The Ministry of Economy opposed the ban on the work of “unfriendly” debt collectors

The Ministry of Economy opposed the draft presidential decree banning financial organizations associated with non-residents from “unfriendly” countries from acquiring overdue debts in Russia. The document developed by the Ministry of Justice indicated that it concerns collectors, banks and microfinance organizations (MFOs). I have read the ministry’s response to the project RBC.

By a presidential decree, the Ministry of Justice proposed to prohibit the collection and performance of any actions aimed at returning overdue debts of citizens for professional collection organizations, banks and microfinance organizations if they have connections with countries “unfriendly” to Russia. We are talking about situations where foreigners act as founders, owners or indirectly control a legal entity engaged in collection. The draft decree noted that it should be applied as an anti-sanction measure.

According to the Ministry of Economy, the new regulation will limit the rights of legal entities with foreign participation as creditors, who will be forced to sell problem debts to collectors who are not subject to the ban. “The argumentation given in the explanatory note can be applied to any profitable business in the management of which “unfriendly” persons participate,” the ministry’s response emphasizes. The department also pointed out that in Russia there are already restrictions on the withdrawal of funds for non-residents from “unfriendly” countries, and the protection of the interests of Russian debtors in dealing with collectors is regulated by the relevant law “On Collection”.

Bankers previously spoke out against the ban on the collection of overdue debts of individuals to organizations whose owners include representatives of “unfriendly” countries. In their opinion, as a result of such measures, problems in interaction with debtors will arise not only for subsidiaries of foreign banks, but also for public credit organizations, the shares of which may belong to non-residents.

Read more in the Kommersant article. “Neither a friend nor an enemy, but a duty”.