Russian govt names JSCs allowed to hold remote AGMs in 2025, including Sberbank, VTB - resolution
MOSCOW. Feb 26 (Interfax) - Joint-stock companies granted the right by presidential decree to independently determine the scope of information disclosure about their activities will be able to hold annual general meetings (AGMs) in 2025 remotely, according to Russian government decree no. 220.
Companies from a special list of organizations with more than 500,000 shareholders will also have this right. The list includes Sberbank and VTB Bank .
The document has been published on the official portal of legal information.
Its development was necessary due to the adoption of a law that, starting March 1, 2025, revokes the right of companies to hold remote AGMs, which had been in place since 2020. However, the law allows the Russian government to designate exceptions, determining criteria under which certain JSCs can opt out of in-person meetings in 2025.
According to the decree, the right to hold remote meetings until the end of the current year will be retained for companies with at least 500,000 shareholders if they are also included in the special list of organizations created to fulfill government-assigned tasks, as specified in decree no. 613 from 2013. This list currently includes 63 companies, among them Sberbank and VTB Bank.
The right to hold remote AGMs will also apply to JSCs covered by presidential decree no. 903, which establishes a temporary procedure for information disclosure by certain business entities. This decree, issued in November 2023 and updated several times since, currently includes 118 organizations, including PJSC Rosneft , PJSC Gazprom , PJSC Transneft and Novorossiysk Commercial Sea Port .
In addition, companies whose shares were previously owned by unfriendly foreign entities and which have been placed under temporary management by Russia or Russian entities will also be eligible for remote AGMs. The same right will extend to strategic companies, as well as their subsidiaries and affiliates operating in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Lugansk People's Republic and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.
Previously, several issuers appealed to relevant ministries requesting that this option also be granted to companies on the strategic enterprises list and to public joint-stock companies (PJSCs) with more than 500,000 shareholders. However, the proposal was not supported by the Economic Development Ministry or the Central Bank of Russia, a source told Interfax.
According to the source, the Economic Development Ministry justified its refusal by pointing out that, from March 1, 2025, companies will be able to hold online meetings without an in-person component. The ministry also cited the Russian president's directive to double the capitalization of the Russian stock market by 2030. In this regard, the ministry referenced the position of the Central Bank, which said that ensuring the growth of the country's financial market capitalization requires eliminating restrictions on shareholders' ability to physically attend AGMs.
