On Monday 5th June, the EU published an amendment to the existing sanctions against Russia, which came into force on Monday 5th June. The implementing regulation is available here. These measures permit the designation of leading business persons operating in Russia, along with: immediate family members; other natural persons benefitting from them; and business persons involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the Russian Government. These amendments were made on the…
On May 4, 2022, Russian President adopted Decree No. 254 “On interim procedures for the fulfilment of corporate finance obligations towards certain foreign creditors” (“Decree”). The Decree (1) established new restrictions on distribution of profits by limited liability companies, such as, for example, distribution of dividends (before this, the limitation only applied to distribution of dividends by joint stock companies); (2) clarified the application of some of the previously adopted restrictions. New restrictions on distribution…
On 8 April 2022, a draft bill on nationalization of assets belonging to persons associated with “unfriendly” states (“Bill”) was submitted to the Russian State Duma. The Bill defines persons associated with “unfriendly” states very broadly to include foreign citizens and legal entities, their beneficiaries, affiliates and persons under their control. The Bill allows nationalization of all kinds of assets owned by such persons as of 24 February 2022 and located within Russia, including real…
The text of a draft bill criminalizing compliance with anti-Russian sanctions started circulating via unofficial sources on April 5, 2022. According to the media, it was submitted to the Russian State Duma (lower chamber of Parliament) on April 4, 2022. Currently, Article 201 of the Russian Criminal Code “Abuse of Authority” provides for liability of executives of companies who (a) use their authority against the company’s interests and (b) receive personal gains for themselves or…