State Duma passes bill banning state contracts with offshore companies

MOSCOW, July 3 (RAPSI) – The State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, on Friday adopted in its third and final reading a government-drafted bill that prohibits state procurement from companies registered in offshore jurisdictions, RIA Novosti reports.

The provisional bill stipulates that a legal entity registered in a state that provides tax exemptions and does not require disclosure of financial information cannot be involved in state purchases.

The bill also proposes additions to the law on contractual system with a paragraph banning offshore companies from state procurement. Therefore, a procurement commission must reject a tender application from an offshore company.

The new bill was developed by the Government pursuant to a number of directives from the President to support domestic producers of goods and services, and to stimulate import replacement.