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Russia raises officer age limits and seizes assets
Summary
A look back at two Russian measures from mid-July 2023: older conscription limits for senior officers and a temporary state takeover of foreign-owned company shares.
What did Moscow change in its wartime rules around 18 July 2023? Two measures stood out: one aimed at the armed forces' senior ranks, the other at foreign-owned business.
On 18 July 2023, the Russian Federal Assembly amended its mobilization laws. The change raised the age limit for conscription from 65 to 70 for the highest-ranking officers of the armed forces. It came under the mobilization framework introduced in 2022, during the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Temporary takeover of company shares
Two days earlier, on 16 July 2023, President Vladimir Putin authorised a temporary state takeover of the shares of French agribusiness Danone and of Baltika, a brewer owned by Carlsberg. As reported at the time, the move formed part of a wider response to private companies, these two among them, that had reduced their business operations in Russia amid the war.
The pattern of corporate retreat was broad. Many private companies had ceased operations in Russia, or donated or matched donations to the Ukrainian government or Ukrainian organisations, in response to Russia's seizure of Ukrainian territory in 2014 and 2022. Others applied various sanctions.
Two measures, one wartime context
The two decisions dealt with different areas: military manpower rules and the status of foreign-owned business assets. Both were taken in the same days of July 2023, and both reflected the demands of a prolonged war on Russian law and policy.
