On March 3, Bill No. 80712-8 came into force in order to protect the national interests of the Russian Federation

Alexander Arbouzov, Partner and Head of Corporate Practice of the Duvernoix Legal law firm, commented on the bill, noting that the innovations cover much more areas of regulation than stated in the media:

"The amendments themselves do not establish a simplified procedure or easing, but delegate such powers to the Government of the Russian Federation for greater efficiency. In the near future, we should probably expect some government initiatives in terms of automatic renewal of licenses and permits, easing in the field of design and construction regulation, opportunities for the production of certain goods without the risk of violating someone's intellectual property rights and, finally, something new in the field of infrastructure development for the tourism industry. Many will be pleased with the empowerment of the Government of the Russian Federation with the authority to reduce the requirements for recognizing companies as small and medium-sized businesses," he believes.

At the same time, the expert did not appreciate the intention of the authorities to provide social support and protection of citizens, considering these measures insufficient in the current situation.

"By now, the "debt load" of the population has grown so much that nothing can be fixed here by "credit holidays" alone. Therefore, I would like the challenges of the time, which served as the basis for the preparation of this bill, to finally be used by the state for a radical revision of the state's approach to its role in the life of the population as a whole. In other words, it is necessary for the state to become truly "social”, as stipulated by Art. 7 of the Constitution, and turn its focus not only on maintaining business and ensuring the existence of the very poor, but also the bulk of citizens, providing them with everything they need to feel like citizens of a rich country. Such implementation may be facilitated by the buy-back of shares by joint-stock companies provided for by the bill. It should be noted that these provisions almost completely repeat in this part the Presidential Decree dated February 28, 2022. Such a measure will allow the buy-back of shares of so-called state-owned joint-stock companies (oil companies, state banks, etc.) currently held by foreign owners," Alexander Arbouzov says.