Russia: Passage of Bill increasing fines for non-compliance with local operation requirement

On 6 July 2022, the State Duma passed the Bill 84631-8 amending the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offenses. The Bill would establish stricter penalties for foreign internet companies that fail to open representative offices in Russia, as required by Law No. 236-FZ. According to the passed Bill, a foreign IT company that fails to register a personal account on the Roskomnadzor website, place a feedback form on its information resource and establish a Russian legal entity, create a branch, or open a representative office on the territory of the Russian Federation will have to pay an administrative fine amounting to 10% of its revenue in the last financial year. In addition, for repeated violations, the company will have to pay a fine ranging from 10% to 20% of its global turnover. Finally, the Bill would introduce fines of up to RUB 5 million for search engine operators, hosting providers, advertisers and advertising distributors that fail to comply with the local operation requirement.