RuPEP
Online database of politically exposed persons in Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
URL
Description
RuPEP can help you to dig into the network of people and organisations around a politically exposed person (PEP). A PEP is someone in a prominent public position, which makes them a higher risk for bribery and corruption (but which does not mean that they are automatically involved in such activities). RuPEP is a database of PEPs but also includes:
Family members and business partners of PEPs
Others associated with them according to media reports
People sanctioned by the EU, US and others, and their relatives and business partners
Shareholders and managers of Russian military companies, and their relatives
Heads of military-civilian administrations in Russian-occupied territories in the Ukraine
Organisations associated with PEPs.
See the criteria for inclusion on this page.
An important note: PEPs are not necessarily involved in anything illegal - they have just been identified as being at greater risk of involvement in bribery and corruption. Being a PEP does not mean that they have been identified as having used their position for inappropriate gain.
RuPEP says the data is collated from public sources. They detail their criteria for sources on their About page.
PEP information
A PEP's page will start with biographical and sanctions information:
On the left, the sections of information on this page are listed. On the right are listed alternative spellings for the PEP's name. In the centre, the sanctions information is well curated: It includes a last checked date, and hyperlinks to sources:
Lower on the page, each PEP has a :
On the diagram you can:
Zoom in to see detail on the PEP's network
Click on a round icon to see the details
Hover over a line to see the nature of the relationship.
RuPEP might indicate that more information is available in the Russian version of the site, so rather use that one if you can (e.g. by getting your browser to translate the page):
If you stick with the English version, keep an eye out for 'more information is available in ru version of the dossier' links (outlined in green above).
Legal entity information
You can also search RuPEP for legal entities (companies and organisations). Here are some of the results for a search on Gazprom:
The legal entity page contains links to page sections on the left, and some basic entity information:
The legal entity network visualisation, like the one for PEPs, allows you to: Zoom in more more detail, click on the icons to see the details of the people or entities with which the legal entity has relationships, and view the nature of the relationship by hovering over the line:
Cost
Level of difficulty
Requirements
You need to sign up for a free account to view the data. An e-mail address is required.
Limitations
There is a limit to viewing 20 profiles (person or organisation) per day. You can request a free daily increase if you are a journalist, civil society activist or representative of a non-profit organisation.
They do not permit use of their data for commercial purposes - see the terms and conditions.
The data is obviously limited to Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. If you want to look at PEPs in other countries, OpenSanctions could be a good source.
Ethical Considerations
As mentioned above, a PEP is someone in a prominent public position, which makes them a higher risk for bribery and corruption - but it does not mean that they are actually involved in bribery or corruption. It is important for researchers to understand this to prevent any misinterpretation of the data provided by the database.
Guides and articles
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Tool provider
RuPEP.org
Advertising Trackers
Katherine de Tolly
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