Stay compliant while doing business in Russia. Your guide to the Russian legal and regulatory environment, covering business law, tax, and industry-specific compliance requirements for investors.
Russia has completed the ratification of its labor agreement with India, which eases the procedures for hiring temporary employees. It comes as Moscow seeks more Indian workers to address labor shortages, and covers Indians working in Russia and Russians employed in India under employment or service contracts. It also applies to full-time students taking temporary jobs outside their studies.
Russia’s automotive regulator has suspended the sale of numerous Russian trucks and SUV’s following spot-checks on safety compliance issues. Most of the defects related to braking systems, visible pollutant emissions, and the safety of external protrusions. Complaints also arose regarding seat belt anchor points, cabin safety features, emergency call devices, and external and internal noise. Imports can resume once the issues are rectified.
Vietnamese nationals may enter Russia visa-free from October 15 under a new decree. About 40,000 Vietnamese visited Russia in 2025, with most going to Moscow and St.Petersburg. That number can be expected to increase during 2026 and 2027.
Significant progress has been made on the proposed India-Eurasian Economic Union Free Trade Agreement. The Eurasian Economic Commissioner for Trade stated that the next round of talks in November “should be the key round of negotiations and will be centered around the key questions of access to each other’s markets.” They are scheduled just before Modi’s planned visit to Moscow, suggesting a deal could be imminent.
The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, has released an article outlining Russia’s Arctic policy, including interaction with other countries. We examine what he stated, the implications for China, India, Asia, Europe and the United States and provide analysis on this important subject.
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Russia has tweaked its inbound foreign investment requirements and is looking for FDI that will utilise Russian manufacturing to add value. In addition, the ‘buy-back’ re-entry requirements into Russia for companies that exited the market yet wish to return have been tightened. We also examine the current inbound FDI volumes into Russia and look at the numbers of Western investors remaining operational in the country.
The United Arab Emirates/Eurasian Economic Union free trade agreement comes into effect from October 6. We provide details of this, the Halal market opportunities and the current trade data between the UAE and the individual EAEU member countries.
Russian President Putin has signed into law the Russian cryptocurrency usage bill. Trading is permitted but not payment for goods or services in Russia. We examine the implications for Russia’s foreign trade and other financial settlement developments.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Foreign Ministers Summit has just concluded in Kyrgyzstan. Russia’s Foreign Minister also had specific meetings with China, Iran, and Pakistan. We discuss the key developments including the potential establishment of an SCO Development Bank.
Russia has extended the visa-free programme for Chinese national until 31st December 2027. 834,460 Chinese tourists visited Russia last year with initial indications of a 138% increase of those numbers during 2026 to date.
The Russian State Duma is poised to approve a series of investment incentives to attract investment into the Russian Arctic and Far East regions. These include five year tax breaks and other financial considerations. We provide the full investment incentive details.
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