Foreigners will not be able to own large online classifieds services
Foreigners can no longer own large online classifieds services in Russia
From March 1, the owner of Internet services for placing ads (classifieds) in Russia with a daily audience of over 100,000 users can be a citizen of the Russian Federation who does not have the citizenship of another country, or a Russian legal entity.
At the same time, an organization controlled by the Russian Federation, a constituent entity of the Russian Federation or a Russian citizen can also act as the owner of the service. Control is understood as the ownership of more than 50% of the voting shares that make up the authorized capital of this legal entity. The corresponding law was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the end of December last year.
In addition, now the service must install an audience counter and ensure integration and interaction with the State Services.
The register of classifications in Russia will have to be maintained by Roskomnadzor, for which the agency will monitor and request from the owners the information necessary for this.
Now in Russia, the classifieds market is represented, among other things, by such large players as Avito, Yula and Yandex.Market.
