On 11 May 2021, the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) approved Bill No. 1147902-7, which provides for the termination of the 1996 tax treaty with the Netherlands. The Bill has been sent to the Federation Council (upper house) for consideration.

The Russian government decided to move forward on the termination of the treaty after the two countries failed to reach agreement in negotiations for amendments to the treaty regarding withholding tax on dividend and interest payments. The negotiations had been initiated following an instruction from the Russian president earlier in 2020 for the Ministry of Finance to review and negotiate revisions to any tax treaties providing withholding tax rates lower than 15%.