not participate in the Assembly.
“If you talk about the relationship, then, based on the fact that we were not given the opportunity to participate — and it was not our fault, and on the basis of the decision that was made — I wish the parliamentary Assembly (Council of Europe — ed.), Russia would return the money, and this is big money,” said Volodin, the TV channel “Russia 24”.
The MP added that in 2014 the Russian delegation was deprived of voting rights and of the Russian Federation did not participate in PACE in 2015 and 2016 it also did not participate in the Assembly, because the Russian delegation was deprived of voting rights.
The Chairman of the state Duma noted that from 2014 to 2016, Russia has paid the fee, and in 2017 and paid for a third of contributions.
“It’s about 10 billion rubles, the amount is large. And we, of course, necessary that the country needs for addressing issues that face citizens. We want to begin negotiations, to be heard, and labeling this topic,” — he stressed.