Law Messenger

Sanctions pressure and prosecution risks: important considerations for Russian companies and their employees

11.04.2025

There has recently been an increase in regulatory pressure exerted by the EU in terms of monitoring compliance with European sanctions, including by Russian companies controlled by European entities. This may create additional prosecution risks both for the Russian subsidiaries themselves and, especially, for their employees, including senior executives, who are often forced to take foreign sanctions restrictions into account in their activities.

What are the current rules in Russia?

At present, criminal liability for public calls for the introduction or expansion of sanctions against Russia is regulated by Article 284.2 of the Russian Criminal Code (introduced in March 2022). The current version of the article provides for punishment only for repeated calls after the imposition of administrative sanctions under a similar article of the Russian Administrative Offenses Code (Article 20.3.4 of the Administrative Offenses Code). Sanctions include a fine of up to 500,000 rubles or imprisonment for up to 3 years.

A call is understood to mean actions aimed at inducing a foreign state, a group and (or) union of states, or a state (interstate) institution of a foreign state or a group and (or) union of states to introduce or extend restrictive measures consisting of political or economic sanctions against the Russian Federation, its citizens or Russian legal entities.

In this regard, compliance with foreign sanctions is not criminalized in and of itself.

At the same time, it is theoretically possible to be prosecuted under part 1 of Article 201 of the Russian Criminal Code (abuse of authority) if it is proved that a manager or employee of a company, acting contrary to the legitimate interests of the organization, committed deliberate actions in his personal interests or the interests of third parties that caused significant harm to the company. In practice, however, there is no recorded instance of part 1 of Article 201 of the Russian Criminal Code being applied in the context of sanctions compliance.

Furthermore, in April 2022 a draft law (No. 102053-8) was submitted to the State Duma in which it was proposed that a new qualifying attribute should be inserted in part 2 of Article 201 of the Russian Criminal Code (abuse of power), namely: "for the purposes of compliance with decisions of foreign states on the introduction of restrictive measures against the Russian Federation". The bill provided for liability in the form of imprisonment for up to 10 years, but to date it has not progressed any further.

What changes are being introduced?

On 8 April 2025, the State Duma adopted in the third reading a package of bills – No. 870801-8 and No. 871724-8 – which, among other things, amend the provisions of Article 284.2 of the Russian Criminal Code (calls for the introduction of restrictive measures) as well as provisions governing a number of related crimes (Articles 280.3 and 284.3 of the Russian Criminal Code).

On 16 April 2025, the Federation Council approved amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and forwarded the bill to the President of the Russian Federation for signing. Once signed by the President, the law will enter into force immediately upon its official publication.

Main changes:

Introduction of the qualifying criterion "out of mercenary motives or for hire" (a new part 2 of Article 284.2 of the Russian Criminal Code), which provides for a fine of up to 3 million rubles, or imprisonment for up to 5 years, or forced labor for the same period with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for the same period.
Abolition of mandatory administrative prejudice for acts committed out of self-interest or for hire.
The possibility of the confiscation of funds and property obtained from a crime (amendments to Article 104.1 of the Russian Criminal Code).

Articles 280.3 and 284.3 of the Russian Criminal Code also introduce a similar qualifying criterion - "out of mercenary motives or for hire", with punishment increased to up to 7 years in prison and with the possibility of property being confiscated.

Legal and Practical Implications for Employees

The adopted changes significantly increase the personal risks of criminal prosecution for employees, especially managers and senior executives of Russian subsidiaries of foreign groups, whose parent companies require them to take sanctions restrictions into account in their activities.

The main risks are as follows:

Any public statement or action of an employee that is related to compliance with foreign sanctions may be characterized as a crime committed "for hire", i.e., creates a risk of criminal proceedings being initiated.
The abolition of administrative prejudice prevents a statement at issue from being corrected or withdrawn in order to avoid criminal liability.

Recommendations for reducing risks for employees

In order to minimize criminal prosecution risks for employees, it is advisable to exclude from companies’ public statements (where they are published in the name of individual employees) any wording sourced from mass media, social networks or public events that may be interpreted as support for or approval of sanctions.