Decree No. 750: Russian strategic companies need state consent to disclose information abroad and sell foreign assets

In brief

• Decree No. 750 was signed and came into force on 15 October 2026 and was published on the official legal information portal.
• It concerns joint-stock companies on the list of strategic enterprises and their subsidiaries.
• State consent is now needed to provide information to foreign bodies, even without a request, where foreign law requires it.
• Consent is also needed to revise contracts with foreign partners, documents on pricing policy abroad, and to sell stakes in foreign companies and foreign real estate.
• Information mandatory under Russian law and information on issuing and circulating securities can be disclosed without consent.
• The decree introduces no separate penalty for violations.

What Decree No. 750 requires

Decree No. 750 amended an earlier Decree No. 1285, which already required strategic companies to agree with the state before providing information to foreign bodies. Previously this mostly concerned replies to requests from foreign regulators. Now the scope is wider: consent is needed even when there is no request but foreign law requires the information. For example, for mandatory reporting abroad.

The second block concerns property and contracts. Consent is needed to revise contracts with foreign partners and for documents setting commercial or pricing policy abroad. The third block is foreign assets: selling stakes in foreign organisations, giving up rights to operate abroad and selling foreign real estate.

The decree does not change the ground for refusal. An agency may refuse if an action could harm Russia's economic interests. What has changed is the number of situations in which permission must be sought, which has grown several times over.

What this means for you. If your partner, client or employer abroad is linked to a strategic company, expect any contract changes, disclosures and asset deals to take longer.

Before and after: the approval procedure before the decree

The approval procedure for strategic companies did not appear in 2026. Decree No. 1285 already required them to obtain state consent before replying to foreign bodies' requests about their activities. The logic was protective: to prevent information about the country's largest companies from going abroad without control.

Before Decree No. 750 this procedure mainly concerned replies to specific requests. A company received a request from a foreign regulator, court or authority and sought consent. Transactions involving contracts and foreign property were not directly covered.

Decree No. 750 widened the procedure in two directions. First, consent is needed even without a request if foreign law requires disclosure. Second, contracts with foreign partners, pricing policy and the sale of foreign assets came under control. The ground for refusal itself, harm to the country's economic interests, stayed the same.

What this means for you. Companies that already worked with the Decree No. 1285 procedure know how it works. What is new for them is the scope: it now covers not only replies to requests but ordinary business decisions abroad.

Who it concerns: strategic companies and their subsidiaries

The decree applies to joint-stock companies on the list of strategic enterprises and strategic joint-stock companies. The list was approved by Decree No. 1009 of 4 August 2004 and has been amended many times since. It includes the largest companies in energy, transport, finance, mining and the defence industry. The requirements also extend to their subsidiaries, including foreign ones.

Consent is given by federal authorities under Government Resolution No. 1017 of 5 October 2012, last updated in June 2026. Which agency is responsible for a given company depends on its sector.

The decree creates no direct obligations for private individuals. But it matters to those who work for such companies or their foreign subsidiaries, to their partners, banks, auditors and lawyers abroad, and to buyers of their foreign assets.

What this means for you. If you are buying foreign property or a stake in a company from a seller linked to a strategic enterprise, the deal now needs consent from a Russian agency. Without it the deal may not go through.

How will the decree affect checks by foreign banks?

The most practical consequence concerns relations with foreign banks. Banks in the EU, the UK, the UAE and other countries regularly ask clients for information on their activities, owners and sources of funds. For a foreign subsidiary of a strategic enterprise, replying to such a request may require agency consent if the bank asks for the information under its own law.

The result is predictable: replies will take longer, and a bank that does not receive information on time may restrict service or close the account. European banks are already stricter with clients from third countries, as we wrote in the article on new EU rules for third-country banks. The decree adds an internal approval procedure on the Russian side.

For private clients from Russia with no link to strategic companies, the decree changes nothing. But the overall climate of checks is getting tougher: banks look more closely at the source of money, as we described in the review on source-of-funds checks.

