State Duma Adopts Law to Support Sanctioned Citizens and Businesses

The State Duma has adopted a law on the second and third readings that includes a number of socio-economic measures to support citizens and businesses under sanctions. The document was initiated by the government of the Russian Federation, as reported by TASS.

The law establishes mechanisms to support the economic sector, including the simplification of licensing and permitting procedures as defined by the legislation of the Russian Federation, which regulates the legal regime for the procurement of goods, works, and services to meet state and municipal needs, as well as peculiarities in regulating relationships in the field of insurance in Russia.

According to the draft law, the government is granted the authority to introduce a moratorium on planned inspections of small and medium-sized businesses in 2022. Simultaneously, as stated in the text of the document, “planned inspections will not be carried out in organizations operating in the field of information technology accredited by the state until December 31, 2024.”

Ministers are also granted the right to make decisions regarding licensing rules and other permit regimes. Specifically, this grants entrepreneurs the opportunity to operate without a license or to extend licenses without undergoing the necessary assessments, paying state duties, or the fees for required public services. Entrepreneurs will also be able to skip compliance assessment procedures for perpetual licenses and permits, avoid qualification examinations, and extend the validity periods of qualification certificates.