Russia Drafts Law Limiting Foreign Investment

The Duma passed a bill restricting foreign investment in 42 sectors labeled strategic, including the manufacture and sale of military hardware, the nuclear industry, the extraction of mineral resources and mass media.

The bill says that any foreign private investor wanting to buy more than a 50 percent share of a company in any of the designated sectors will need approval from a commission composed of economic and security officials.
Foreign state-controlled companies will have to go through the same procedure if they want to acquire more than a 25-percent stake in a Russian company on the list.

The measure still needs upper house approval and the president’s signature.

Nikolai Petrov, a scholar at the Carnegie Moscow Center, tells VOA the bill reflects a dramatic change from 10 years ago when Russia actively sought foreign investment. He says state control is key to industrial policy in contemporary Russia.

Voice of America