On April 1, 2020, the Russian Federation published Federal Law No. 72-FZ “On Amendments to Articles 15.25 and 23.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation” (hereinafter – Federal Law No. 72-FZ) and Federal Law No. 73-FZ “On Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and Article 28.1 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation” (hereinafter – Federal Law No. 73-FZ), both of which entered into force on April 12, 2020.

These statutes modify the conditions and enforcement landscape for administrative and criminal liability regarding non-compliance with the currency regulation framework of the Russian Federation. Specifically, the amendments target failures to credit or timely credit export currency revenue, return import contract advances, or repatriate funds under loan agreements to authorized domestic bank accounts or offshore accounts within the timeframes stipulated by foreign trade contracts.

Pursuant to Article 19 of Federal Law No. 173-FZ “On Currency Regulation and Currency Control” dated December 10, 2003, corporate residents engaged in foreign trade operations or extending foreign or domestic currency loans to non-residents must fulfill the following obligations within the timelines specified under the relevant foreign trade contracts or loan agreements:

• Ensure the receipt of foreign or domestic Russian currency due from non-residents into the resident's bank accounts with authorized domestic banks in accordance with the terms of such contracts;

• Secure the repatriation to the Russian Federation of funds paid to non-residents for goods not imported into the Russian Federation (or not received within Russian territory), unperformed work, or unrendered services;

• Ensure the receipt of foreign or domestic Russian currency due from non-residents into the resident's bank accounts with authorized domestic banks pursuant to the terms of loan agreements.

Federal Law No. 72-FZ amended Article 15.25 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (KoAP RF), introducing a formal warning as an available administrative sanction for a resident's breach of currency repatriation deadlines. Previously, statutory violations under Parts 4, 4.1, and 5 of Article 15.25 of the KoAP RF exclusively triggered administrative fines.

Furthermore, as the Federal Tax Service of Russia (FNS) highlighted in its Letter No. VD-4-17/6475 dated April 17, 2020 (“Regarding Federal Laws No. 72-FZ and No. 73-FZ”), lawmakers expanded the scope of Part 5.1 of Article 15.25 of the KoAP RF. The amended provision specifies that liability for repeated administrative offenses arises only if the offending corporate official was previously subjected to an administrative fine.

Lawmakers supplemented Article 15.25 of the KoAP RF with a new Part 5.2, which establishes administrative liability for a resident's failure to fulfill currency repatriation obligations (whether arising from a single foreign exchange transaction or multiple transactions within a single calendar year) in an amount exceeding 100 million rubles (constituting a large-scale violation), provided that such conduct does not give rise to criminal liability.

Such violations trigger administrative fines on individual entrepreneurs and legal entities equivalent to 1/150 of the key interest rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation of the total amount of funds credited late to accounts with authorized domestic banks or offshore bank accounts, accrued for each day of delinquency. Alternatively, authorities may assess a lump-sum fine ranging from three-quarters to the full amount of the unrepatriated funds. Additionally, the statute authorizes penalties against corporate officials, including fines ranging from 40,000 to 50,000 rubles or professional disqualification for a term of six months to three years. Jurisdiction over these administrative offenses resides with the judiciary.

Federal Law No. 73-FZ introduces significant amendments to Article 193 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (UK RF), which governs criminal evasion of statutory currency repatriation obligations:

• It increases the statutory thresholds required to trigger criminal liability for non-repatriation of funds, raising the threshold from 9 million to 100 million rubles for a large-scale offense, and from 45 million to 150 million rubles for an especially large-scale offense;

• A large-scale violation of currency legislation regarding the crediting or return of funds now constitutes a criminally punishable offense only if committed by an individual previously subjected to administrative liability for a matching offense under Article 15.25 of the KoAP RF;

• It establishes uniform, enhanced criminal liability for currency repatriation evasion executed either by a group of persons acting by prior conspiracy or by an organized criminal group, carrying penalties of up to five years of imprisonment.

Despite these adjustments, criminal exposure under Parts 1 and 2 of Article 193 of the UK RF remains notably stringent. For large-scale offenses, courts may impose fines ranging from 200,000 to 500,000 rubles (or an amount equivalent to the defendant's wages or other income for a period of one to three years), sentence the defendant to forced labor for up to three years, or mandate imprisonment for up to three years. For especially large-scale offenses—or those committed by a prior conspiracy, an organized group, through the use of knowingly fraudulent documentation, or via a corporate entity established solely for conducting fraudulent financial transactions—the statute mandates imprisonment for up to five years, accompanied by a fine of up to 1 million rubles (or the defendant's income for up to five years) or without it.

As the FNS letter notes, corresponding cross-referencing amendments were simultaneously introduced to Article 76.1 of the UK RF and Article 28.1 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation (UPK RF).

Under these statutory provisions, an individual committing a first-time offense under Article 193 of the UK RF shall be exonerated from criminal liability upon fully compensating the damages caused to citizens, organizations, or the state, and remitting a statutory cash restitution to the federal budget equal to twice the amount of the damages caused, or by surrendering the illicit income and remitting a cash restitution equal to twice the amount of such income. Upon fulfillment of these compliance remedies, authorities shall terminate the criminal prosecution.

Consequently, the newly enacted amendments to the KoAP RF and the UK RF aim to mitigate administrative liability and recalibrate the conditions required to trigger criminal exposure for corporate residents failing to comply with currency repatriation obligations within foreign trade operations.

Nonetheless, compliance risks regarding the non-repatriation of export revenues remain highly severe, presenting a substantial regulatory bottleneck and legal exposure for international trade operations. A significant portion of legal experts continues to conceptually question the fundamental regulatory necessity of maintaining such strict liability frameworks.