Starting from January 1, 2022, the Federal Tax Service of Russia will be responsible for issuing qualified electronic signatures of legal entities (persons authorized to act on behalf of a legal entity without a power of attorney), individual entrepreneurs and notaries in accordance with the legislation on electronic signatures.
However, starting from July 1, 2021, the Federal Tax Service of Russia plans to provide this service for a "seamless" transition from the paid version of commercial accredited certification centers (AUC) to the corresponding gratuitous public service provided by the AUC of the Federal Tax Service of Russia.
In addition, the validity period of qualified electronic signature certificates issued by commercial AUCs is limited to January 1, 2022.
A person acting without a power of attorney on behalf of an organization, an individual entrepreneur and a notary can personally receive a qualified electronic signature from the Federal Tax Service of Russia (obtaining an electronic signature from a legal entity, sole proprietor and notary by proxy is not provided for by law), with the exception of:
Qualified electronic signatures of credit institutions, payment system operators, non-credit financial organizations and individual entrepreneurs will be available at the Certification Center of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.;
A qualified electronic signature of officials of state bodies, local self-government bodies, or organizations subordinate to a state body or local self-government body can be obtained from the Certification Center of the Federal Treasury.;
Qualified electronic signatures of individuals, including individuals acting on behalf of a legal entity by proxy, can be obtained from commercially accredited certification centers after their accreditation in accordance with the new requirements of the legislation on electronic signatures.