MOSCOW, Aug. 4 Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing through the courts to exclude significant Russian companies and banks from the ownership structure of foreign participants from unfriendly countries. The document is published on the official portal of legal information.
As Sergei Gavrilov, chairman of the State Duma committee on property, land and property relations, explained, the law is aimed at transferring Russian business to Russian jurisdiction, primarily in key and strategic industries, and restoring the rights of its Russian co-owners. It restricts the exercise of the corporate rights of foreign companies associated with unfriendly countries in relation to economically significant Russian organizations.
Their list will be established by the government. It will include all systemically important banks, as well as companies that meet at least one criterion: the total amount of the holding's revenue exceeds 75 billion rubles a year, it employs more than 4,000 employees, the total value of assets exceeds 150 billion rubles, the total amount paid for the previous tax year is at least 10 billion rubles.
The law also includes all city-forming enterprises, subjects of critical information infrastructure, as well as companies implementing technologies or software for socially significant services or participating in the creation and modernization of high-performance or high-paying jobs as economically significant.
The law applies to economically significant organizations in which foreign holdings own at least 50%. At the same time, the share of Russian owners in this foreign holding should be: more than 50% without additional conditions; more than 30%, if the Russian owners at the last meeting (session) of the supreme management body of the foreign holding could determine its decision; more than 20%, if the Russian company itself or shareholders (participants) of a foreign holding with a share of more than 20% fell under the sanctions.
According to the document, the shareholders of such an organization, its sole executive body, a member of the board of directors or a federal authority authorized by the government will be able to apply to the Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region with an application to suspend the rights of a foreign participant in such an organization.
The court may suspend his corporate rights in cases prescribed by law. In particular, when he commits actions that impede the management of the organization or that can lead to the termination, suspension of the company, its liquidation or bankruptcy. Including, for example, if a foreign participant publicly announced the termination of the organization’s activities or its participation in it, terminated or ceased to execute significant contracts, laid off more than a third of employees, or took actions aimed at complying with anti-Russian sanctions.
At the same time, the company, according to the law, will have to undergo reorganization and be transformed into a public joint stock company. The rights of foreign participants from unfriendly countries, according to the document, will be suspended, and their shares will be distributed proportionally among Russian owners. At the same time, Russian shareholders who own shares or stakes in such an organization through foreign structures will have to transfer them into direct ownership.