Increased Fines For Violations Of Russian Localization Law

On June 13, 2019, a draft bill¹ increasing fines for violations of Federal Law No. 242-FZ² (Data Localization Law) was submitted to the State Duma (i.e., the lower house of the Federal Assembly). Once the draft bills adopted, the maximum fine for legal entities under the Data Localization Law will be 6 million rubles (approx. 82,190 euros). The draft bill also provides increased sanctions for repeated violations of this legislation – the maximum fine is 18 million rubles (aprox. 247,000 euros).

The intent of the draft bill is to induce foreign companies' compliance with Russian data protection legislation. It is therefore important for companies doing business in Russia to assess their compliance with this legislation in order to mitigate the risk of increased fines.