MOSCOW, May 22. /TASS/. The return of capital to Russia is a sign of growing confidence in the national economy, President Vladimir Putin said at the congress of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia.

"As for the capital that is flowing away, it is really flowing away, but it is also flowing back, more and more. <...> The largest investments come to Russia from countries like Cyprus and the Netherlands. It's just the repatriation of capital. This suggests that there is trust in the economy, and it is growing," he said.

However, Putin stressed that "the credibility to protection of interests, in particular those of entrepreneurs, is not yet at a very high level."

"Therefore, [businessmen] often prefer to go to another jurisdiction," he explained.

Earlier, Putin proposed extending capital amnesty for at least a year, but only for those individuals who transfer funds to the Russian Federation and register a business in special administrative zones.

About capital amnesty

Capital amnesty implies legalization of Russians’ foreign assets. The first stage of the amnesty took place from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016, when the tax authorities collected about 7,200 declarations of foreign property and assets of Russians.

The second stage started on March 1, 2018 and ended on February 28, 2019. During the second stage assets worth more than 10 billion euros were declared. In exchange, the claimants were released from tax, administrative and criminal liability for violations of tax and currency legislation. Amnesty applies to all income, transactions and transactions related to foreign assets and accounts. Those who wanted to return capital to Russia could do it without paying income tax or personal income tax.

On March 6, the Finance Ministry submitted a bill on the third stage of capital amnesty. According to the document, owners of the assets abroad can submit declarations from May 1, 2019 to February 29, 2020.