Acsour
The legislative and executive authorities of the Russian Federation have approved a number of anti-crisis measures to support business and stabilize the Russian economy. Read about the composition of such measures in our review below.
Measures for any companies
The Government of the Russian Federation has imposed a moratorium on scheduled inspections of organizations until December 31, 2022. At the same time, the prohibition does not apply to inspections carried out within the framework of:
Also, the imposed moratorium does not apply to tax audits. On-site and desk tax audits will be carried out as usual.
If the control measures were initiated before the moratorium was announced and have not been completed as of March 10, 2022, then they have to be completed within 5 working days from that date by drawing up a certificate and entering the relevant information into the Unified Register of Control Measures by the control bodies.
Unscheduled inspections will be possible only in case of approval by the General Prosecutor Office
only in coordination with the General Prosecutor Office and in case of a threat to:
Previously, such a moratorium only applied to small and medium–sized business entities included in the relevant Register. Now this relaxation of the rules applies to all legal entities.
Until June 1, 2022, the bodies of the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation (FTS) will not make a decision to suspend operations on bank accounts when recovering funds from organizations. This refers to the amounts of money collected from companies in case of non-payment or partial non-payment of taxes, levies, penalties and fines.
If a taxpayer company has suffered damage owing to financial and economic sanctions, then it can apply to the Federal Tax Service authorities at the place of registration in order to postpone the deadline for application of recovery measures to the maximum possible one. At the same time, if the regulatory authorities detect cases of concealment of assets, failure to submit a tax declaration, etc., then the suspension of account transactions will be applied in the general regime.
Starting from March 9 of this year, the Federal Tax Service has suspended the procedure for filing applications for bankruptcy of debtors. The prohibition concerns the procedure of external bankruptcy. This means that during the period of the restriction on debt collection, bailiffs will refuse both credit organizations and the Federal Tax Service.
At the same time, the Federal Tax Service agreed on a document with an amendment that the proceedings for previously incurred debts will not stop, and the debtor will also have the right to initiate bankruptcy procedure independently or to withdraw from the moratorium requirements. To do this, it is necessary to make a corresponding refusal in the Unified Federal Register of Bankruptcy Information (UFRBI) in the form of an application.
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation (CCI) has issued an Order suspending tariffs for consideration by the CCI of applications for evidence of force majeure, as well as for issuing force majeure certificates for the period from March 10 to April 30, 2022. In this connection, these procedures will be carried out free of charge.
Until December 31, 2022, without obtaining permits from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Russian residents are prohibited:
Measures for SMEs
Granting deferral on loans
Companies belonging to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) included in the Unified Register of SMEs and carrying out activities from the List approved by the Decree No. 337 of the Government of the Russian Federation dated March 10, 2022 may receive a deferral on loans and borrowings for up to 6 months.
This right can be used by companies that have concluded a loan agreement before March 1, 2022, as well as organizations that have received a deferral during the spread of a new coronavirus infection (until September 30, 2020). SMEs can apply for the extension of contractual relations until September 30, 2022 inclusively.
Measures for JSC and LLC
According to the Federal Law adopted by the State Duma of the Russian Federation, joint-stock companies (JSC) and limited liability companies (LLC) are exempt from the need to reduce capital to the level of net assets value or liquidation if, by the end of 2022, the value of their net assets will be below the amount of the authorized capital.
Please be reminded that this obligation arises for business entities in case of continued inequality (the value of net assets is less than the value of the authorized capital) for two consecutive years.
Also, the Board of Directors of the JSC, in preparation for the annual general meeting in 2022, is obliged to determine the date on which proposals will be accepted from shareholders to include issues on the agenda of such a meeting and nominate candidates for election to the board of directors. The date should be set not later than 27 days before the start of the meeting. Previously, these proposals were received by the JSC not later than 30 days after the reporting year ended.
Until December 31, 2022, shareholders owning in aggregate at least 5% of the Company’s voting shares can receive a number of information and documents about the Joint-Stock Company. It’s about:
An identical threshold for holding shares is set for filing claims of the Company (for example, in situations where a court may declare an uncoordinated large transaction invalid).
Previously, shareholders holding at least 1% of voting shares had the rights to receive a number of information.
In the matters of the application of certain state support measures, please contact Acsour experts.
