Restrictions and measures of state support for business: the digest for 23 March - 5 April 2026

DRAFT LAWS

The procedure for paying dividends will be streamlined

Draft federal law No. 1191448-8

The draft has been put before the State Duma.

Amendments have been prepared to article 43 of the Law on Joint-Stock Companies in pursuance of the Russian Constitutional Court’s Resolution No. 31-P dated 25 September 2025. The amendments are intended to protect holders of preferred stock if the order of priority has been violated for distributing dividends.

The rule has been proposed to be established: if any such violation takes place, holders of preferred stock will be able to demand, within 3 months, that dividends be paid out to them in the amount due.

Template terms and conditions have been drawn up for public contracts regarding the liability of parties

The Russian Government’s draft decree

Public discussions are now taking place.

It is proposed that, starting from 1 July 2026, template terms and conditions be introduced for public contracts concerning liability for violations on the part of suppliers/customers.

Among the terms and conditions are:

• if the supplier has violated an obligation for which the contract has established a deadline, the customer will, together with the claim, forward its demand to the supplier that a penalty be paid in the form of default interest, whereas, if the contract has set no such deadline, the customer will demand that a fine be paid;

• the customer will withhold the amount of outstanding claims for default interest/fines and for the advance payment to be refunded from the amount that is due under the contract;

• the supplier will consider the customer’s claim within 3 business days and comply with the latter’s claim for default interest to be paid and for the advance payment to be refunded within 7 business days;

• if the customer delays in performing its obligation, the supplier will send it a claim in writing and additionally a claim for default interest if the claim concerns the obligation to pay for the supply.

LEGISLATION

The new strategy has been approved to combat counterfeit goods: labelling, track&trace and liability

The Russian Government’s Instruction No. 645-r dated 28 March 2026

It has been stipulated that control be tightened over the circulation of goods and liability be made more stringent.

Among the key tasks and priorities are:

• developing the state track&trace system for manufactured goods at all stages of their life cycle (production, processing, transportation, storage and sale);

• implementing mechanisms to ensure automated interaction between the public information system and the information systems of operators of digital platforms;

• expanding the list of products that are subject to labelling;

• introducing automatic penalties for violating the mandatory requirements;

• streamlining the measures of administrative and criminal liability for the illegal circulation of goods.