The lawyer explained the new requirements for the use of the Russian language in the public sphere

On March 1, 2026, amendments to legislation came into force in Russia, consolidating the priority of the Russian language in the public information space. Vera Garan, head of the practice at Knyazev, Sivolotskaya and Partners Law Firm, informed Izvestia on March 24.

We are talking about the provisions of Federal Law No. 168-FZ of June 24, 2025, which supplemented the law "On Consumer Rights Protection" with a new article. According to the changes, all non-promotional information intended for customers in the course of trading and providing services must be written in Russian as the official language.

According to the expert, the requirements apply to a wide range of media. In the offline environment, these are signage, storefronts, signs, menus, price tags and information plaques, online websites, mobile applications, social media pages and product cards on marketplaces. The changes also apply to audio formats, including voice announcements in retail outlets.

"The essence of the law is that consumers can freely navigate information without the need for translation. All data should be understandable in the official language," said Garan.

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Starting from March 1, 2026, entrepreneurs will face fines for using foreign words.

However, the use of foreign words is not completely prohibited. However, as the lawyer emphasized, texts in Russian and in a foreign language should be identical in content, equally designed and placed without the visual priority of one of them.

Special attention is paid to the correctness of the translation. Simple transliteration of foreign words in Cyrillic does not comply with the requirements of the law.

"For example, writing "beauty studio" instead of a full-fledged translation is not considered compliance with the norm. It is a semantic translation that is required, taking into account the norms of the Russian language," the specialist explained.

At the same time, it is allowed to use borrowed words that are already fixed in official dictionaries. In this case, no transfer is required. If a word is missing from dictionaries, it must be translated.

The law also provides for a number of exceptions, the Guarantor added. The requirements do not apply to brand names of legal entities, registered trademarks and cases stipulated by technical regulations and international standards. For example, brands can use the original spelling without translation, but the accompanying information — service descriptions, interface elements, and signage — must be presented in Russian.

In addition, the changes do not affect business correspondence, contracts and internal documentation of companies, as well as communications in the B2B segment.

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Daria Balich, head of the legal department of the Kokoc Group, announced on February 19 that the FAS, Rospotrebnadzor and Roskomnadzor would monitor compliance with the new requirements for the use of the Russian language in public space. Fines are provided for violation of consumer rights in the design of signage.

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