Russian companies' rights to hold AGMs in absentia to be extended only until Feb 28, 2025 - Duma bill

MOSCOW. Dec 13 (Interfax) - Extending the rights of Russian companies to hold annual general meetings of shareholders and participants in absentia has been proposed for only two months until February 28, 2025, as established in a bill prepared by the State Duma's committee on property matters for the second reading.

It is proposed to render the corresponding amendments to Federal Law No. 25-FZ "On Amending the Federal Law 'On Joint-Stock Companies' and on Suspending Certain Provisions of Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation".

The Russian government has proposed extending the measure until the end of 2025, an Interfax source said earlier.

This decision is probably linked to the enactment on March 1, 2025, of amendments to the laws on JSCs and LLCs, which will allow companies to hold remote meetings. This form should become an alternative to meetings in absentia, which were legalized in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic.

The rule that prohibited general meetings of shareholders in absentia, the agenda of which included the election of the board of directors or supervisory board, audit commission, approval of the auditor, annual report and annual financial statements, was suspended in the spring of 2020. The requirement to hold only in-person general meetings of LLC participants to approve annual reports and annual balance sheets was also frozen. These concessions were repeatedly extended after that.