The activity of Russian internet monopolies requires tougher regulation, and foreign ownership in them must be limited, Senator Andrei Klishas said on Tuesday July 30, while commenting on a draft law limiting foreign ownership in Russian tech giants to 20%. The draft law has been recently submitted to the State Duma.
“The internet is an important sector of the Russian economy, and large monopolies require special rules. The situation is the same in other sectors: special regulations are being introduced for transport, energy and infrastructure monopolies,” Andrei Klishas said.
He added that he was not ready to comment on what share in large internet companies could belong to foreigners.
“These companies sell their shares on Western markets, so we need to think how to increase their capitalization,” the senator said.
Klishas believes that the governments of other countries, including the US, are set to rein in their tech companies, while Russia is currently falling behind.