Category: News

Unexpectedly, on 15 January 2020, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced a radical overhaul of the constitution. It is to include about ten changes to the constitution and would distribute powers is a different manner, giving the parliament more authorities in some cases. Overall the Russian Federation is to remain a ‘strong presidential republic’.

The same day Mr. Dmitri Medvedev offered his resignation as a prime minister. In his place, former head of the tax service Michail Misjoestin was appointed. Mr Medvedev will take on the rol of vice-president of the Russian Security Council.

There are however still many questions on the potential impact of these changes and the reasons behind them. Possibly they will allow for a new role of Mr. Putin after 2024 when his presidential term will end.

For more information please refer to https://raamoprusland.nl/en

On 2 December 2019 a law came into effect increasing fines for non-compliance with the Russian data localisation requirements. The proposed fines could amount to a maximum of 6 million RUB (approximately 85,000 EUR) for a first offence and 18 million RUB (approximately 255,000 EUR) for a repeat offence.

Since 1 September 2015 it is required by Russian law that the personal data of Russian citizens are stored and processed using databases located in Russia. This requirement can be complied with for instance by placing the database with personal data of Russian citizens in a Russia-based data centre or server.

Until present fines for failure to provide information as required by data localisation legislation were very low (up to 5,000 RUB or appr. 67 eur). Instead Roskomnadzor, the Russian data protection authority, had the right to block the website of a company in breach of the rules.

We recommend you to carefully review your procedure for data processing and localization. If you are in doubt about the interpretation of the law, we are happy to provide clarifications.

You may also be interested in the following article: https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/01/03/will-russia-enforce-new-internet-laws-i2020-a68802

We wish you all Happiness, Health and Prosperity for the year 2020.

May you enjoy the holidays with your dear ones.

We hope to be in touch again in the year ahead.

Please note that our Russian offices will be closed from January 1- 8, 2020.

1. Being a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, Belarus gives its investors access to the markets of Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan with 184 000 000 consumers. 
2. Belarus can not boast of plentiful mineral resources. However, it has another treasure:  its talented and educated people.  Belarus was called the “assembly shop” of the Soviet Union.  It has 52 universities, 16 000 IT graduates each year.  Belarusians are highly qualified in medicine, IT, mechanical engineering, construction, agriculture and in other fields.
3. The capital of Minsk is only 2 hours by plane from most European capitals. Belarus has extensive and well-taken-care-of network of roads, highways and railways making the country very suitable for transit.
4. The Belarusian government strives to make Belarus a heaven for IT start-ups as well as for the IT “veterans”.  Hi-Tech Park (HTP) has been functioning since 2005. IT companies in HTP are exempt from all corporate taxes, including VAT and profit tax, as well as from customs duties, etc.  About 1,2 billion people all over the world use the mobile apps developed by HTP residents. Belarus has one of the world’s most progressive IT legislation. The Decree of 2018 On Development of Digital Economy, among many other things, made cryptocurrency exchanges, mining, smart-contract, blockchain, etc.  legal.  Operations with tokens (mining, buying, exchange, etc.) are VAT exempt.
5. The country is friendly to investors. It has six free economic zones and there is a National Agency on Investments and Privatization.  Being an element of the so-called “Silk Road”, the Great Stone Industrial Park recently established with active Chinese participation welcomes new members.  It is a big-scale project with the prospect of becoming a large transnational business hub.

On 06 December 2019 the Ukrainian Rada (the Parliament) passed a law adopting an important amendment to the Code of Labour Laws of Ukraine. 

In particular, it introduces a new Article 5, whereby electronic documents drawn up  according to Ukrainian law are considered written documents for the purpose of labour law.

The law will make possible conclusions of labour contracts between employers and employees in electronic form.

The law is entering into force on the day following the date of its official publication.

Please feel free to contact us if you wish to be updated on the publication date or if you need other assistance in labour issues.

1.        Ukraine is a big European state and a big market with 42 million consumers.  The country is rich in natural resources (fertile lands, coal and ore mining (marganese, titanium, iron).  The Ukrainian GDP at current prices is almost 131 billion USD.  Ukrainian workers are cheap, disciplined and well-educated.

2.       Excellent geographic position.  It is a potential commercial hub between Europe and Asia.  Through Ukraine passes one of the branches of the so-called Silk Road from China to Europe.

3.       Ukraine is booming with reforms.  Since 2015 there has been a National Anticorruption Bureau.  Struggle against corruption is seen as a vital prerequisite to economic prosperity.  Economic reforms envision high-tech agriculture, machine-building and IT as principal economic growth drivers.  Since February of 2019 currency transactions are regulated by a liberal law ‘On Currency and Currency Transactions’.  Investors shall not bother about transferring their money abroad.

4.       Ukraine made its choice:  the country promptly strives to obtain membership in the European Union as well as in NATO.  The Association Agreement with the EU has been active since 01 January 2016.  A Free Trade agreement governs the trade between the EU and Ukraine.

