On February 04, 2020, the Russian Constitutional Court recognized clause 2 of article 67 of the Russian Labour Code (employer’s obligation to issue an employment contract within 3 business days from the date of the employee’s actual work authorization or the date of the court’s recognition of civil relations as labor ones) and paragraph 1 of clause 8 of article 13 of the Federal law No. 115-FZ “On the legal status of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation” (obligation of an employer or customer to notify regarding the conclusion or termination (cancellation) of the labor or civil contract with a foreign citizen within 3 business days from the date of concluding or termination (cancellation) of the relevant contract) as constitutionally acceptable.

The period from March 30th till April 30th were declared as non-working days with preservation of salary payments under President’s decrees No. 206 of 25 March 2020 “On declaration of non-working days in the Russian Federation” and No. 239 of 2 April 2020 “On measures for people’s sanitary-epidemiological welfare in condition of new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) spread”. Since primary intention of decrees is to reduce personal contacts during communication of disease, employers subsequently raised up questions about remote work and compensations during this period.

Now parties can add up the idea of how to exercise the right to defer debt repayment under lease agreement.

The Moscow Mayor Decree dd 04.04.2020 No. 39-UM “On amendments being made to the Moscow Mayor decree dd 05.03.2020 No. 12-UM” (“Mayor Decree”) stipulates a number of amendments.

In the time of coronavirus Russian regulators implemented package of emergency legislation including Insolvency law. On April 1, the law was published, and on April 3, the Government exercised the right and introduced a moratorium on initiating bankruptcy proceedings for certain categories of debtors for 6 months.

Deputies of the State Duma adopted the Law “On making amendments to certain legal acts of the Russian Federation on the prevention and liquidation of emergency situations” in terms of regulating relations arising in connection with the need for emergency response to calls related to the spread of coronavirus infection (“Law”).

Under the Russian Law the force majeure — act of god situation means emergency, unforeseen and unavoidable situations, which cannot be reasonable predicted, avoided or overcome in time of contracts execution and are not under the control of parties.

The recent Decree of the Russian President (“Decree”) establishes non-working days for the week from March 30 to April 3, 2020, to ensure the sanitary and epidemiological well-being of the population on the Russian territory, with the preservation of salaries for employees.

On March 3, 2020, the Russian Government introduced to the State Duma the Draft Law on amendments to the Russian Civil Code, namely, article 1360.1.

The coronavirus outbreak (hereinafter referred to as “COVID-19”) served as a trigger for a targeted effort to assess and manage the possible effects of COVID-19.