Doing Business in Russia

15. Language Policy Under Article 68 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the state language throughout the territory of the Russian Federation is Russian. All official election materials, legislation, and other legal acts, must be published in the official state language.

In addition, the Constitution upholds the rights of each of the individual republics within the Russian Federation to establish its own state language. Thus, regional state bodies and local institutions of self-government within Russia’s 21 republics may conduct official state business in two languages: Russian and the republic’s national language.

There are a few other principle legislative acts dealing with language policy in Russia, in addition to Russia’s Constitution. These are: the Federal Law On the State Language of the Russian Federation, the Federal Law On the Languages of the Nations of the Russian Federation, the Federal Law On Protection of Consumer Rights, and the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Article 1473). According to the abovementioned laws:

(i) All Russian state and municipal bodies, and all companies operating in Russia, including those owned by foreign investors, are required to use Russian in their activities, for example in book-keeping, tax reporting and office paperwork. Official paperwork in the national republics within Russia may also be conducted in those republics’ national language. Paperwork in the sphere of commerce may be also conducted in a foreign language as provided in respective agreements between commercial partners.

(ii) The names of companies operating in Russia must be either in Russian or expressed in Russian transliteration. It is normally permitted to also have a company name in a foreign language and/or the state language of a national republic within the Russian Federation in addition to the mandatory Russian

Baker & McKenzie 255

name. The company name of a legal entity in Russian and in the languages of nations of the Russian Federation may comprise borrowed foreign words in a Russian transcription or in a transcription of the languages of nations of the Russian Federation, except for the terms and abbreviations reflecting the legal entity’s legal form. A company whose name is inconsistent with the requirements of the law may be refused registration.

Use of the word “Rossiya” (Russia) or “Rossiyskaya Federatsia” (Russian Federation) in Cyrillic, or a derived name, for example “Rossiyskiy” (Russian) in Cyrillic in the name of a company requires a special permit from the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, and exposes such company to certain tax consequences. Only those companies that have branch and/or representative offices in more than half the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, companies which are qualified among the largest taxpayers, companies dominant in a market with a more than a 35% market share, or companies in which more than 25% of the shares or of the charter capital is held by the Russian Federation, can apply for such a permit. However, use of words denoting ethnicity rather than the official country name, such as “Russkiy” or “Russkaya” in Cyrillic (translated into English also as “Russian”) does not require a permit, as was clarified by the Russian Supreme and Supreme Arbitrazh Courts.

(iii) All advertising in the Russian Federation must be either in Russian or in the particular state language of the individual republic in which the advertising appears.

(iv) Under the consumer protection regulations a consumer should be informed in a clear and accessible manner in the Russian language about the manufacturer (seller), the operating mode of its work and the goods (works, services) it produces or sells.

256 Baker & McKenzie Doing Business in Russia

(v) Foreign languages or state languages of individual republics within the Russian Federation may be used in addition to the Russian language, in which case the communications in Russian and in the other language must be identical in their content, sound and form of presentation. When using Russian as the state language of the country, it is prohibited to use words or expressions that are not consistent with the norms of the Russian literary language, except foreign words that do not have commonly used Russian equivalents.

There are a few exceptions to the requirement of mandatory usage of the Russian language outlined above. For example, trademarks and service marks expressed in the original (non-Russian) language of the trademark and registered in Russia may be used without being accompanied by a Russian equivalent.

In cases provided for in specific acts of Russian federal laws, a person who does not understand Russian is entitled to an interpreter. For example, it is guaranteed for those foreigners who are subject to criminal proceedings in Russia to have a Russian interpreter free-of- charge.

There is no single state authority responsible for enforcement of the Russian language policy in the territory of the Russian Federation. Some of the aspects of the language policy, in particular violation of Russian language norms in advertising, are overseen by the Russian Antimonopoly Service. The Russian Antimonopoly Service may penalize a company in violation of the applicable language rules with a fine and/or issue it an order requiring it to cease and desist from violating the law.

Baker & McKenzie 257