The authorities have begun to discuss increasing the contribution to the budget from transactions involving the departure of foreigners from Russia.

The fact that the authorities are discussing an increase in the budget contribution is also known to Anton Fedotov, vice president of the investment bank Aspring Capital, and Yuri Nikolaev, president of the Nikolaev and Partners bar association.

The subcommittee proposed increasing the contribution from the current 15% to 40% of the market price of assets, according to two RBC sources. At the same time, according to a source in the subcommittee, there is no talk of 40%, but a “significant increase” is being considered.

The need to increase the contribution arose in cases of “very cheap asset valuation,” and it is for these that the general rules can be changed, one of the interlocutors familiar with the discussion told RBC.

The Finance Ministry told the publication that the department is constantly discussing the effectiveness of the subcommittee and approaches to reviewing transactions. No new decisions have been made so far.

Contribution mechanism

Contributions to the federal budget are paid from transactions involving the sale of Russian assets by residents of countries “hostile” to Russia. Payment of the fees is one of the reasons for the subcommittee’s approval of the transactions, RBC notes.

Typically, the buyer pays the fee. In addition, a mandatory condition for the sale of Russian assets by foreign companies is a discount to the market value of at least 50%.

Expert opinion

If the contribution is increased, it will negatively affect the relevant transactions, Konstantin Mineev, a partner in the corporate practice of the Rybalkin, Gortsunyan, Dyakin and Partners legal organization, told RBC.

According to the expert, the number of offers has naturally decreased and recently a “real search” for assets of foreign companies leaving Russia has begun. If the contribution increases, there may not be any offers for sale at all,” Mineev stressed.

• The tax on transactions involving the exit of foreign companies from Russia was introduced in December 2022. From January 2024 to August, the federal budget received about 140 billion rubles in revenue from contributions, RBC wrote with reference to data from the state Electronic Budget system.