Russia has not adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Signatures.

Russia has signed and ratified the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts.

Russia has not adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Commerce.

The Law On Consumer Rights Protection and the Law On Electronic Signature provide a comprehensive framework for consumer protection that also applies to online transactions. The Russian law on e-signatures recognizes the same legal effect of electronic signatures as that of handwritten signatures.

It is reported that the de minimis threshold, that is the minimum value of goods below which customs do not charge duties, is USD 10, below the 200 USD threshold recommended by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

According to Art. 19 of Law No. 86-FZ (as amended by Law No. 264), several requirements for the functioning of foreign payment systems on the territory of the Russian Federation are established. According to these requirements, in order to provide services to Russian customers or to enter into contracts with local payment system operators, foreign payment systems have to be included in the Register of the Russian Central Bank. To be included in the Register, a foreign operator has to apply by submitting all the required documents in Russian through its subdivision in Russia. In addition, operators of foreign payment systems that do not have a subsidiary in the Russian Federation are able to work with Russian banks if they establish a branch office in Russia and register with the Central Bank.
Furthermore, amendments to the Federal Law on the National Payment System (NPS Law) significantly affect e-payments. According to Federal Law No. 319-FZ “On Amendments to the Federal Law on the National Payment System and Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation”, international payment cards it is required to be processed locally. In addition, the NPS Law also requires security deposits by operators of such payment systems not qualifying as nationally important payment systems. Representatives of international payment systems have reported criticism of the introduction of such security deposits. Additionally, NPS Law prohibits the cross-border transfer of money or funds from Russia to countries where Russian payment systems, including Russian electronic payment systems, are not recognized.

Russia is reported to have complicated and bureaucratic customs procedures and an unreliable postal service which prevent international retailers from entering the market, at least without a Russian partner.

Equipment and devices containing encryption has to be registered with the Federal Security Service (FSS) and the manufacturer or the seller has to be obtain FSS notification upon importation or exportation of such equipment.
Notification of the FSS recognizes the fact that the products manufactured by the enterprise contain various elements of cryptographic/encryption nature. Notification of the FSS is a prerequisite for the import into the territory of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), or export from the territory of the EAEU of equipment containing encryption elements.
The registration of the FSS notification when importing or exporting goods is regulated in accordance with the Regulations on the import into the customs territory of the Eurasian Economic Union and export from the customs territory of the EAEU of encryption means (Annex No. 9 to the Decision of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission No. 30 dated April 21, 2015). Notification of the FSS is necessary for equipment and devices, both general civil, industrial, scientific and other purposes, including a large list of products containing cryptographic components which includes many high-tech devices such as mobile phones, tablet computers, laptops, wireless keyboards, wireless mice, servers, RFID tags (a device for the extraction of various cryptocurrencies (miners)) and many other devices. If a device has already been listed in the register of the EAEU, no notification is required.

Companies need to acquire a license in order to be engaged in distributing encryption facilities, maintaining encryption facilities, providing encryption services, and developing and manufacturing encryption facilities protected by means of encryption under Article 12 of Federal Law No. 128-FZ “On Licensing Specific Types of Activity”.

Foreign manufacturers of telecommunications equipment have reported serious difficulties in obtaining product approvals in Russia. The Law on Communications establishes a separate procedure for licensing and certification in the sphere of telecommunications. Communication devices are subject to a procedure of mandatory conformity acknowledgement by way of either compulsory certification or compulsory declaration of conformity from Federal Communications Agency (FCA) if it is to be supplied in connection with a common carrier network in Russia.
A declaration of conformity is a document in which the applicant confirms that the product it has manufactured corresponds to the conformity requirements. To be valid, a declaration of conformity for the relevant telecommunications device is subject to registration with the FCA. A declaration of conformity should be filed for registration by an applicant accompanied with the relevant evidence of the device’s conformity obtained with the help of accredited test laboratories. On the other hand, the competent authority for certification is the Certification Agency. A manufacturer or supplier of a device files an application with the Certification Agency, which carries out the certification test.
The complete list of communication products subject to mandatory certification is approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 532 dated 25.06.2009.

In 2016, the Center of Import Substitution in the Sphere of Information and Communication Technology was established and was tasked to submit proposals for the introduction of changes in legislation to ensure priority for procurement of Russian-made software and hardware. Since then, a number of import substitution and local content requirements in the ICT sector were imposed, including through (i) Resolution No. 878 establishing a State Register of Russian Radio-Electronics and mandating that SOEs apply a 30% price preference for Russian-made products; (ii) Law No. 429 mandating the pre-installation of certain Russian software applications on certain "technically complex goods", among others.

The Single List of Goods contains the goods on which export prohibitions or restrictions apply in the Customs Union member States, including Russia. The following digital goods are among the goods that are subject to export restrictions: (i) Special hardware meant for secret information acquisition; (ii) Encryption devices; (iii) Civil radio-electronic and/or high-frequency means (REM and HFM) including built-in or forming part of other goods; (iv) Audiovisual materials and other information media containing information against the public morals, public order and security are banned from exportation.
In addition, equipment and devices containing encryption have to be registered with the Federal Security Service (FSS), and the manufacturer or the seller has to obtain FSS notification upon exportation of such equipment from the territory of the Eurasian Economic Union, including Russia in accordance with Annex No. 9 to the Decision No. 30 of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission dated 21 April 2015. FSS notification is necessary for the exportation of equipment and devices, both general civil, industrial, scientific, and other purposes, including a large list of products containing cryptographic components which include many high-tech devices such as mobile phones, tablet computers, laptops, wireless keyboards, wireless mice, servers, RFID tags, among others.

Russia prioritizes the development of locally produced technologies, digital goods, and services and has taken extensive measures to achieve its purposes in this regard. In 2015, Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 1442 ("On procurement of innovative products, high-tech products certain types of legal entities and amending certain Acts of the Russian Federation") set forth procedures for establishing the annual volume of purchases by State Owned Enterprises of innovative and high-tech products, including a minimum volume of purchases that must be made from SMEs. Resolution No. 717 from 2016 identified the 135 SOEs that were subject to the minimum SME purchasing requirements.

According to Decision No. 134 of the Eurasian Economic Commission (2012), licensing procedures are applied to the importation of certain digital goods to the Eurasian Economic Union, including Russia. These digital goods are the following: (i) Civil radio-electronic equipment and/or high-frequency devices including those that are built-in or form a part of other goods; (ii) Special hardware meant for secret information acquisition; (iii) Encryption devices.
It is reported that Russia has a complex and non-transparent licensing regime in place that impedes the importation of telecommunication equipment that incorporates encryption technology in accordance with Annex 9 of the Decision No. 30 of the Eurasian Economic Commission. This is despite Russia committed to reform its import licensing regime for products with cryptographic functionalities (“encryption products”) in its WTO accession protocol. It is also reported that a streamlined notification process is meant to be relevant to products categorized as "mass market" goods, according to the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies. Nevertheless, the regulatory interpretation of "mass market" products within the Eurasian Economic Union diverges from this description.
Additionally, it is reported that the process for importing consumer electronic products considered to be a “mass market” has been aggravated. Therefore, imports of encryption products and particularly common consumer electronic products continue to be inhibited and cannot be imported via a simple notification.

According to Art. 12 of Federal Law No. 128-FZ, companies need to acquire a license in order to be engaged in distributing encryption facilities, maintaining encryption facilities, providing encryption services, and developing and manufacturing encryption facilities protected by means of encryption.