Russia Grants One-Year Inspection Moratorium for Drone-Damaged Businesses

Russia's government has introduced a moratorium on inspections for businesses damaged by drone attacks, effective from September 28, 2026, through October 1, 2027. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigoryenko announced the measure, which applies to commercial facilities sustaining damage from drone and weapons attacks since January 1, 2026. The policy suspends scheduled inspections and many unscheduled regulatory oversight activities, with exceptions for cases involving threats to public safety, environmental harm, or state security.

The government framed the moratorium as reducing administrative burden and enabling businesses to concentrate resources on recovery and restoration work rather than compliance procedures. Unscheduled inspections remain permitted upon requests from prosecutors, presidential or government directives, threats to life and health, unlicensed operations, or emergency risks. Certain sectors retain full inspection authority, including industrial safety oversight of Class II hazardous facilities, hydroelectric structure safety, transport security, education, and energy regulation.

Businesses can self-report damage to regulatory bodies or have damage documented through investigative agencies or local authorities, with no minimum damage threshold specified. However, several entrepreneurs interviewed expressed skepticism about the measure's practical impact. Oganesh Baroyan, a Kursk-based business owner, reported difficulty obtaining damage documentation from authorities even after drone strikes damaged his office. "Businesses working honestly aren't hindered by inspections," he said, adding that damage certificates are denied to commercial entities while granted to residents. Similarly, Konstantin Lakhnov, owner of a Belgorod printing business damaged in 2022, stated that timely compensation and tax relief would be more beneficial than suspended inspections. He received compensation covering only 60 percent of assessed damage after waiting over a year.

Compensation mechanisms remain fragmented across federal and regional programs. Legal entities and entrepreneurs can claim a fixed 300,000 rubles for property lost in terrorist attacks, subject to program conditions, regardless of actual damage amounts. Lawyer Gleb Podyablonskiy noted that compensation requires formal incident reporting through emergency services, police, municipal commissions, and application submission via government portals or municipal offices. Businesses denied damage documentation are advised to document the refusal and file complaints with prosecutors. This moratorium represents a continuation of earlier relief measures; Russia previously imposed inspection moratoria on most companies from March 2022 through end of 2024.