Regulation of Access of Foreign Investors to Strategic Sectors of the Russian Economy

The thesis is devoted to analysis of regulation of access of foreign investors to strategic sectors of the Russian economy. In light of amendments adopted with respect to the applicable laws in July 2017, the issues of reasonableness and lawfulness of this special regulation have again become subject of active discussion among lawyers and business people. The purpose of the thesis is to analyze the regulation of these legal relations in the Russian Federation based on the effective legislation, court practice, practice of the Federal Antimonopoly Service and the Government of the Russian Federation. For a better understanding of the nature of the state’s restrictions on access of foreign investors to certain sectors of the economy, the thesis contains comparative analysis of regulation and practice of application of such restrictions in Russia, the USA and China as well as analysis of compliance of the Russian regulation with the WTO law and bilateral agreements for the promotion and protection of foreign investments. Based on the conducted research, the author concludes that the regulation of access of foreign investors to strategic sectors of the Russian economy is at the stage of development and modernization now and needs more clarity in the questions of obtaining approval for the foreign investors’ transactions. In addition to that, the author notes that despite a wide practice of many states of adopting laws similar to the Russian regulation, compliance of restrictions of access to strategic sectors of the economy applicable to the foreign investors with international law is not a fully resolved issue.