Russian ministry drafts resolution to allow foreign cos onto carbon units market

MOSCOW. June 16 (Interfax) - Russia's Economic Development Ministry proposes to give foreign companies that do not have representative offices in the country access to trading of carbon units, First Deputy Economic Development Minister Ilya Torosov said.

"We are creating a mechanism for foreign companies without representative offices and branches in Russia. We plan to submit [a draft resolution] to the government by the end of June so that they can have access to [Russian] carbon units through international electronic document flow systems," Torosov said at a discussion on carbon regulation and the creation of a carbon units trading market in Asia, Africa and the Middle East at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

The ministry's press service told Interfax that the proposed mechanism will give foreign companies without registered offices in Russia the opportunity to open an account in the carbon units registry and buy and sell carbon units.

"At present, foreign companies without branches in Russia cannot carry out such actions, because this requires the use of an enhanced qualified digital signature and undergoing the process of registering in the unified identification and authentication system. The actual services for conducting transactions in the registry are now available only through the Gosuslugi [government services] portal," the ministry said.

The ministry's proposal would enable foreign companies to use carbon units issued in Russia for offsets in their own countries, while generating additional demand on the Russian market.

The changes would not affect foreign companies carrying out climate projects in Russia, as they already have assets and offices in the country and therefore access to Gosuslugi and enhanced qualified digital signatures.