Previously, we published a detailed series of analyses dedicated to the second “anti-fraud” package. In recent days, the President signed the relevant law, which was signed on 26 June 2026 and will enter into force on 7 July 2026.
Today, we would like to focus on the Draft of the Government Decree, adopted in implementation of one of the key provisions of the new law, namely Article 53.2 of the Federal Law “On Communications”. The Draft was developed by the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media and published for public discussion. It specifies the operation of the unified database of user equipment identifiers (IMEI).
Key points of the Draft
The database operator is the Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation. In addition to the database operator and telecommunications providers, information is submitted to the database by the Federal Customs Service, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Roskomnadzor, and agencies engaged in operational-investigative activities or responsible for ensuring the security of the Russian Federation.
The database will consist of registers of permitted and prohibited identifiers. For each identifier, the database will contain not only the IMEI itself and its status, but also the basis for inclusion in the register (for prohibited identifiers – a decision of an authorized body or information on loss or theft), as well as information about the entity that submitted the data.
Information will be entered by competent authorities and telecommunications operators:
within 1 hour after a device is registered in the network;
no later than 1 business day in the event of a report of loss or theft.
If an identifier’s status is changed to “prohibited,” the operator must, within no more than 1 hour, “take measures to suspend the provision of services” for such a device.
The status of a specific device may be checked through the user’s personal account on the “gosuslugi” portal (Russia’s official e-government platform), upon the user’s own request, or through the unified system of interagency electronic interaction at the request of a telecommunications operator.
The Decree is expected to enter into force on 1 March 2027.