As expected, the Russian Government Commission has tightened the conditions for issuing authorizations for transactions with respect to shares/interests in companies.

Now, the discount must be at least 60% of the market value of an asset. Previously, it was at least 50%.

A voluntary contribution has been increased to 35% of the appraised market value of shares/interests and will have to be paid as follows:

• 25% within one (1) month from the transaction date;
• 5% within one (1) year from the transaction date; and
• 5% within two (2) years from the transaction date.

Previously, a voluntary contribution was 15% of the appraised market value of shares/interests.

Furthermore, selling or buying any assets valued at more than RUB 50 billion will require approval from the Russian President.

As you may remember, some transactions, such as the sale of interests in limited liability companies or shares in joint-stock companies where one of the parties is a person, whether an individual or a legal entity, from the approved list of ‘unfriendly’ countries, will require an authorization from the Russian Government Commission on Control over Foreign Investments in the Russian Federation that is issued subject to a number of conditions.

We would be pleased to advise you on how to obtain authorizations from the Russian Government Commission in more detail.

If you would like to discuss this matter further or have any questions, please write to Anton Kabakov or Alexandra Yudina.

There has been an intense discussion lately about increasing the amount of a voluntary contribution payable upon the sale of shares/interests in companies up to 40% of their market value.

As you may remember, where shares/interests in companies are sold involving entities/individuals from so-called ‘unfriendly’ countries, a voluntary contribution must be paid to the Russian budget, the amount of which is now at least 15% of the market value of the relevant assets as specified in a report on an independent appraisal of those assets. In other words, an authorization for the sale/purchase by such entities/individuals of shares/interests in companies is granted subject to payment to the Russian budget of 15% of the market value of the company, the shares/interests in which are being sold.

There have been more and more proposals put forward to increase the amount of a voluntary contribution to 40% of the appraised market value of shares/interests. We do not know whether this proposal will be realised in practice, but it is likely that the amount of a voluntary contribution may indeed be increased in the near future.

For this reason, we recommend that you should not delay submitting documents to the Russian Government Commission so that you may be able to obtain an authorization for the transaction before the amount of the voluntary contribution is increased.

We would be pleased to advise you on how to obtain authorizations from the Russian Government Commission in more detail.

If you would like to discuss this matter further or have any questions, please write to Anton Kabakov or Alexandra Yudina.

On May 20, 2024, Decree No. 430 of the Russian President was published that has imposed restrictions on transactions involving the acquisition of exclusive rights to the results of intellectual activity or means of individualization. This Decree does not apply to the granting of rights to use intellectual property under license or other similar agreements that do not provide for the alienation of exclusive rights.

On May 17, 2024, the Russian Ministry of Finance published on the website a new extract from the minutes of a meeting of the subcommittee of the Russian Government Commission.

On May 23, 2024, the President of Russia signed Decree No. 442, establishing the procedure for compensating damages caused by decisions of US governmental bodies and courts to seize foreign assets of the Russian Federation and the Central Bank of Russia.

On April 23, 2024, a solemn award ceremony honoring the leaders of the Legal Top 2024 Ranking compiled by the Delovoy Petersburg Publishing House was held at the Palkin restaurant in Saint Petersburg.

This time of the year has come again when companies need to approve their financial results for the previous year. Limited liability companies will have to approve their financial results for 2023 not later than April 30, 2024, and joint-stock companies not later than June 30, 2024 (unless otherwise provided by the company’s charter).

The Bank of Russia has published new Clarifications No. 1-OP dated March 22, 2024 on the procedure for applying Decree No. 95 of the Russian President dated March 5, 2022.

Decision No. ПРГ-12-3/534 of the Working Group of the Bank of Russia dated March 6, 2024 has revised the conditions, on which Russian residents may, without individual authorizations from the Bank of Russia…

On July 12, 2023, the new minutes of a meeting of the Russian Government Commission regarding the rules for obtaining authorizations for closing transactions in interests or shares and paying dividends were published on the website of the Russian Ministry of Finance.