In an official press release published on January 9, 2019, the chairman of the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, revealed that the lawmakers would prioritize bills on the digital economy in the next parliamentary session.
While giving his opening speech at the spring session of the parliament, Volodin said that there are a number of digital economy-related bills pending at the table of the house including bills on digital financial assets, digital rights, and crowdfunding.
“I would like to mention the block of bills on the digital economy. These are laws on digital financial assets, digital rights, and crowdfunding. We have identified this work as one of our priorities,” said Volodin.
Volodin is optimistic that the favorable digital economy laws will boost the quality of the Russian financial system.
“Creating a favorable legal framework for the development of the digital economy should in many respects provide us with an advantageous position in competition among other countries,” he added.
He further recommended the creation of working groups which should include experts, representatives of the businesses, and academics. Volodin also revealed the governments plan to introduce 20 bills on the digital economy.
“It obliges us to a great deal, first of all, our profile committees – there are four of them. And in this regard, I would like to appeal to the chairmen to coordinate the work among themselves, to create working groups of experts, representatives of the business and academic community in order to prepare for this responsible work,” stated the chairman. “We need to be prepared for a qualitative review of these legislative initiatives.”
Vague Laws
Russian laws for the digital asset industry are a bit hazy. A year ago, its Ministry of Finance introduced a draft bill relating to the legal status of digital financial assets. However, it tried to curb the process of fundraising via initial coin offerings (ICO). The country’s lawmakers also presented a bill on digital assets which received heavy criticism from the industry and was stuck in the process.
Huobi, one of the largest crypto exchanges, recently extended its support for the Russian market and partnered with a major bank to provide legal advice and support to the local blockchain businesses.
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