洞察

GRATA International Moscow office contributed to the International Comparative Legal Guide series - Franchise 2018 with the chapter on Russia. 

The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) held a seminar on the organisation of activities of web publications with the participation of the Roskomnadzor legal experts and the representative of the RU/RF Domain Coordination Centre. 

On July 30, 2017 the amendments to the Federal Laws "On Foreign Investments in the Russian Federation" and "On the Procedure for Making Foreign Investments in Companies of Strategic Importance for National Defense and State Security" came into force, in particular, clarifying the notion of a foreign investor and supplementing the list of activities of strategic importance for the national defense and state security, as well as establishing new consequences of non-compliance by foreign investors of the obligation to submit information to the competent authority on the acquisition of 5 percent and more of the shares (stakes) of the strategic company.

The Federal Law No. 242-FZ dated 29 July 2017 amended certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation on the use of information technologies in the area of health care providing, in particular, for features of medial aid using telehealthcare technologies, e-document flow in the medial aid provision and the establishment of the Unified State Information System in the healthcare sector.

On 30 July 2017, amendments to the Code of Administrative Violations of the Russian Federation introduced by the Federal Law No. 175-FZ dated 18 July 2017, came into force. The amendments establish special administrative liability for the failure of the manufacturer (contractor, seller, or a person acting as a foreign manufacturer) to take measures for harm prevention in case of circulation products that do not meet the requirements of technical regulations. 

On 27 July 2017, the Federal Service for Supervision in the Area of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Communications (Roskomnadzor) held a traditional open day coincided with the date of adoption of the Federal Law No. 152-FZ 'On Personal Data'. 

On 19 July 2017, the Federation Council approved a draft law on the Adoption of a Protocol on Amending the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) under which TRIPS is supplemented with the provisions regarding the extended application of the mechanism allowing WTO member states to issue compulsory licenses for the production of generic medicines for export and, where required, to use immunity if their actions are challenged by other WTO member states.

As of July 12, 2017, amendments to the Arbitration Procedural Code of the Russian Federation and the Civil Code of the Russian Federation come into force, providing, inter alia, for

On 27 June 2017,  the Order dated 24 May 2017 became effective which sets the criteria for assessing materials and/or information required to take decisions by the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor), Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation and Rospotrebnadzor on  the inclusion of domain names and(or) pages indexes of Internet sites, as well as network addresses that allow identifying Internet sites containing prohibited information, in the Unified Register of Domain Names and(or) Page Indexes of Internet Sites, as well as Network Addresses allowing to Identify Internet Sites that Contain Information Prohibited for Dissemination in the Russian Federation. 

On 1 July 2017, amendments to the Federal Law 'On Privatisation of the State and Municipal Property' and the Federal Law 'On the Procedure for Foreign Investment in Business Entities of Strategic Importance for National Defense and State Security' became effective, according to which  offshore companies and legal entities controlled by an offshore company or a group of entities, which includes an offshore company are not permitted to purchase state and municipal property in Russia.