Russian Prosecutor General's Office to check companies halting operations on Russian market

MOSCOW. March 11 (Interfax) - Russian Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov has instructed to increase oversight of compliance with Russian legislation by foreign companies that have announced the suspension of their operations in Russia.

"At the instruction of Prosecutor General of Russia Igor Krasnov and for the purpose of upholding the interests of responsible entrepreneurs and employees of organizations whose management has announced a suspension of their operations in the territory of the Russian Federation, prosecutors have tightened oversight of such companies' compliance with current legislation," the Prosecutor General's Office said in a statement.

Prosecutors are closely monitoring such companies' compliance with labor legislation, including the terms of labor contracts, the payment of salaries, the process of determining the size of salaries, and the fulfilment by these companies of their obligations before their contractual partners and before Russia.

Each instance of a company halting its operations in Russia will be assessed from a legal standpoint for the possible presence of signs of fraudulent or deliberate bankruptcy, liability for which is envisaged in the Russian Criminal Code.

"The prosecutor general highlighted the observance of the rights of socially vulnerable groups of employees such as people with disabilities, pregnant women, women who have young (underage) children, and citizens of the pre-retirement and retirement age," it said.

Krasnov "underscored the unacceptability of unilateral withdrawal from their obligations by organizations that have announced a suspension of their operations in the territory of Russia," the Prosecutor General's Office said.

"Prosecutors will resolutely crack down on such actions," it said.

Prosecutors' attention was also drawn to the unacceptability of abuses related to restrictions on supplies of narrow groups of commodities.