Mercenary purpose as the obligatory sign of extortion

The article outlines the problem of subjective content of such a crime as extortion. Analysis of the modern juridical literature, practical cases and data of the author’s own research led to the conclusion on improving disposition of the norm «extortion». The author suggests amending part 1 of Article 163 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation with the sign of mercenary purpose, which must clarify the questions of classifying the crime under study and separating it from the similar crimes.