MOSCOW. March 11 (Interfax) - President Vladimir Putin said robust measures must be taken against corrupt officials.

During Putin's and president-elect Dmitry Medvedev's meeting with the parliamentary faction leaders in the State Duma on Tuesday (March 11), Communist Party faction leader Gennady Zyuganov said that the scope of corruption in Russia has gone beyond all limits, and that all levers must be applied to combat it.

"One must go through a round-the-clock ordeal collecting permits and greasing a lot of palms before a 100-apartment block is built," Zyuganov said.

Putin agreed with this, saying that, "The land legislation must be perfected if the problem of housing shortages is to be resolved. Gennady Andreyevich (Zyuganov) is absolutely right here. We must think about this."

"Such 'palms" should be chopped off, as in the Middle Ages," Putin also said.

Seeing skepticism in Zyuganov's reaction, Putin remarked, "If we only start, all other palms will stop reaching for the grease."