In June, the following amendments were introduced into the legislation: a state and municipal contract on supply of goods, fulfillment of jobs and rendering of services may be canceled due to a unilateral refusal of a party to fulfill it; high-skilled foreign experts may reside and work in...

In June 2013, the ruble was slightly devaluated with a view to increasing ruble budget revenues amid slow-down in economic growth. A.Ulyukayev was appointed a new Minister of Economic Development, replacing A. Belousov, which most probably means an attempt to observe moderation in government...

In July 2013, Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny was sentenced to fi ve years in prison. It appears, however, that he would be allowed – on procedural grounds, since no appeal hearing has been held yet – to run for mayor in mayoral elections in Moscow on September 8, 2013. A...

In July 2013, amendments were introduced into Part Four of the Civil Code as regards state regulation of relations in the sphere of intellectual property; procedure was specified for intestate succession of escheat property into ownership of a municipal entity and constituent entity of the...

In August, Victor Ishaev was dismissed from his post as Russia’s Minister for the Development of the Far East – his extravagantly costly approaches to solving the region’s problems without having made even a feeble attempt at setting any priorities, had finally infuriated both the RF...

In March 2014 Russia announced the accession of Crimea based on the results of the referendum held on 16 March 2014. In response the U.S. and EU introduced visa sanctions and a ban on the possession of assets in their jurisdictions for Russian officials (and in the U.S. this also extended to...

In March the following changes were made to the effective laws: the establishment of additional grounds for conducting unscheduled inspections of non-profit organisations, in respect of which information has been received on non-compliance with the laws of the Russian Federation; amendments to...

The situation in Ukraine ratcheted up sharply in April 2014 in the Dontesk and Lugansk Regions, where armed insurgents seized the regional administration buildings. Negotiations in Geneva between officials from Russia, Ukraine, the United States, and the European Union came to an agreement on...

In April, the following amendments were introduced in the legislation: the size of severance benefits which are paid to laid off executive officers was limited; a new statute on doctoral studies was developed..

Indicators of output growth in the defense sector have lagged far behind the target figures. Growth in public investment rates is overtaking growth in output, thereby causing abnormal growth in prices of defense industry products and upsurge in corruption. Meeting the President’s requirements...