What this means for you. If you run a foreign company linked to a strategic enterprise, discuss response times for requests with your bank in advance. The bank should understand why a reply may be delayed.

Selling foreign assets: 3 types of deals under control

The decree separately names three types of actions with foreign property: selling stakes in foreign organisations, giving up rights to operate abroad and selling foreign real estate. For any of these deals a strategic company and its subsidiary now need agency consent.

1. Stakes in foreign companies. Selling a stake in a joint venture or a foreign subsidiary requires consent, even if the buyer is a foreign partner who has long worked with the company.
2. Rights to operate. Giving up licences, concessions and other rights to work abroad also goes through approval.
3. Foreign real estate. Selling offices, warehouses and other property abroad is possible only with agency consent.

For foreign buyers of such assets this means an extra stage in the deal and a risk it will not happen. For the companies themselves it means a loss of flexibility: quickly selling an asset when circumstances demand it, for example sanctions risks in the host country, becomes harder.

What this means for you. If you are involved in a deal for a foreign asset of a Russian strategic company, include a condition on obtaining consent and a timeframe for it in the contract.

Three situations where the decree is most noticeable

The decree is worded in general terms, so it helps to look at where it will matter in practice. Below are examples, not an official interpretation: in a specific case the procedure should be checked with the agency.

1. Reporting by a foreign subsidiary. A subsidiary of a strategic enterprise in another country must file reports with a regulator or undergo an audit under local law. Previously this was routine. Now, if the report contains information whose disclosure requires consent, the company will have to obtain it in advance so as not to breach either the local or the Russian procedure.
2. Revising a supply contract. A foreign buyer asks to change the price or terms of a long-term contract. Revising a contract with a foreign partner and documents on pricing policy abroad now require consent, so negotiations take longer.
3. Exiting a joint venture. A foreign partner offers to buy out a Russian strategic company's stake in a joint venture. Selling the stake requires consent, and the buyer will have to wait for the agency's decision without knowing how long it will take.

In all three cases the Russian company is caught between two obligations: comply with a foreign law or contract, and obtain consent at home. If consent is delayed, relations with the partner, bank or regulator suffer.

What this means for you. If you are a foreign partner of a Russian strategic company, build timeframes for approval and conditions in case of refusal into your contracts. This protects both sides.

Why control over foreign operations is tightening

Decree No. 750 is part of a general course towards tighter control over foreign operations. In October 2026 Russia was discussing a bill to raise the tax on passive income, covered in the article on the 22% tax on passive income. New rules for cryptocurrency were also on the table, including a ban on exchange between individuals; more in the article on the ban on P2P crypto exchange.

Against this background, disclosure requirements abroad are growing from two sides. Foreign banks and regulators ask for more information on Russian companies and their owners. The Russian side requires approval to hand over such information. Companies find themselves between two sets of requirements, and the time needed to meet both is growing.

EU tax blacklists and high-risk lists should also be borne in mind: they affect how banks treat companies from different jurisdictions. On the latest revision of the EU tax blacklist, see the article on the EU blacklist.

What this means for you. For those planning personal foreign assets and status, the conclusion is the same: documents on the source of money and a transparent ownership structure are becoming a mandatory condition, not a formality.

Checking your situation: 4 questions

If you are thinking about a personal status abroad against the background of these changes, programmes are collected in the residence and citizenship sections.

How this article was prepared

The article is based on Decree No. 750 of 15 October 2026 published on the official legal information portal, on Decree No. 1285 as amended by Decree No. 750, on Decree No. 1009 of 4 August 2004 on the list of strategic enterprises and on Government Resolution No. 1017 of 5 October 2012 on the federal bodies that give consent. The allocation of companies to agencies is based on press reports with examples. The assessment of the impact on bank checks and deals is BRIDGES' position. This article does not replace advice on your own situation.