Sun will consider the issue of confirming the lack of foreign control over the media

The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (Sun) will consider the issue that is relevant for the media market about whether the media owner should confirm the lack of foreign control when applying for a license, and if so, what documents. The dispute turned between the founder of a small radio station in the Kostroma region and Roskomnadzor (RKN), which dispersed what documents to be considered sufficient in such cases. The courts of the first and appeal instances sided with the founder of the media, but the cassation supported the RKN. Now, on the complaint of the broadcaster, the case was referred to the Economic College of the Armed Forces.

The question of what documents should confirm the lack of foreign control over the media and whether this is the task of the media themselves has reached the level of the Armed Forces. The dispute was initiated by LLC 73, which in 2016 received a license for the airtime broadcast of the Know radio channel in the village of Krasnoye-on-Volga of the Kostroma region. In June 2022, the radio decided to expand the coverage area. To do this, the company applied four times in the RKN with a statement on the renewal of the license, but each time I received a remark that the general director and founder of LLC Alexander Sokolov did not prove the absence of dual citizenship, although it provided documents about this from the migration service. It was not possible to re -register the license.

In August 2023, the broadcaster again sent a set of documents in the RKN and attached a certificate from the regional department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, confirming Alexander Sokolov’s absence, a residence permit or other document for the right to live in a foreign state. But a month later, the organization received a notification, which again said about the insufficiency of information confirming the lack of double citizenship or indirect foreign control.

After that, the LLC appealed to the Moscow Arbitration Court and demanded to recognize the actions of the RKN illegal. The company referred to the fact that the legislation does not establish a specific list of documents confirming the absence of indirect control, and the department did not indicate exactly what other evidence was necessary. The court agreed with the arguments of the plaintiff and satisfied the lawsuit. The appeal supported this decision.

However, the district cassation rejected the requirements of the LLC, supporting the position of the RKN.

According to the cassation, a certificate from the Ministry of Internal Affairs is a “letter of explanatory nature” due to the lack of relevant information and powers from the law enforcement authority. The cassation court emphasized that the certificate is formed on the basis of the information transmitted by the citizen himself, and therefore cannot serve as comprehensive evidence.

The broadcaster appealed the refusal to the Armed Forces, indicating that the information requested by RKN relate to paragraphs 5 and 6 of the list of documents that the media founders must provide, in accordance with the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1107 of October 16, 2015. These include documents indicating direct or indirect foreign control, and a document confirming the submission of a notification of the presence of a citizen of the Russian Federation of other citizenship or a residence permit. At the same time, the resolution says that the first information is provided “if any”, and the latter “on the applicant’s own initiative”. In this regard, according to the company, the department violated its rights and « illegally blocked radio broadcasting. » Enormalities interested these arguments, a hearing in the economy college is scheduled for April 23.

Aliens do not broadcast here

“According to Art. 19.1 of the Media Law, a Russian legal entity with foreign participation or a person over whom foreign control is established, cannot exercise television and broadcasting, ”Kommersant recalled to the RKN. They clarified that the company “did not provide confirmation of compliance with the requirements of this article of the Law,” and the Arbitration Court of the Moscow District “confirmed the legality of the actions of the RKN to return the application of LLC“ 73 ”. It was not possible to contact the founder of the radio channel.

Lawyers note that the list of documents for obtaining and changing the terms of the license is one, so the position of the Armed Forces will be significant for all media in Russia.

According to Article 19.1 of the Law, media owners are obliged to inform the RKN about changes in the composition of the founders. This, according to the lawyer of AB BVPP Natalia Repina, means that the media “initially obliged to disclose information that may indicate a foreign control”, and the supervision body “has the right to request additional documents”. The concealment of the fact of foreign citizenship is a “high -risk strategy that can lead to serious responsibility and the closure of the media”, warns the general director of the Mitra legal company Soslan Cairov: “The legislation poses compliance with the interests of national security above the rights of founders to confidentiality.”

Moreover, if a person himself does not report the second passport, Russian law enforcement agencies “can learn about it from other sources”, and criminal liability is provided for foreign citizenship, the partner of AB RSP Partners Evgeny Gavrikov notes. According to the observations of Sumpan Kairov, in practice, RKN is not limited to certificates from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The agency analyzes data on the company’s employees and asks to disclose the property structure, said Mrs. Repin. Documents about the beneficiaries, financial statements of the company, certificates of the Federal Tax Service on the tax resident, give examples of Mr. Cairov, can be requested. At the same time, according to Yevgeny Gavrikov, an arbitrary demand for information is unacceptable, since state bodies « should request only those documents that are expressly provided for by law and approved regulations. »

Lawyers expect the Armed Forces to determine the circle of such documents. Yaroslav Shitsle, head of the “IT&P dispute IP disputes” department, Yaroslav Shitsle, considers the arguments of LLC 73 convincing, since for a citizen of the Russian Federation “Help of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is actually the only way to confirm the lack of citizenship of another state”. If the economy of the Armed Forces confirms that certificates from the Ministry of Internal Affairs are enough to confirm the lack of foreign control, this can significantly change the current practice of inspections of the RKN, Natalya Repina believes. Also, according to her, “this will reduce the bureaucratic load on the media, which is especially important for small and independent media, which do not have resources for collecting additional documents.” However, Ms. Repin recognizes, it is important to take into account the risks for the state, since the scheme using dummies as founders with this approach can become more in demand, which, in turn, will push the legislator to introduce new restrictions.

Jan Nazarenko, Anna Zanina