MOSCOW – Announcing a series of new amendments to the rules for state regulation of corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A) at a press-conference today, Anti-Monopoly Minister Ilya Yuzhanov said about 85 percent of all M&As will be taken out of the control of his ministry, which will henceforth handle only “big deals”.

Briefing the press after a Cabinet meeting dedicated to the ministry’s report on anti-monopoly issues in the country, Yuzhanov said the government has decided to submit the amendments to the State Duma for consideration next week.

According to the amendment drafts, the benchmark for M&A deals, which require the ministry’s authorization will be raised from 20 million rubles ($696,964) to 3 billion rubles ($104.55 million).

And, this will take about 85 percent of all deals out of the ministry’s control, leaving it with only really big and important deals to handle, Yuzhanov said.