Over the past few days, Russia has adopted a number of laws as a reaction to the restrictive measures / sanctions adopted by the EU, the US and other allies. Please find below a summary of the main developments :
1 – Adoption of a list of unfriendly countries: EU Member States, Albania, Andorra, Australia, Canada, Gibraltar, Japan, Liechtenstein, Iceland, Micronesia, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Norway, North Macedonia, the Republic of Korea, San Marino, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, the UK (including the British Virgin Islands), Ukraine and the USA.
2 – Legislation prescribing that all transactions and operations of Russian companies with citizens and firms from countries unfriendly to Russia will be approved by the government commission for the control of foreign investment. A new procedure is established, according to which, a Russian resident company or a foreign firm from an unfriendly country must apply for permission to complete such transactions or operations. This application must cover comprehensive information about the applicant, including a document on the beneficial owners of the company. The Russian commission will then analyse each case and then decide to allow or refuse the transactions or operations. Conditions to allow the transactions or operation could also be specified.
3 – Expansion of the law allowing the seizure of assets of foreigners. The restrictions apply to all foreigners and stateless persons.
Such restrictions include:
- Prohibition of entry into Russia;
- Seizure of financial and other assets in Russia;
- Prohibition on any transactions with property and investments of citizens who have been subjected to restrictions;
- Prohibition on disposing of property located on Russian territory; Suspension of the activities of legal entities under the control of these citizens in Russia;
- Suspension of their powers in the boards of directors or other management bodies of organisations registered on Russian territory.
4 – A number of measures were adopted to support Russian businesses and citizens in the face of sanctions, including:
- Abolition of inspections for small and medium-sized businesses and IT companies;
- Simplification of the conditions and procedure for government procurement;
- The possibility for the government to carry out additional indexation of insurance pensions, the pension coefficient and the fixed payment to pensions;
- Simplifying the procedure for purchasing medicines, empowering the Cabinet to adjust the licensing requirements for pharmaceutical activities, there are restrictions on the export of certain medicines from Russia; Possibility for the government to adjust the rules on admission to higher education institutions for Russians who have difficulties with studying abroad.
