Russia excludes digital platforms and marketplaces from strategic industry classification, removing foreign investment approval requirements.
Regulation & Gov ·
Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service has prepared revised amendments to its foreign investment law that exclude digital platforms and marketplaces from the list of strategic industries, according to Vedomosti. The change reverses an earlier draft from June that had proposed including these sectors. The updated proposal, dated July 23, will mean foreign investors no longer need mandatory government commission approval for transactions in digital platforms, marketplaces, developers of trusted Russian software and AI technologies, or operators of data centers.
Instead of the special approval regime, companies in these sectors will face a simpler procedure: mandatory review by the Antimonopoly Service during which transactions must be paused. The agency retains the ability to initiate its own inspections of companies with foreign participation and may escalate matters to the government commission chair if needed. The revised draft does include technical information protection and mining infrastructure operators in the strategic industries list.
What remains unclear is the timeline for formal adoption of these amendments or how the Antimonopoly Service review process will operate in practice. The shift suggests a regulatory recalibration toward reducing friction in foreign investment flows into digital sectors while maintaining oversight mechanisms distinct from the full strategic approval framework.