© Vladimir Pesnya / Ria Novosti

without asking for our agreement

The governmental commission for legislation has approved a bill that if passed would allow Russia to impound property of foreign states, so long as Russian courts rule these countries are infringing the sovereignty of Russian jurisdiction.According to business daily Kommersant, the government will shortly look into the draft and then it will be submitted to the parliament.The current draft, developed by the Justice Ministry, would give Russian courts more powers to impound the property of foreign states. Currently such steps are only allowed on condition the government of the country in question agrees. The new rules would cancel this stipulation and introduce another -The Justice Ministry said in comments that the main idea behind the bill was to ensure a "jurisdiction balance" between Russia and foreign states.ministry sources told Kommersant., they added.In early July, mass media reported that several European countries, such as Belgium and France had frozen Russian state companies' assets and curtailed their agencies in these countries. The move was in connection with the June 2014 ruling by the International Court in The Hague that ordered Russia to pay compensation of $39.9 billion, $1.85 billion and $8.2 billion to three companies connected with Yukos. The oil giant was dissolved in 2007 after its top managers and key owners were jailed for tax evasion.President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with the heads of international news agencies that Russia would challenge the decision to seize its assets.Earlier this month, the Russian Constitutional Court decided that no international treaty or convention has precedence over national sovereignty, and decisions by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) should be upheld only when they don't contradict basic Russian law. The judge who announced the ruling explained that Russia can now refuse to fulfill the obligations imposed by the ECHR rulings, when such a refusal is the only way to prevent the violation of the basic law.The same judge also told reporters there was a possibility the Constitutional Court would investigate the Yukos case, but only if it is taken to court by the plaintiffs. Besides, the Justice Ministry issued a statement saying all its actions connected with the ECHR's ruling on the Yukos vs. Russia case would be based on the ruling establishing the priority of the Russian Constitution.These comments apparently concerned the ECHR's ruling in July 2014 that ordered Russia to pay $2.5 billion in compensation and legal expenses to former Yukos shareholders.