Putin offered to help offshore companies return to Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin at the plenary session SPIEF proposed to work out mechanisms that would help those who are entangled in their offshore companies to find a place in Russia. In particular, the head of state spoke about offshore companies that are registered abroad but operate in Russia and are owned by citizens of the Russian Federation.

“Well, once someone transferred from one offshore to another, to a third. Then some quasi-owners appeared, some beneficiaries, they were also covered up … To be honest, sometimes you look at all this, you feel sorry for those who did it. In the end – “hit”. But let’s think together how to help them,” he said, speaking about the decision of Western countries to freeze the funds of Russian entrepreneurs.

The head of state noted that, although these are personal difficulties of people who have decided to transfer their business offshore, “our citizens work at these enterprises, investments are made here.” In this regard, the owners of such a business need to be helped and create a place for them in the legal field of Russia. Putin instructed the government, together with the business community, to work out “a mechanism for the rights of protecting citizens and legal entities that own Russian companies through foreign layers.”

Putin said that there are situations when Russian assets owned by foreign companies cannot “move” back to Russian jurisdiction due to the reluctance of foreign states to “release entrepreneurs with our assets” and, in some cases, legal prohibitions on such relocation.

In this regard, the government, together with the business community, needs to work out a mechanism by December this year to return “assets in key industries to Russian jurisdiction, including simplifying the procedure for transferring businesses to Russia and registering in special administrative regions in cases where the transfer is blocked by a foreign country.”

During his address to the Federal Assembly on February 21, Putin urged businessmen to work for the country and “invest in Russia” rather than “cling to the past” and “run with outstretched hands.” He stressed that the future belongs to those who are “ready to be with their Motherland, work for their compatriots” and “change life around them.”