Until the end of 2023, special rules have been extended1 for transactions on acquisition or lease of additional retail space for trading by entities engaged in food retail through the organization of a retail network2.
In particular, the restrictions on the acquisition, lease of additional retail space established by Article 14 of Federal Law No. 381-FZ of December 28, 2009 "On the Fundamentals of State Regulation of Trading Activities in the Russian Federation" (the "Law") do not apply to retail chains if their counterparty is a legal entity that simultaneously meets the following criteria:
1. a legal entity is controlled by a foreign legal entity as of the date of the transaction
2. the grounds for recognizing a legal entity as controlled by a foreign legal entity arose earlier than June 15, 2022
3. a legal entity is an economic entity engaged in food retail through the organization of a retail network, which has ceased its trading activities on the territory of the Russian Federation or has declared the termination of such activities
Transactions made from June 15, 2022 to June 31, 2023 cannot be held invalid on the grounds specified in clause 2 of Article 14 of the Law
1 Federal Law No. 499-FZ of 05.12.2022
2 Article 5 of Federal Law No. 154-FZ of 11.06.2022