MOSCOW, November 10. /TASS/. The Russian government plans to implement measures to prevent risks arising from foreign investment in organizations, which are strategically important for the country's defense and state security. The State Duma, lower house of parliament, has adopted a relevant draft law in the first reading on Thursday.
The bill was designed by the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) and submitted by the government.
The document introduces amendments to the law "On the Procedure for Making Foreign Investments in Business Companies of Strategic Importance for Ensuring the Defense of the Country and the Security of the State" and certain legislative acts.
According to the document, if a company, controlled by a foreign investor, decides to engage in one of the strategic activities it will have to agree with the legal commission on obtaining a license, certificate or other permit to carry out such activities.
The document defines measures to suspend the validity of such a license (permit) in case of violation of this procedure. The bill will only apply to newly emerging relations.
The bill has been prepared to implement a set of measures aimed at preventing risks arising from the implementation of foreign investments in organizations whose activities are of strategic importance for the defense of the country and the security of the state, the explanatory note says.
The document sets the procedure for obtaining rights for the extraction of biological resources on the basis of law enforcement practice and the results of monitoring the fishing industry in accordance with the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation. In particular, it is proposed to establish mandatory preliminary approval of transactions to grant such rights to a business entity controlled by a foreign investor, which will have the rights to harvest certain types of biological resources within the boundaries of the fishery basin in the form of allowable catch volumes (by types of quotas).
The draft law proposes to introduce a ban on the issuance (re-issuance) of new permits for the extraction of bioresources to a business entity, in respect of which violations were revealed when a foreign investor established control over the company.