Employees of state-owned companies and officials being deprived of their foreign passports in Russia

Investigative journalists have found out that employees of state-owned companies and officials in Russia are having their foreign passports confiscated.

Source: Investigative project System created by journalists from Nastoyashcheye Vremya (Current Time) TV [Russian-language television channel with editorial office in Prague – ed.] and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, citing their sources in several Russian institutions

Quote from System: "After the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, many employees of Russian agencies, state-owned companies and state corporations became basically unable to travel. Some were directly asked to hand over their foreign passports for safekeeping."

Details: Currently, such actions by the authorities have intensified. This supposedly happened because several members of the Russian Parliament posted photos on social media of their January holidays in Mexico and Dubai.

The outlet's sources stated that in some cases, people were asked to hand over their documents to the FSB and, in some cases, to a special department at their place of work. People who refuse to do so are asked to resign.

In some cases, FSB officers threaten these people, saying that if a person refuses to hand over their foreign passport, it may be "cancelled" somehow, and this document will not allow them to travel abroad.

According to System's sources, no rule or regulation regarding foreign passports actually exists. Some companies limit themselves to a "strict recommendation" to avoid foreign holidays. In contrast, others ban their staff from travelling abroad, or recommend that they do not travel beyond the Eurasian Economic Zone [Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia – ed.] or the zone of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation countries.

A project source close to the Russian president's administration says that most Kremlin employees "don't even try" to leave.

Another source states that some of them "quite calmly" travelled to countries that were "neutral" from the point of view of the Russian political leadership in 2022. However, the permissions for such trips could have been signed personally by Anton Vaino, Head of the Kremlin administration.

System notes that some Russian ministries let people travel, for example, to the UAE, but they are required to fill out a travel report upon their return.

The project recalls that the tightening of rules for Russian officials to visit foreign countries became known in 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea. However, then the restrictions affected law enforcement officials and judges. The form regarding access to state secrets formally explained the travel ban.

System also noted that travel permits in the Russian government after 2014 were sometimes literally at the level of "go wherever you want, but don't post any photos on social networks."

For reference: Russian law allows for travel restrictions for officials and employees of state-owned companies and the confiscation of their foreign passports if they have access to state secrets. Additionally, travel may be restricted for military and non-military personnel, current and former FSB officers, for 5 years after their retirement.

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