Purpose: The primary purpose of the article is to present the specifcity of Russian boards of directors, critically analyze their main characteristics, and consider their relations to selected corporate governance mechanisms in Russia.

Methodology: The article was prepared based on specialist literature, which pertains to the theoretical aspects of the boards of directors’ activity and the changes in the corporate governance system in Russia. The qualitative research on the boards of directors’ key characteristics in the Russian public companies was based on SPARK data.

Findings: The central features of the boards of directors in the Russian companies depend on the key events in the Russian economy – such as fnancial and economic crises – changes in the companies’ ownership structure, including the participation of the state in ownership, as well as on their activity on the Russian and international fnancial market.

Research limitations: Research limitations resulted mainly from the lack of access to all the data about the directors of the companies under examination, including their independence from or obligation to the state institutions.

Originality: The research on the Russian joint-stock companies – that is, corporate governance in Russia with its mechanisms – is a relatively new issue in the Polish specialist literature. They may be an important trigger for comparative studies in the feld of corporate governance in Central and Eastern European economies.