MOSCOW, January 23 (RIA Novosti) - Adoptions of children involving payments will be considered by Russia as child trafficking, according to a new bill debated in the parliament, Russian Deputy Interior Minister Igor Zubov said on Wednesday.

The Russian parliament’s lower house, the State Duma, is debating a bill on Wednesday aimed at combating child trafficking and slavery as well as child prostitution and pornography.

“If the legislature is approved, cases of child adoption and of taking them under guardianship or patronage for money will be subject to this new law,” Zubov said, adding that last year prosecutions were made in regard to 19 such cases in Russia.

The new bill under discussion in the State Duma proposes a fine of up to one million rubles (over $33,000) for the organization of child slavery and trafficking and distribution of child porn.

According to data from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) around 1.2 million of children annually are victims of child trafficking, he said.