5.       Warren Buffet, the famous American investor, said once, “Whether we’re talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down.”  Now Ukraine is “marked down”, so to say.  So, be among the ones who are in time to take their positions at this potentially highly-lucrative market.

Juralink is extending its services to Ukraine and Belarus. We are pleased to welcome Vladimir Zenkovich, an experienced local lawyer, to our team. Vladimir has previously worked on corporate and contract law from Minsk, both as an attorney/ consultant and as a corporate lawyer. Vladimir has graduated from Belarusian State University in Minsk, Belarus. He received his LL.M. at the University of Minnesota Law School, USA. 

He is fluent in Belarussian, Russian and English.  We have come to know Vladimir as a competent and reliable lawyer from a number of short assignments in the past and we look forward to a structural co-operation.

If you have any questions on legal issues in Ukraine or Belarus, please feel free to address Vladimir.  His phone is +375 29 684 80 85.

Authorities in the Russian Federation have published measures for the prevention and control of the measles. Employers must carry out immunization measures against the measles among their employees and report to authorities. Both company and director can get a penalty if employees do not carry proof of vaccination or immunity.

On 11 March 2019 the Regulation of the Chief sanitary officer of the RF “On the performance of clean-up immunizationagainst the measles in the territory of the RF” dated 06.03.2019 No.2 was registered by the Ministry of Justice of the RF.

This regulatory act requires you to carry out immunization measures against the measles among your employees and report the number of employees vaccinated to Rospotrebnadzor (the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare) by 31 December, 2019.

Please note that this Regulation also governs migrant workers. Art. 3 of the Regulation reads as follows: “3. Employers, who involve foreign citizens in the performance of work, must prior to 31.12.2019 take immunization measures against the measles of the mentioned foreign citizens that have not been sick with measles and have not been vaccinated or have no medical history of vaccination against the measles.

This issue should not be postponed and may require extra time for the following reasons:

• There are not always sufficient vaccines in the health care facilities
• One can be rejected for vaccination due to medical reasons, so it can take additional time to solve this situation
• There are various requirements to the report from different subdivisions of the Rospotrebnadzor

In total the whole procedure and filing of the reports can take up to one month.

Juralink can assist you in order to comply with the above measures. If you would like to know more, please let us know and we will contact you soon.

Our colleague Anna gave a presentation on protection of plant races and trademarks in the Russian Federation. It was part of the 5 November 2019 CIOPORA Academy.

You are very welcome to attend. Registration is via https://www.ciopora-academy.org/nov-5-amsterdam-workshop-on-ip-for-plants/

From the program:
November 5, 10:45 – 12:00 – Module 4: 
Plant Variety Protection and Trademarks and their Enforcement in the Russian Federation by Anna Fischer, Legal Counsel at Juralink, the Netherlands/Russia 

Receive a full overview of Russia’s IP for the agricultural and horticultural sectors. Learn about how to protect your PBRs and Trademarks, which state authorities to deal with and what regulatory requirements to comply with for launching, importing, and distributing plants.

What protection and enforcement mechanisms are available to breeders? Is a registration of a license agreement worthwhile? Are there any relevant legislative developments in the country? The presentation will provide you with answers to these questions and help improve your IP strategy in Russia.

From 01.04.2019, the insurance certificate of compulsory pension insurance, which indicated the SNILS (insurance number of an individual personal account), is no longer issued. In confirmation of the SNILS assignment, a document confirming registration in a system of individual (personified) accounts is provided. It also indicates the insurance number of the individual personal account. The  document mentioned can be sent by choice in electronic form or issued on paper.

These changes were made by the Federal Law of 01.04.2019 N 48-FZ to the Federal Law “Individual (personified) Registration in the System of Compulsory Pension Insurance”.

From April 1, 2019, citizens of Russia, foreign citizens and highly qualified specialists have to register an individual personal account in the individual (personified) accounting system, carried out by the Pension Fund of Russia.

This new rule applies in spite of the fact that pension insurance in accordance with Part 2 of Art. 22.1 of the Federal Law “On Compulsory Pension Insurance in the Russian Federation” continues not to apply to Highly Qualified Specialists. And this provision remains unchanged.

In accordance with the law on the choice of an individual, it can be sent to him in the form of an electronic document, as well as by other means, including on paper by mail.

Previously issued insurance certificates remain valid and are identical to the documents confirming registration in the system of individual (personified) accounts.

Information about SNILS, as before, shall be provided by a citizen when applying for state and municipal services independently.

Highly qualified specialists working under previously concluded employment contracts must register in the system of individual (personified) accounts.

Evasion of this duty may entail liability under Part 1 of Art. 5.27 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation in the form of a warning or the imposition of an administrative fine. For more information, contact our specialists.