More than 160,000 employers were fined a total of 4.5 billion rubles for employing illegal migrant workers in Russia in 2007, according to Konstantin Romodanovsky, director of the Federal Migration Service. That sum is close to the property taxes paid by individuals (5.5 billion rubles in 2006), and can practically be considered a new tax on small business. The migration service contributed a total of about 10 billion rubles to the federal budget last year.

Until new legislation came into force last year, the fine for employing illegal aliens, in any quantity, was 8000 rubles. Now the fine is about 90,000 rubles per worker. Most illegal employment occurs in Moscow and St. Petersburg . They are followed by Moscow Region, Maritime Territory and Sverdlovsk Region in number of violations.  

*****  

UK citizens will not be required to have ID cards until 2012, two years later than originally planned, the opposition Conservative party claimed last week, citing leaked government documents they obtained.  As reported by Agence France Presse, the interior ministry documents apparently targeted 'Borders Phase II ( UK Citizens)' as set to begin in 2012, though those in 'trusted relationships' , such as security guards, will have to obtain ID cards earlier. When legislation for ID cards was first approved in 2006, the original deadline for Britons renewing their passports to be in possession of ID cards was January 2010.

A spokesman for the Identity and Passport Service, while declining to comment directly on the Conservatives' claims, said: 'We have always said that the scheme will be rolled out incrementally. '  Foreign nationals residing in Britain will begin receiving ID cards later this year, with the documents expected to be issued to British citizens on a voluntary basis from 2009.

The government's plans for ID cards have drawn criticism on the grounds that they will arguably not help to combat international terrorism, and infringe on civil liberties.  The idea has also been hurt by recent government losses of citizens' personal data, in particular the loss of 25 million Britons' personal information by a government agency two months ago.

Unlike its other EU counterparts, Britain has never had a mandatory ID card issuance other than in wartime, but the idea has gathered momentum since the deadly July 2005 suicide bombings in London .