(Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law allowing for foreign investors from “unfriendly” countries to be barred from holding stakes in major Russian companies and banks, state news agency RIA said on Friday.
The law stipulates that the Russian government will create a list of Russian firms that will be affected by this law. This list will include systemically important banks and large firms, based on criteria such as revenue, number of employees, assets, and taxes paid.
According to this law, foreign investors from unfriendly countries, specifically those that have imposed sanctions on Russia due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, may have their rights suspended. In such cases, their shares will be distributed proportionally among Russian owners.
Russia has been taking significant steps in the past few months to gain control over the assets of Western companies as a retaliatory measure against the seizure of Russian-owned assets abroad.
Just last month, Russia took control of Danish beer company Carlsberg’s stake in a Russian brewer. It also took control of a Russian subsidiary of the French yoghurt maker Danone. In addition, Russia has taken similar actions against Finnish utility Fortum and Germany’s Uniper back in April.
(Writing by Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
Credit: The Star : News Feed
