Proposal for legislative regulation of services astrologers, magicians and fortune-tellers contradict Russian spiritual and moral values and will set the country back in development, says State Duma deputy Alexander Spiridonov (United Russia). The parliamentarian told MK about this.
“Colleagues in the State Duma suddenly raised the issue of legal regulation of occult and magical services. In their opinion, if fortune tellers and sorcerers working underground are legalized, then additional taxes will go to the country’s budget,” Spiridonov emphasized.
He also noted that the All-Russian Classifier has a clause in Article 96.09 “Provision of other personal services , not included in other groups”, which already talks about the activities of astrologers and mediums.
The deputy is confident that if the provision of occult services is legally allowed, then magicians and fortune tellers will not only be able to register as individual entrepreneurs, become self-employed, receive social contracts and other government support measures, but also conduct educational activities.
“Personally, I have an extremely negative attitude towards this initiative; the harm from it is difficult to overestimate. We risk taking a big step back in the development of the nation. And not to mention the complete contradiction of such a proposal to the Presidential Decree on the preservation and development of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values. And in general, how is it possible to control their work and the quality of service delivery? It turns out that if the prediction does not come true, then you need to contact the consumer protection department and demand a refund,” Spiridonov noted.
According to the deputy, institutions of higher magic are already appearing in Russia. Previously, he submitted a request to check the activities of such organizations with the prosecutor's office.
“I believe that instead it is necessary to direct as much effort as possible to the development of domestic education and science, only in this way can we ensure a bright future for us and our children,” Spiridonov emphasized.
Earlier, a proposal appeared in the State Duma to protect the rights of users of occult services. First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Health Protection Fedot Tumusov said that every month this market is growing at a tremendous pace. “Experts estimate its volume at approximately 200 billion rubles, about 30-35 billion of which are shadow,” the parliamentarian emphasized and added that legislative regulation of this industry will protect users from scammers who discredit the true owners of cultivating abilities.