Economically significant domestic (EZO) companies in Russia

2025: Russian President Vladimir Putin approves conditions for inclusion of companies in the list of economically significant

In July 2025, the president Russia Vladimir Putin signed a law specifying the conditions for the recognition of business entities as economically significant organizations (EZOs). According to the changes, professional market participants are economically significant societies if they simultaneously manage assets worth over 400 billion rubles and serve at least 300 thousand customers. Also, the participant must be a member of the same corporate group with the main company included in the list of significant companies.^[1]

2023: Putin signs law to exclude foreigners from chain of ownership of "significant" companies in Russia

President RFVladimir Putin signed a law allowing Russian beneficiaries of economically significant domestic organizations (EZOs) through the court to receive direct dividends from them, as well as shares and shares in direct ownership, bypassing foreign structures from "unfriendly" jurisdictions. The corresponding document was published in early August 2023.

According to the law, the mechanism for returning direct control to Russian beneficiaries applies only to EZOs in which foreign structures from "unfriendly" jurisdictions (foreign holding companies, IHKs) or owners from such countries own at least 50%.

Vladimir Putin

The list of companies in key and strategic industries will be established by the government. It will include systemically important banks, as well as enterprises that meet at least one condition:

• total revenue is more than 75 billion rubles per year
• the number of employees exceeds 4 thousand people;
• the total value of assets exceeds 150 billion rubles
• the total amount of taxes paid for the previous year is at least 10 billion rubles.

The document allows through the court to exclude foreign participants from "unfriendly" countries from the ownership structure of holding companies. The law is aimed at protecting the rights and legitimate interests of Russians and Russian legal entities, "ensuring the country's defense and state security in conditions of unfriendly and contrary to international law actions," the document says.

A list of circumstances is fixed, when any of which is established, the exercise of corporate rights by a foreign holding company in relation to an economically significant organization is suspended. Cases on the suspension of the exercise of such rights are considered by the Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region according to the rules provided for by the Arbitration Procedural Code of the Russian Federation, with the features established by this law.

Federal Law on Peculiarities of Regulation of Corporate Relations in Business Companies that are Economically Significant Organizations