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Over 600,000 debtors of various sorts were registered in Primorye in 2007, a jump of 30 percent from the previous year, the region’s chief bailiff Andrei Uglov told reporters Wednesday.

According to Uglov, who heads the federal bailiff service for Primorye, the number of debtors in the region so far does not exceed the average in Russia. 60 percent of all cases initiated last year have been already closed after the debts were paid off.

Since Feb. 1, 2008, in accordance with the new law, high bailiffs are granted additional authority such as the right to enter private homes of debtors. According to Uglov, this will increase the number of court orders carried out.

The new law defines more precisely the procedure of temporarily banning debtors from leaving Russia. Last year, only 500 (or less than 0.1 percent) of debtors were prohibited from leaving the country – usually alimony and credit debtors, as well as those not paying large amounts of taxes and fines. The debtors were detained while leaving for vacation in neighbor countries, mostly China, Uglov said.


From Vostok Media and Ria Novosti news agency