Special economic measures — the first currency decree
The decree that opened the regime. Signed four days into the war, it restricted residents' foreign-currency operations with non-residents and set the template — prohibition by default, exceptions by permit — that every later decree followed.
What it does
Decree No. 79 imposed special economic measures in response to the actions of the United States and allied states. For the navigator three of its rules still matter: residents may not grant foreign-currency loans to non-residents without a permit; crediting foreign currency to residents' own foreign accounts is restricted to the cases later carved out by the Government Commission and the Bank of Russia; and transfers by resident individuals abroad run within limits that the Bank of Russia sets and changes by notice. Its original obligation on exporters to sell 80% of foreign-currency proceeds was reduced to zero by the sub-commission in 2022; mandatory repatriation and sale for specific exporter groups has since been handled under separate instruments.
Status, October 2026
In force, without an end date. Most of its practical bite has moved into exceptions: since 8 December 2025 resident individuals may again transfer and credit foreign currency to their own foreign accounts without a monetary limit, while the loan prohibition is unchanged.
Operations that rest on it
Guides that discuss it
How Russian counter-sanctions work: decrees, the Government Commission and the Bank of Russia
Who issues what, which instruments actually bind a bank, and why the answer to a simple question is usually spread across four documents.
Intra-group loans with a Russian subsidiary: granting, repaying and the permit line
Which direction of lending is free, which needs a permit, how repayment to a Western lender works above RUB 10 million, and the new RUB 30 million limit for capital contributions.
The Russian-control exception: disclosing control to the Federal Tax Service and what it unlocks
The one lawful way out of the “unfriendly” regime for a foreign company owned by Russians — the CFC notification, the tax office confirmation under Letter ShYu-4-13/13043@, and the decrees it switches off.