WASHINGTON, October 10 (RIA Novosti) – Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Friday that the draft legislation on compensations to Russian citizens for the loss of property due to unjust rulings of foreign courts, the so-called "Rotenberg Law", will not have a negative impact on the federal budget.
The draft law on compensations passed its first reading in the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, on Wednesday. Western media dubbed the legislation “Rotenberg Law” after Russian businessman Arkady Rotenberg whose property in Italy was seized by local authorities in September. Three readings are required before the lower house could propose the bill as law.
"We do not think the law's implementation will somehow affect the federal budget," the Russian minister told reporters.
"It should be noted that compensations from the budget, as we have seen in our legislative work, are not usually done in full. It could be part of losses incurred by the complainant. As practice shows, the sum is not significant. We do not think that it will have any impact on the add-ons to the budget," Siluanov said.
Under the legislation, Russian citizens or companies, which suffered losses as a result of unjust decisions issued by foreign courts, would be compensated by the state budget. To get such compensation a person suffered losses should apply to a Russian court. Moscow, in turn, would be eligible to demand compensation from the country whose court made the unlawful ruling.
On October 2, Economic Development Minister Alexey Ulyukayev said he is against the bill, warning that it could cause further capital outflow.
Under the draft law, Russians and Russian entities hit by Western sanctions, will also be eligible to apply for compensation.
A number of Western countries have introduced several rounds of sanctions against Russia, targeting its oil, defense and banking sectors, as well as individuals, over Moscow's alleged involvement in the Ukrainian conflict. Russia has repeatedly stressed that it is not involved in the situation in Ukraine and that the language of sanctions is counterproductive.
