The government announced its readiness to support the draft law on special accounts for foreign agents

The Government is prepared to support a draft law on special ruble accounts for foreign agents for the results of their intellectual activity. This is reported in the draft response of the Cabinet of Ministers, which was prepared by the Ministry of Justice. The document (available to Izvestia) notes that the initiative is aimed at improving the sphere of activities of foreign agents.

The State Duma passed the bill in the first reading in November 2024. Its authors were more than 400 deputies. The explanatory note says that the foreign agent will be obliged to open a special account for the transfer of remuneration for intellectual property there. If he fails to do so, the obligation will be transferred to the person transferring the funds. Money from such accounts can be transferred to the country's budget by court decision or "in other cases established by the government". Foreign agents will be able to dispose of the funds only after the removal of this status.

Anton Nemkin, a member of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications, said that for the second reading additional norms are being prepared concerning the transfer of funds to the special account from the sale of movable and immovable property, renting it out and other income.

The introduction of the status of a foreign agent and regulation of its activities has become one of the elements of the system of protection of Russia's information sovereignty, Nemkin emphasized. The head of the State Duma's security committee, Vasily Piskarev, noted earlier that such an initiative would eliminate the possibility for foreign agents to sponsor the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

Read more in the exclusive material of Izvestia:

Money apart: the Cabinet of Ministers is ready to support the introduction of special accounts for foreign agents