Yekaterinburg mayor Alexey Orlov. Photo: Orlov’s Telegram channel
The mayor of Russia’s Ural region city of Yekaterinburg, Alexey Orlov, has criticised a federal law obliging regional governments to formally declare any contact with foreigners within 15 days, local news outlet It’s My City reported on Wednesday.
Speaking at a BRICS meeting in Moscow, Orlov said that the law, which was passed by the State Duma in August 2023, had made it difficult for his administration to organise several sports, music and business events.
According to Orlov, the law’s restrictions apply to the 25 diplomatic missions and 13 consulates in the city, and, more broadly, to any interactions with foreign students, musicians, businesspeople and sport teams, among others.
Orlov proposed amending the law to grant exceptions for large cities such as Yekaterinburg, allowing them to interact with foreigners in a “special manner”, stressing that his office maintained contacts “only with friendly countries”.
While Yekaterinburg created a council of representatives of foreign states in an effort to promote the city as an international business centre in 2022, in February the Sverdlovsk regional parliament, which is in Yekaterinburg, adopted a similar law screening contact with foreigners to bring regional legislation into line with federal law.
