Russia to ban share trading in 'unfriendly' defence firms -Vedomosti

FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a ceremony to declare the annexation of the Russian-controlled territories of four Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, after holding what Russian authorities called referendums in the occupied areas of Ukraine that were condemned by Kyiv and governments worldwide, in the Georgievsky Hall of the Great Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, September 30, 2022. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Kremlin via REUTERS

Russia plans to ban shares in defence companies from so-called "unfriendly" countries from being traded on Moscow exchanges, business newspaper Vedomosti reported on Thursday, citing a senior member of the country's parliament.

Vedomosti cited first deputy chair of the State Duma's financial markets commission Konstantin Bakharev as saying the lack of a ban was "unacceptable and amoral". The newspaper reported that Russia's finance ministry backed the ban.

Russia first published its list of "unfriendly" countries in 2021. The list includes the United States, all European Union member states, and a string of other countries that have imposed sanctions on Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Bernadette Baum)