Transactions With Unfriendly Foreign Entities To Be Conducted Through Gov't: Kommersant

Russian business broadsheet Kommersant has published an op-ed noting that the presidential decree on financial stabilisation measures "did not bring fundamental clarity to what was happening - it requires that all transactions with foreign individuals and legal entities from "unfriendly" jurisdictions be coordinated with the government commission on foreign investment, and in some cases (with securities) - with the Bank of Russia. (...) Its practical significance and efficiency depend only on law enforcement: it can be used both as an “economic iron curtain” and as a hub for constant deals with what the Russian authorities call the “west”."

• The newspaper says that the ban on foreign currency exports worth more than $10,000 was an expected and logical step, but the main highlight of the decree was provided by clauses regulating transactions with assets controlled by non-residents.
• While necessary in light of sanctions, the step "is also an attempt to create a new category of legal entities and individuals who have anything to do with foreign states that impose sanctions against the Russian Federation."
• "The decree does not provide instructions on who and on what grounds will give definitions of "states committing unfriendly actions", and even more so of persons controlled by them, according to the authorities of the Russian Federation."
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