What a surprise, that this "war" on corruption doesn't show any signs of victory. As I already suspected before (half a year ago I mentioned about it in my comments here), the government is not targeting the roots of the problem. Instead, they are focusing on the problem's manifistations. Plus, the methods chosen for this fight -- they guarantee the failure. And, finaly, who are the "warriors"? The govenment itself? It is more like the soldiers of the enemy army dressed up like fighters against that enemy army. They have no desire to win. In fact, I am afraid, that when "the battle" is over, the level of corruption in the country will be increased. Another "revelation" in the lack of success will be Skolkovo and so called "Russian Silicon Valley". But, that will happen in 5-8 years. And after billions of Russian taxpayers money will be wasted and moved to the Western banks.

Well probably in the days of old russia,people knew what the penalty was,with the new democracy,or our democracy of the west,crooks know money can move most obstacles,thats called democracy.western style.

It is going to take decades to change not just law but culture. After all, that type of culture was set even before Brezhnev's time, and his administration was horrible according to what we are taught about Soviet history. The corrupt bureaucracy and parliament was decades in the making, so it likely won't be corrected in only a couple of years. Putin said once that one thing he regretted was the lack of progress against corruption after his 2 terms as president. So, the real push has been with Medvedev? Medvedev so far has put out a consistent message, but he has been "in charge" for only a couple of years. Good luck to him, and I hope he doesn't give up in despair. It is a slow job and one that will not make him any new friends. I hope Putin keeps supporting him, and ultimately Medvedev can break some bad practices the way slow pressure can break iron.

A perfect example of "Sovereign Democracy". There is nothing chauvinistically western about having good governance and transparency, the current outcome is a direct result of Russia trying to appear to reinvent the wheel. I have a news flash for you Mr Medvedev, you can't iron out corruption when your predecessors have spent the last ten years entrenching a culture of patronage and intrigue. For years now, attempts at reform have been labelled Western Imperialism whilst brave journalists, who fought to expose cronyism in government, have been butchered in cold blood. You reap what you sow..