As in other countries, business in Russia has been heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and small and medium enterprises, which do not have enough reserves to survive in the unfavorable economic situation, have suffered the most. In order to support SMEs, the State, in addition to temporary support measures, has introduced a considerable decrease in the tax burden related to the remuneration of employees above the minimum monthly wage. Cumulative social contributions were lowered to 15% from the previous rate (which could reach 30%, with certain exceptions), and may be applied by SMEs.

Most multinational corporations have internal antitrust compliance policies in place for their global businesses, covering their Russian operations. Following years of debate, Russia has enacted a law meant to improve antitrust compliance by regulating internal compliance policies (the “Compliance Act”).

Climate change and sustainability have become trending issues in Russia with the government encouraging “green” projects. The Russian authorities have been steadily implementing legal acts confirming Russia’s commitment to high standards of energy efficiency and setting out practical steps to be undertaken to achieve these. In this article we summarize the most notable developments and most anticipated legal acts in the sphere.

Although, unlike the GDPR, Russia’s Personal Data Law does not clearly distinguish the concepts of data controller and data processor, there is a draft amendment to Russia’s law which, if adopted, would introduce these concepts.

The issue of compulsory licenses for patent rights to pharmaceuticals is becoming more and more controversial in Russia, due to the growing number of important court rulings involving compulsory licenses affecting leaders of the pharma industry over the last few years.

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Although not specifically related to Russia, the agreement by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) between it and the Apollo Aviation Group (Apollo) on the monetary compensation for the settlement of violations by Apollo of the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations that was announced on November, 7 2019, affects the aircraft leasing sector worldwide.

Scott Senecal is an American lawyer with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in Moscow. His practice focuses on financial and corporate law, and he has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, capital market transactions, and syndicated loans.

CEELM: Can you walk us through your career leading you up to your current role?

Sanctions imposed by the U.S.A, the EU, and other jurisdictions in relation to certain Russian individuals and legal entities have had a substantial impact on international arbitration involving Russian parties. There exist serious concerns as to the ability of sanctioned Russian parties and their contractual counterparts to realize their right to defend themselves in the course of arbitration proceedings. These concerns have led to changes in market practice regarding the choice of the arbitration forum and to some legislative proposals in Russia that, if implemented, would have a dramatic impact on international arbitration involving Russian parties.

I feel a sense of optimism about Russian’s legal market that I have not felt since the dark days of the Crimean Crisis in 2014.

Why would a lawyer in private practice strive to make partner? That may come across as a strange question. An old saying holds that a soldier who doesn’t aspire to become a general is a bad soldier. Partnership as an ultimate goal is often taken for granted.

The enforcement of pharmaceutical patent rights in Russia is a multi-aspect issue. One such aspect, well known to the industry and patent owners, is the attempt to prevent pharmaceuticals that may infringe on prior patent rights from being registered by the Russian healthcare authorities.

Bardugov Alexander is the Head of Legal of Banca Intesa in Moscow, a role which he has held since 2013. He first joined Banca Intesa in 2004 as a Junior Legal Counsel, gradually progressing to Head of Sector for Banking Operations Legal Support in 2008, Head of Legal Support for Retail and SME in 2009, and Head of Business Legal Support in 2010.

Artyom Podshibyakin is the Head of Legal and Compliance of INDITEX Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. Prior to joining INDITEX over a decade ago, Podshibyakin was a Senior Lawyer with IKEA MOS Retail and Property.

Almost 20 years ago, the Russian Government decided to develop a renewable energy sector and promote renewable energy projects in the country. These efforts brought huge investments and complex technologies to the Russian renewable energy sector, which now features major global industry players like Vestas, Fortum, Siemens, Enel, and Lagerwey.

In recent years, Russia has experienced intense development in its automotive industry. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the subsequent deep economic crisis, it quickly became apparent that the Russia’s automotive industry was unable to meet the needs of the newly developing automotive market in Russia. National producers lost market share to foreign manufacturers despite high import custom rates. Russian consumers were not willing to buy technically outdated national products and were looking for foreign brands.

The pharmaceutical market is one of the fastest growing markets in Russia, and despite external and internal issues, it is set to grow even further. Foreign pharma companies are expanding into Russia and quite often, at the initial stage, they do not have subsidiaries but are mostly focused on marketing and promotional activities through representative offices. They should, however, consider the approach of the Russian tax authorities in taxing foreign representative offices (ROs) and consider alternative distribution arrangements.