Russian government now entitled to declare state of emergency

Russia’s State Duma passed a bill in the first reading at a meeting today vesting the government with additional powers because of the coronavirus pandemic, including declaring a state of emergency throughout the country or in some of its regions.

"It is proposed to empower the Russian government to impose a state of alert or declare a state of emergency throughout the Russian Federation or in some of its parts as well as establish mandatory rules of conduct during a state of alert or a state of emergency, " the explanatory note to the bill says.

At the same time, the Cabinet will be entitled to restrict trade in certain medical goods for 90 days and impose a moratorium on initiating bankruptcy proceedings. Support for travel agencies is envisaged as well. The government is also empowered to establish in 2020 cases of the possibility of single source procurement, TASS reported.