Insights

The commercial laws of The Russian Federation. Part 9. Real Property

Immovable items and everything that is firmly connected with land, i.e. objects that cannot be moved without disproportionate damage to their utilization, are real property. This includes land parcels, subsoil areas, isolated water objects, forests, perennial plantings, buildings and structures. Provisions of law governing rights to real property and transactions with it apply also to aircraft, sea-craft, inland ships, spacecraft and other similar objects (Art. 130 [1] the RF Civil Code). Also a business enterprise as an ongoing economic concern is deemed to be a real property under Art.132 of the RF Civil Code...

by Ilya Nikiforov, managing partner of EPA&P St.Petersburg office

The commercial laws of The Russian Federation. Part 3. Foreign Trade

A comprehensive state monopoly on foreign trade was effective in the USSR during socialist times. It was phased out in late 1980s and early 1990s. Today, private persons may conduct foreign economic activity freely, provided that they comply with applicable laws. In particular, compliance with intricate customs, export control and currency regulations is required...

by Ilya Nikiforov, managing partner of EPA&P St.Petersburg office

The commercial laws of The Russian Federation. Part 2. Traders and Non-Traders

The concept of “entrepreneurial activity” is the closest in Russian law to the concept of traders or merchants. This concept derives from the type of the activity in which the person is engaged. Entrepreneurial activity is defined as “an independent activity carried out at own risk and directed at the systematic realization of profits from exploiting property, selling goods, performing works, or rendering services.” The definition of an entrepreneur extends to commercial organizations as well as to individual entrepreneurs (solo businessman)...

by Ilya Nikiforov, managing partner of EPA&P St.Petersburg office

The commercial laws of The Russian Federation. Part 1. General System of Law

The Russian legal system is a continental legal system where statutory law is more important than precedents. In resolving cases, the judges interpret legislation rather than search for a close match in prior jurisprudence. Most legislation is quite recent. It was developed in the 1990s after proliferation of economic and political reforms. Comparative law methods were an important instrument in developing a body of new law. For this reason, different legal institutions derive more or less from laws of different countries. For instance, securities law is based on the US model whereas the RF Civil Code is closer to the European tradition, while bankruptcy law relies heavily on German legislation...

by Ilya Nikiforov, managing partner of EPA&P St.Petersburg office

The commercial laws of The Russian Federation. Part 8. Bills Of Exchange, Promissory Notes and Checks

Bills of exchange, promissory notes, and checks are classified in the Russian law as valuable papers. The category of valuable papers includes also shares of stock, obligations, treasury notes, bills of lading and other documents certifying the economic right. Strict formal rules apply to the form of valuable papers, and especially bills of exchange and promissory notes. Defects of form of valuable papers may render them void or at least deprive such documents of the special status of valuable paper...

by Ilya Nikiforov, managing partner of EPA&P St.Petersburg office

The commercial laws of The Russian Federation. Part 7. Assignments

The Russian law does not expressly address “assignment of a contract” as such, but instead regulates assignment of individual elements of the contract such as rights and obligations of the parties. Assignment of rights under a contract is called “assignment of claim”, while the assignment of obligations is called “assignment of debt” (Art. 382 - 392 of the RF Civil Code)...

by Ilya Nikiforov, managing partner of EPA&P St.Petersburg office

The commercial laws of The Russian Federation. Part 6. Agency and Commercial Representation

In the contract of delegation, one person (a principal) designates and authorizes another person (an attorney) to perform legally binding acts on its behalf and issues a power of attorney to such another person. In this relationship only the principal is bound by actions of the attorney-in-fact within the scope of its mandate...

by Ilya Nikiforov, managing partner of EPA&P St.Petersburg office

The commercial laws of The Russian Federation. Part 5. Contracts

A contract is an agreement of two or more persons that constitutes, modifies, or terminates private rights and obligations. General rules on contracts and their formation are included in Chapters 27, 28 of the RF Civil Code. Section IV of part two of the RF Civil Code establishes specific rules applicable to individual types of contracts...

by Ilya Nikiforov, managing partner of EPA&P St.Petersburg office

The commercial laws of The Russian Federation. Part 4. Foreign Direct Investment

Special regulation of rights, obligations and guarantees for foreign investors in Russia is implemented through a number of federal and local laws and other legal instruments. The Federal Law On Foreign Investments in the Russian Federation of 9 July 1999 No. 160-FZ (as amended) and bilateral investment treaties of the RF are among the most important acts...

by Ilya Nikiforov, managing partner of EPA&P St.Petersburg office

The commercial laws of The Russian Federation. Part 18. Writs of Execution

The procedure of execution (enforcement) of judicial acts is governed by Section VII of the new Arbitrazh Procedure Code of the RF of 24 July 2004 No. 95-FZ (hereinafter the “APC”), Chapter 47 of Section VI and Section VII of the new Civil Procedure Code of the RF of 14 November 2002 No. 138-FZ (hereinafter the “CPC”), the federal law No. 118-FZ On Court Bailiffs of 21 July 1997 and the Federal Law On Execution Procedure No. 119-FZ of the same date...

by Ilya Nikiforov, managing partner of EPA&P St.Petersburg office

The commercial laws of The Russian Federation. Part 17. Recognition of Foreign Judgements

Recognition and execution of foreign judgements is possible and is carried out in practice. The basis for recognition and execution of foreign judgements are treaties on judicial assistance. Currently such treaties exist with the about forty countries: Romania, Albania, Hungary, Yugoslavia, North Korea, Poland, Iraq, Yemen, Algeria, Bulgaria, Greece, Tunisia, Cyprus, Cuba, Mongolia, China, Kyrgizia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Moldova, Azerbajdzhan, Vietnam, India, Egypt, Argentina, etc...

by Ilya Nikiforov, managing partner of EPA&P St.Petersburg office

The commercial laws of The Russian Federation. Part 16. Civil Actions and Procedures

The Constitution provides for creation of two systems of courts: federal courts and courts of subunits of the Russian Federation. Today both systems are functioning...

by Ilya Nikiforov, managing partner of EPA&P St.Petersburg office

The commercial laws of The Russian Federation. Part 15. Business Organizations

The basic document of the Russian joint-stock legislation is the RF Federal law On Joint-Stock Companies of 26 December 1995 with latest amendments from 6 April 2004 (hereinafter “the law On Joint-Stock Companies”). Considerable amendments to this Law have been also introduced in 2001...

by Ilya Nikiforov, managing partner of EPA&P St.Petersburg office

Dimitry Afanasiev's commentary on the Russian court system in The Moscow Times

Elections, the independence of the courts and a high-profile furniture scandal converged Monday, as a Moscow City Court judge accused the Prosecutor General's Office of pressuring the court to issue rulings in its favor.

Russian approach to immunity and enforcement against Russian public entities

Russian approach to immunity of the state agencies has not been crystallized yet. There are two aspects to this problem: (i) immunity of Russian public entities in foreign courts and status of their extraterritorial assets and (ii) standing of foreign public entities and international organizations in Russian courts...

by Ilya Nikiforov, magaging partner of EPA&P's St.Petersburg office