Russian President Vladimir Putin enacted a new law restricting the rights of citizens who have left the country and been convicted in absentia. The law prevents them from using banking services, conducting property transactions, and obtaining passports from consulates.
The Ministry of Justice will maintain an official registry of individuals deemed to be evading justice abroad. The Prosecutor General and his deputies will have the authority to add people to this list. The registry will be shared with agencies including the Interior Ministry, the Federal Security Service (FSB), the Federal Tax Service, the land registry, and the Central Bank.
The restrictions will apply not only to criminal convicts but also to those convicted of administrative offenses for violating 'foreign agent' rules, 'discrediting' the army, calling for sanctions, or challenging Russia's territorial integrity. These provisions are frequently used against anti-war activists, journalists, and dissidents who left the country following the military operation in Ukraine.
Those on the list will be barred from using remote banking services or accessing government services online. Their money and other assets will be frozen, and property transactions will be blocked. Russian embassies and consulates will also be prohibited from issuing new passports or most other official documents to these individuals. The only exception specified in the law will be a certificate confirming the person is alive.
The rights group Perviy Otdel had said the scope of the restrictions amounted to 'effective denaturalization.' The group assessed, 'The state retains jurisdiction and control over the individual and continues to demand they serve their sentences, but does not provide a significant portion of the rights normally associated with citizenship.'
State Oversight of the Cryptocurrency Market
Putin also signed a law legalizing cryptocurrency trading under the strict supervision of the Central Bank, effective September 1. The law prohibits using cryptocurrency for payments within Russia. Digital assets may only be bought and sold through institutions regulated by the Central Bank.
Investors will be required to pass a test before trading. According to the Central Bank, unqualified investors, who make up about 98% of market participants, will be limited to 300,000 rubles ($3,690) per year through each brokerage. Cryptocurrencies may be traded on exchanges if their average market capitalization over the past two years exceeds 5 trillion rubles ($61.5 billion) and their average daily trading volume is at least 1 trillion rubles ($12.3 billion).
First Deputy Governor of the Central Bank Vladimir Chistyukhin had earlier said that Bitcoin, Ether, and the USDT stablecoin meet these criteria. The legislation does not impose any restrictions on the use of cryptocurrencies for cross-border payments. Cryptocurrency exchanges and digital custodians will have until July 1, 2027, to obtain the necessary licenses.
State Surveillance in Food Supply
Putin also signed a law allowing certain state agencies to access confidential information about food producers and retailers, including transactions, prices, sales, revenues, expenses, and profits. The regulation, which will take effect on January 1, 2027, is intended to help officials monitor prices throughout the food supply chain and identify the causes of sudden increases.
The government will determine which products are covered. The list is expected to include basic food items such as meat, vegetables, milk, and grains that the state statistics agency Rosstat monitors when calculating inflation. Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Roman Chekushov had previously said the data would allow officials to 'quickly limit profit margins on socially important goods and prevent unscrupulous behavior by market participants.' Retail sector representatives warned that granting agencies access to raw transaction data could increase the risk of confidential information leaks.
