Restrictions and measures of state support for business: the digest for 28 April - 11 May 2025

DRAFT LAWS

Under what conditions can a Russian subsidiary be included in the list of economically significant enterprises?

The draft federal law

Public discussions are now taking place.

Amendments have been proposed to the specific aspects of how a foreign holding company (‘FHC’) exercises its corporate rights in relation to an economically significant enterprise (‘ESE’) (see Federal Law No. 470-FZ dated 4 August 2023).

Specifically a Russian subsidiary of a Russian business entity which has been included in the list of ESEs and in relation to which the corporate rights of an FHC have been suspended can be included in the list of ESEs provided that the following conditions have been met:

• the company itself meets the criteria of an ESE;

• at least 25% of shares (membership interests) in the company are held by an FHC;

• over 50% of shares (membership interests) in the company are held by another ESE in which at least 50% of shares (membership interests) are directly held by a foreign legal entity whose corporate rights as an FHC in relation to the ESE have been suspended and have not been reinstated;

• under Federal Law No. 173-FZ dated 10 December 2003, the share of direct/indirect participation of persons that are individuals/residents of Russia in such foreign legal entity should be no less than 100%.

None of the above will serve as the ground for:

• a court to issue an order that an FHC’s corporate rights be reinstated in relation to an ESE, if such an order has been adopted in relation to another ESE;

• a business entity to be excluded from the list of ESEs, if the period has expired for which the FHC’s corporate rights have been suspended in relation to the ESE or if a court has issued an order for such corporate rights to be reinstated.

Rules have been developed for a controlling person and a supervisory authority to enter into an agreement for breaches to be eliminated

The Russian Government’s draft decree

Public discussions are now taking place.

Such an agreement can be concluded within the scope of the federal state environmental/geological control (supervision), the federal state supervision in the field of industrial safety and the federal state fire supervision, among others.

It has been determined which organisations may have the right to file a petition for entering into the agreement.

The procedure and timeframes have been determined for examining a petition, the conditions of control over the performance of an agreement and the grounds for terminating it.

The term of an agreement should not be more than 3 years.

A signed agreement must be sent for approval to the prosecutor's office and comes into force once it is approved.

LEGISLATION

The list of goods for parallel import has been updated

The Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Order No. 1572 dated 1 April 2025

Came into force on 1 May 2025, save for individual provisions.

The list of goods has been updated that are permitted for parallel import (Order No. 2701 of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade dated 21 July 2023).

Specifically, the changes have affected perfumes and cosmetics, detergents, soaps, electronics, plastics articles, automotive components and more. Certain items have been excluded, while the new ones have been added.