Starting March 1, stricter language rules take effect for businesses in Russia.

Owners of cafes, restaurants, and retail stores will be required to ensure all signage and consumer information is primarily, but not necessarily exclusively, in Russian.

Developers have also been instructed to use only the Cyrillic alphabet when naming new residential complexes.

While the new rules do not impose a total ban on foreign languages, they require that Russian be the primary language used to convey information to consumers. Any foreign text is only permitted as a secondary supplement, intended to protect the priority of the Russian language in public spaces.

Ethnic republics with a second official language are obviously excluded from this demand. For example there would be no restrictions on the Bashkir language inside of Bashkortostan.

Failure to comply with these regulations could result in a fine of up to 40,000 rubles.