A draft law has been submitted to the State Duma, aiming to digitize and increase the transparency of mechanisms for public-private partnerships (PPP) and concessions in Russia.

According to the draft, starting January 1, 2027, all core documents related to concession and PPP agreements—including the agreements themselves, transfer and acceptance acts, addenda, and termination agreements—must be executed exclusively in electronic form via the official trading platform (GIS “Torgi”), using an enhanced qualified electronic signature. From July 1, 2026, the use of the electronic format will be permitted but not mandatory.

For projects involving financial contributions from a public partner (the concedent), a mandatory assessment of socio-economic efficiency and comparative advantage is introduced. This assessment must be conducted by authorized bodies (at the federal level, the Ministry of Economic Development), and a positive conclusion will be required before an agreement can be signed.

Additionally, the list of documents required to confirm a participant’s financial capacity is clarified: it will be sufficient to provide a bank statement, a letter from a credit institution, or a letter from VEB RF confirming readiness to finance the project (in an amount not less than 5% of the declared investment).

Comment by Danila Sadovsky, IP/IT Practice Lawyer:
"For business, these changes entail both risks and opportunities. On the one hand, the mandatory efficiency assessment may delay the conclusion of agreements and introduce uncertainty—especially at the regional level, where assessment methodologies have yet to be approved. On the other hand, simplified financial capacity confirmation lowers entry barriers, while a centralized digital format increases overall market transparency."

Key actions for companies:

Obtain an enhanced qualified electronic signature and register on GIS “Torgi”;

Establish relationships with VEB.RF and banks in advance for financing letters;

Factor new assessment stages into project planning;

Start migrating existing agreements into electronic format before January 1, 2027.

Source: Federal Portal for Draft Regulatory Legal Acts