Russia's Economic Development Ministry proposes easing rules for forming company boards of directors - publication

MOSCOW. June 22 (Interfax) - Russia's Economic Development Ministry proposes implementing a more flexible approach for companies to form their respective boards of directors by allowing the companies to replace candidates at the stage of preparing for a general meeting, as well as to replace members of the board of directors following the election, the Kommersant publication reported on Thursday.

The amendments are stipulated in the laws on joint-stock companies and limited liability companies.

Altering the composition of a board of directors is currently only permitted at a general meeting.

Problems with forming corporate governance bodies in Russian companies have arisen because of the mass departures of foreigners from their respective boards of directors following the start of the situation in Ukraine. Therefore, the Russian government adopted a number of temporary rules in 2022 to permit companies to have truncated boards of directors, and several companies have been allowed to disregard the votes of co-owners from "unfriendly" countries until the end of 2023.