In brief
Last week the Russian President signed a new law introducing electronic military draft papers and a number of restrictions for those who evade visits to the military conscription authority.Key Changes
The changes introduced by the new law can be divided into several categories:
Changes regarding Russian citizens:
1. A citizen will be considered to be notified about necessity to visit the military conscription authority either when:
a) An invitation is sent by registered mail and the postal service confirmed that the mail was received by the addressee; or
b) An electronic invitation is received through the State Service Portal (Gosuslugi); or
c) Seven days passed from the moment of the invitation’s publication in the new Register of invitations (this register is still to be developed).
2. From the moment a citizen is notified by the military authority, he will be banned from travelling abroad. This applies to all citizens present in Russia, even on short term visits.
3. A citizen must appear before the military authorities within 20 calendar days from the notification.
4. If a citizen fails to appear, he will be prohibited to:
a) be registered as an individual entrepreneur, a self-employed person,
b) use special tax regime “tax on professional income”;
c) register real estate and vehicles;
d) drive vehicles;
e) take bank loans.
The above measures should be lifted when the citizen reports to the military authority or when it is confirmed that there are valid reasons not to report.
5. Registration of citizens for military service, delisting from military service, data changes can be made without personal appearance with the military authority via the State Service Portal (Gosuslugi).
New employers’ obligations:
Employers in Russia must:
1. Notify employees about electronic invitations.
2. Within 3 working days notify the military authority about employees who are not in the military register (currently the term for this notification is two weeks).
3. Present a written statement about the necessity to visit the military authorities to employees who are not registered with the military authorities.
4. Report changes in the employee’s data within 5 days from the date when the data is changed. Employers must send the information without a special request from the military authority.
5. Present invitations to employees in person. If they refuse to accept invitations - the employer makes a note in the invitation that should be signed by other people who are present, as confirmation.
6. Employers must use the State Services Portal (Gosuslugi) to provide information on the military registration of employees.
Our comments
The new law does not specify whether it applies to men who may be mobilized for military action or only to those who are called up for mandatory military service. Several commentators mentioned that the new rules apply only to men who are called up for mandatory military service (e.g., male citizens from 18 until 27 years old). However, Mr. Andrey Kartapolov, a State Duma member commented that the new rules will be applied to all citizens who are called up for military service, including those who are called up as part of mobilization. We believe that this is possible because the law on mobilization does not contain any separate notification procedures.Oleg Tkachenko, Counsel, Moscow
Roman Butenko, Senior Associate, Moscow
Georgy Mzhavanadze, Senior Associate, Moscow
Maxim Kalinin, Partner, St. Petersburg
