King & Spalding (JD Supra Russia)

On December 2, 2019, President Putin signed the law regarding the introduction of administrative fines for failure to comply with personal data localization requirements set by the Law on Personal Data since September 1, 2015.

On June 13, 2019 a bill of law entered Russian State Duma to introduce to the Code of Administrative Offense administrative fines for failure to comply with the requirements for localization of processing of personal data of the Russian citizens. Proposed fines for first offense amount to RUB 2,000,000 – 6,000,000 (approximately US$ 30,000 – 90,000) for legal entities. Repeated offense by legal...

While Russia has one of the largest conventional energy reserves in the world, it continues to incentivise the development of renewable energy projects through the renewable energy capacity auction scheme, endeavoring to make use of its vast land mass, particularly in the Russian Far East, for wind and hydro projects and addressing the growing problem of waste management with the development of...

On May 22, 2018 Russia’s State Duma (the lower house of parliament) passed the third and final reading of the draft law "On measures to influence (counteract) the unfriendly actions of the United States of America and (or) other foreign states" (the "Draft Law on Countersanctions"). The Draft Law on Countersanctions has been significantly revised from the original version published on April 13,

The Russian Personal Data Law refers to an official list of countries deemed to provide the adequate level of data protection (the “List”). The List is maintained by the competent regulatory authority, Roskomnadzor.

In July 2016, two bills became law as part of a package of amendments designed to protect Russian citizens’ data against terrorism. The measures were dubbed as the “Yarovaya Law” or “Yarovaya Package” after one of its authors, the State Duma Deputy Irina Yarovaya, who is known for her other initiatives mainly aimed at restriction of information distribution. The counter-terror measures come...

The U.S. Senate passed this week a measure to codify, strengthen and expand sanctions against the Russian Federation in response to its activities in Ukraine, cyber-attacks, interference in the U.S. Presidential election, and activities in Syria. The measure was added as a new title to legislation that already was under consideration dealing with new sanctions for Iran. The Russia sanctions...

The Russian Federal Tariff Service (the FTS) regulates the price at which Gazprom and its affiliates can sell natural gas to the wholesale market and to their affiliated refineries. The FTS also regulates the price of natural gas sold in the retail market to the general public, irrespective of the entity that produced/sold the gas. The sale of natural gas by independent producers (other than via...

In a December 6, 2016 ruling [No. 35-KG16-18], the Supreme Court of Russia confirmed that secret recordings of telephone conversations can be admissible evidence in certain circumstances, changing a long-standing position.

The business networking platform LinkedIn is the first major international player to fall victim to the implementation of Russia’s “data localization” law, with effect from September 1, 2015, which requires all parties processing personal data of Russian citizens to have this data stored in the territory of the Russian Federation. A failure to comply, including in case of parties having no...

On September 1, 2016, Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Connection, Informational Technologies and Mass Communications (“Roskomnadzor”) issued a report summarizing the results of implementation and compliance control of the data localization rules in force in Russia as of September 1, 2015.

Russia recently introduced procedures for the transfer of a power generating company’s rights and obligations under long-term capacity agreements for future projects that use capacity payments to secure a return on investment, including renewable power projects.

Over the past two years, Russia has expressed its intent to significantly increase investment opportunities in the Russian Far East including in the areas of infrastructure development, ship and oil rig building, trade, production of advanced technology products, tourism, and agriculture. The Russian government plans to develop the Russian Far East into a leading global business, energy and trade

On September 1, 2015, Russia’s new law requiring data localization, Russian Federal Law No. 242-FZ (“Russia’s Data Localization Law”) became effective. Although Russia’s Data Localization Law makes multiple changes to existing laws, a single sentence contains the core of the new obligation that parties operating in Russia have: When collecting personal data, including by means of the...

A controversial data localization law in Russia that would require businesses to perform data storage and processing with servers located on Russian soil is set to go into effect on September 1, 2015, after an amendment passed late last year accelerated the law’s start date. Recently, the Association of European Businesses (“AEB”), an industry lobby group, raised concerns to the Russian...

Russian off-shore subsoil use operations: status and perspectives - After Rosneft's recent discovery of substantial light oil and gas reserves at the Universitetskaya-1 well in the Kara Sea, regular development of subsoil on the Arctic shelf will become just a matter of time. According to Rosneft's estimates, the resource portfolio for the first discovered trap contains approximately 340...

On August 7, the Russian Federation instituted a ban on the importation of most food products from Australia, the United States, the European Union, and Norway. The suspension of imports of meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, and milk products has been widely viewed as retaliation against the United States and the European Union for imposing sanctions on Russia for its involvement in Ukraine.

Having one of the richest conventional energy reserves in the world, Russia has traditionally downplayed the importance of renewable power generation. Therefore, it is not surprising that compared to other countries' policy targets around the globe, Russia's goal for electricity generation from renewable sources is starkly diminutive. In 2009 the government set its sights on achieving 4.5% of...

In response to months of civil strife and violence in Ukraine, in March Vladimir Putin sent heavily armed Russian troops into Crimea, an autonomous republic within Ukraine. Within days, Russian forces seized control over Ukrainian assets, including a natural gas plant, and in a referendum on March 16, the Crimean people overwhelmingly voted to secede from Ukraine.

At the end of 2013 Russia approved long-awaited legislative amendments liberalizing its export regulations for liquefied natural gas ("LNG"). While the amendments are limited in scope, applying only to exporters that meet selected criteria, the liberalization, nonetheless, effectively breaks Gazprom's monopoly on LNG export.

The next wave of legislative developments with respect to offshore hydrocarbon production has just reached Russia. Starting with a recent introduction of legislation elaborating on requirements for financial security of offshore operations (see the August 2013 Energy Newsletter), Russian legislators have continued development of legislative reforms with respect to offshore oil and gas production...

As in many other countries in the world, in Russia the violation, by a foreign state court judgment or arbitral award, of the public policy constitutes a ground to deny recognition and enforcement of such judgments and awards. Therefore, it is key to carefully draft the dispute resolution clause in contracts and to make use of foreign courts or arbitral tribunals, if the judgments or award is...

The development of the Russian shelf is essentially reserved to state-owned Rosneft and Gazprom (and their affiliates). Under Russian law, oil and gas deposits located on or extending into the continental shelf of the Russian Federation may be used only by Russian legal entities (i) with at least 50 percent state participation, and (ii) having at least five years of experience with operations on...

The unconventional hydrocarbon resource boom that hit the US and Europe had gone relatively unnoticed in Russia until recently. Ignoring the world’s fascination with the potential of unconventional resources, Russia repeatedly downplayed their importance and maintained its focus on the development of its rich conventional reserves.

The Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (“FAS”) has cleared Rosneft’s US$ 55 billion acquisition of TNK-BP, subject to divestments and conduct remedies. The deal will reduce the number of major oil companies in Russia from four to three and, arguably, will make Rosneft the world’s largest public oil and gas company engaged in the production of liquid hydrocarbons.

On July 21, 2012, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed Russia’s protocol of accession to the WTO. As reported in January, Russia finalized its WTO accession protocol last December. Under that protocol, Russia agreed to reductions in its tariffs on imports of manufactured goods and agricultural products, as well as technical barriers to trade.

In the context of forthcoming Russian presidential elections, discussions have resumed concerning possible steps that Russia might take to encourage greater foreign investment and generally simplify transactions in strategic sectors of the Russian economy, including oil and natural gas projects. On November 16, 2011, President Medvedev signed into law significant amendments to the law “On...