IPA CIS Begins Drafting Model Law on Infrastructure Bonds

The first meeting of the working group on drafting the model law “On Promoting Tradable Infrastructure Debt Instruments” took place at the Tavricheskiy Palace in St. Petersburg on 25 September 2026. The meeting brought together MPs, representatives of relevant organisations and experts from CIS Member Nations.

Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Budget and Financial Markets and member of the IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Economy and Finance Andrey Epishin was elected Head of the Working Group. Partner and Head of Infrastructure and Public-Private Partnership Practice at the law firm “VERBA LEGAL” Alexander Dolgov was appointed Deputy Head, while Secretary of the IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Economy and Finance Roman Levin became Secretary of the Working Group.

Aleksandr Dolgov presented an analysis of national legislation and the proposed concept of the model law. He identified three approaches to infrastructure debt financing across CIS countries and highlighted regulatory challenges, including differences in disclosure requirements, taxation and cross-border bond issuance.

The proposed law introduces a special legal status for infrastructure bonds, distinguishing between project bonds, repaid primarily from project revenues, and use-of-proceeds bonds, repaid from the issuer's general revenues. It also provides for greater transparency, independent verification and potential government support without automatically creating state financial obligations.

Deputy Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council – Plenipotentiary Representative of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Irina Sokolova welcomed the proposed solutions. Andrey Epishin highlighted the need to examine government guarantees, bond issuance in foreign currencies and tax incentives. Independent infrastructure finance expert Aleksey Zverev proposed involving banks and stock exchanges in the working group's activities and considering the role of pension funds in infrastructure investment.

The model law aims to harmonise legislation across CIS Member Nations, facilitate cross-border investment and attract private capital to infrastructure projects.

The working group approved the concept and instructed the developers to prepare the draft model law for its next meeting, scheduled for March–April 2027.