The Duma adopted a bill to protect businesses from nationalization. In practice it most likely will not work

The State Duma in the first reading adopted a government bill on the statute of limitations for privatization. The document, as conceived by the authors, should protect “respectable” owners from claims for seizure of assets. This was reported on the website of the Lower House.

279 deputies voted for the adoption of the law, 54 were against, and another 20 abstained.

What is the document about? It establishes that in disputes over privatization, the limitation periods established by the Civil Code are subject to application: three years from the date of discovery of the violation. In this case, the statute of limitations cannot exceed 10 years from the date of disposal of the property from state ownership.

It is proposed to apply the new rules both to future claims and to current cases if decisions on them have not entered into force.

What's the catch? The decision will not affect nationalization on “anti-corruption” and “anti-extremist” claims, as well as disputes about violations of the rules of foreign investment in strategic enterprises. Namely, they have recently become the most common reasons for the seizure of property from Russian businesses.

“The first two points [of the exceptions] cover all the needs of law enforcement officers to seize any property. Terrorism and extremism in our country are understood very broadly. Such rules do not protect anyone from anything. <...> If we file anti-corruption lawsuits arbitrarily, if we treat terrorism and extremism arbitrarily, then these two exceptions [will not stop the security forces],” said political scientist Ekaterina Shulman.

Position of the Ministry of Economic Development . The department stated that judicial practice has now developed in such a way that statutes of limitations do not apply when seizing property that was privatized even 15-30 years ago. “This puts pressure on investor behavior because it creates uncertainty about the legality of the property being purchased.” The bill should be a “positive signal” for entrepreneurs and investors.

The document was presented in the Duma by Deputy Minister of Economic Development Alexey Khersontsev and Deputy Pavel Krasheninnikov. The explanatory note to it separately notes that the bill was developed on behalf of Vladimir Putin.

Extent of seizures. In March, the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation reported that in 2025 companies with a total value of 4 trillion rubles were nationalized. The head of the Federal Property Management Agency said that the courts transferred about 805 companies to the state. The largest assets were transferred to people from Putin’s entourage, New Europe found out.