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Russia may adopt a softer version of a draft presidential decree regulating the operations of foreign container shipping companies in the country, Kommersant reported following an industry working group meeting on April 28 2026, a record of which the newspaper obtained.

The original draft would have restricted market access to operators failing to meet a series of stringent criteria, including registration in Russia, a majority stake of more than 50% held by a local ultimate beneficial owner, an obligation to prioritize the carriage of sanctioned cargo, insurance and reinsurance of the vessel and protection-and-indemnity (P&I) liability with domestic underwriters, submission to Russian jurisdiction for dispute resolution, and the use exclusively of owned — rather than chartered — vessels on any given route. A separate provision would explicitly bar the return of ten carriers that withdrew from Russia in 2022: Denmark's Maersk, France's CMA CGM, Germany's Hapag-Lloyd and BREB, the Netherlands' Samskip, Hong Kong's OOCL, the UK's X-Press Container Line (UK) Limited, and South Korea's KMTC and HMM, as well as Japan's ONE.

The proposed conditions, however, met with concern and resistance from exporters and port operators. Shippers questioned whether qualifying Russian carriers would have sufficient capacity to handle all export volumes. Stevedoring companies feared the withdrawal of a large share of existing foreign lines, the loss of certain shipping routes, and a decline in container throughput at Russian ports. Foreign lines accounted for 58.6 % of container traffic at Russia's main port basins in 2025, according to Kommersant. As for shipping companies, they are also divided over the draft, the meeting record shows. It is also noted that in total three versions of the draft decree are to be submitted to the Ministry of Transport.

The most recent iteration, according to Kommersant, is considerably less restrictive than the original one. Under this version, only the ten carriers that left in 2022 would face an outright ban —and even they could obtain permanent market access provided they establish a joint venture under Russian law in which a local partner holds a majority stake, arrange or confirm P&I cover with domestic insurers, and ensure that all vessels operating on those routes carry Russian-format transport security certificates. One source cited by the newspaper said the draft also envisages the possibility of raising port dues for vessels sailing under the flags of "unfriendly" states at some future point, though the process is still at the stage of collecting proposals.