On July 30, 2024, the Russian State Duma passed, in its third and final reading, a draft law that alters, among other things, the procedure for documenting the change of the CEO of a company (for LLCs) and sets out rules for holding a general meeting remotely (Draft Law No. 103501-8). It is expected that the procedure for appointing a CEO will change as soon as September 1 this year, and the rules for holding a general meeting remotely (with several exceptions) will take effect March 1, 2025.

On July 23, 2024, the Russian State Duma passed, in its third reading, Draft Law No. 444871-8 that makes it possible to transfer certain matters that fall within the competence of the general meeting of shareholders of a non-public JSC and of members of an LLC to the board of directors or the management board.

The pravo.ru portal has conducted a study on corporate law, evaluating the projects run by Russian law firms in terms of the value and number of projects.

For this study, regional law firms submitted 273 projects worth a total of over RUB 1 trillion. Four companies from Saint Petersburg have made it to the top five. These are Kachkin & Partners, Nordic Star Law Offices, Forte Tax & Law, and Legal to Business.

According to the study, since January 2022, Forte Tax & Law has provided support for 31 corporate law projects worth about RUB 40 billion, with the average project value being RUB 1,290 billion. Transactions account for 84% of the number of our projects.

To read the study, click here.

Article by Anton Kabakov for RBC Pro

The RBC Pro portal has published an article by Anton Kabakov, Partner at Forte Tax & Law, overviewing the latest practice of obtaining authorizations from the Russian Government Commission for the purchase and sale of foreign companies in Russia.

Since the fall of 2022, Russia has been imposing serious restrictions on transactions with respect to shares (interests) in Russian companies where one of the parties is a foreign person from a so-called ‘unfriendly’ country.As you may know, such transactions require authorization from the Russian Government Commission on Control over Foreign Investments.However, it is not common knowledge that authorization from the Russian Government Commission or the Central Bank of Russia may be required even when the object of a transaction is a foreign company.

To read the article on the RBC Pro portal (a subscription fee applies), click here (in Russian).

If you have any questions about obtaining authorizations from the Russian Government Commission, please send an email to Anton Kabakov.

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 26, 2024, the Russian Ministry of Justice registered Order No. 35н of the Russian Ministry of Finance dated March 28, 2024, which approved a Special List of States and Territories that provide Preferential Tax Treatment and/or do not require the Disclosure and Provision of Information when Financial Transactions are Conducted (Offshore Zones).

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.

On April 18, 2024, the Kommersant Publishing House, jointly with Forte Tax & Law and several other experts, held Tax Conference 2024 that brought together leading Russian lawyers, consultants, and officials.