A new federal law has expanded the list of instances in which the investment tax credit may be applied.

Most Russians do not refuse “gray” wages despite the risk of criminal penalties for not paying taxes on the income.

A draft bill referred to the State Duma on Wednesday suggests that illegal entrepreneurship should not be punished as strictly as revenues' laundering. Deputies from the parliamentary majority, United Russia faction, among them Vladimir Vasiliyev, the chairman of the State Duma Security Committee, suggested the amendments.

Such hypothetical rulings include those on taxpayers’ obligations regarding undeclared expenses.

More than one-third of Russian companies are paying year-end bonuses to their employees.

A contractor’s violation of duty is not found to be proof of receiving tax rebates.

Differences in salaries between Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov-na-Donu, and Ufa.

The State Duma has introduced a bill to release OOOs (LLCs) from liability if they are not able to re-register their charter documents by January 1. Business owners are glad that the misery of standing in long lines at the registration department will soon be over.

Russian businesses have a whole new set of changes in the tax system in store for them beginning in 2010. The tax load will be higher than it was before.

Employers have stopped pampering their employees with benefits.

Foreign companies are hoping that the new policy will help their business plans.

Russians’ highest productivity levels at work are in winter.

A poll carried out by The Center for Economic and Financial Research (CEFR), in cooperation with the World Bank, questioned regional officials about reforms to government regulations.

Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development did not approve the latest version of a bill on retail trade and is proposing to eliminate one of its most controversial articles - that on lowering the maximum market share a single company can hold to 25%.

Excerpts from Transcript of Meeting with Members of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs

The following is a short redaction and translation of the Federal Migration Service order which makes clarifications to the way by which foreigners must register in Russia.

The tax burden on companies that use simplified taxation may soon be lowered.

The Moscow City Council will soon be reviewing the corresponding bill.

Dividend taxes are calculated on the date the money was transferred to the shareholder.

Authorities no longer accept diplomas which are not legalized or apostilled.

During tough times, Russians are choosing the peace and quiet of the provinces.

The tax authorities will begin forgiving some outstanding debts.

The Excerpts from Dmitry Medvedev’s Article, “Go Russia!”

The author of this article, Alexander Settles is a professor of corporate governance at the Faculty of Management, Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Russia. Dr. Settles previously worked at the University of Delaware. He has been a consultant to the World Bank Institute, Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), and the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), and participated in the OECD Russian Roundtable for Corporate Governance.

Two-thirds of Russians do not access the Internet from home.

During the last six months many companies have become more willing to replace foreign personnel with Russian staff. According to recruiters, approximately 70% of expats have lost their jobs in Russian companies during this time.

Crisis or not, the federal and regional authorities become increasingly more expensive. State machinery remains inefficient and unbelievably costly.

The FMS will soon be able to inspect companies more often than once every three years.

It appears unlikely that businesses will manage to get through the re-registration process by January 1.

The capital’s small businesses will soon be paying reduced rates.

Does the Russian president have the right to vacation abroad? What is written in the laws regarding this issue?

Interfax interview with A.V. Grushko, deputy Russian foreign minister on the prospects of cooperation between Russia and NATO, 15 August 2009

Pavel Krasheninnikov is considered Russia's second most influential lawyer, after Dmitriy Medvedev.

Ever more Russians who a while ago took bank loans are unable to honor their liabilities. Statistics indicate the first half of the year saw a considerable worsening of the situation on the lending market, which is fraught with a new banking crisis.

The United States is not planning arms deliveries to Georgia in the immediate future but does not rule out such a possibility in the future.

Russia's population is expected to decline to 110.1 million people by 2050, according to a survey of demographic trends by the Population Reference Bureau organization, published on Wednesday.

President Dmitry Medvedev has declared a war on yet another public evil - alcoholism this time -- and vowed to wage it "decisively but carefully", avoiding "stupid bans".

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin urged regions to live according to their means and stop inflating budget expenditures.

A first in legislative innovation – notifying stockholders about meetings through the Internet.

A proposal is being considered to lengthen time allotted to government officials to correct laws affected by the rulings of the Constitutional Court.

Government officials have numerous methods of pressuring small businesses.

Some of the largest retailers are already using revised supplier contacts that are in accordance with the norms of an impending trade law.

The United States reduces the budget of human rights promotion programs in Russia. Promotion of democracy in Russia will cost American taxpayers but $29 million this year.

Interview with Shigeo Katsu, World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Region

From one crisis to another - the number of government officials doubled.

Confirmation of taxes paid abroad is required.

Entrepreneur does not always secure profits, Federal Arbitration Court agreed.

There are a number of important points that both employers and employees should be made aware of. HW Fisher & Company has produced an online note offering guidance.

The Supreme Arbitrage Court on the violation of free enterprises’ rights.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev believes that the number of inspections and charges in small and medium businesses is on decline, but quite slowly.

By Tony Watson, professor of organisational behaviour, Nottingham University Business School.

Taxes being paid into the State Budget have fallen by one-third. The Ministry of Finance (MinFin) has found new ways to compensate for this, including increasing extraction taxes for natural gas, excise duties on tobacco and alcohol, and state duties.

India and China continue as top offshoring destinations; but Central/Eastern Europe falls while Southeast Asia and Middle East countries rise.

In 2010, the Unified Social Tax (UST), which is paid by employers directly from their payroll, will be replaced by payments to the federal insurance funds. Because of this, the calculation of benefits set aside for temporary disability, maternity leave and child care will change also. The Ministry of Public Health and Social Development suggests that maximum caps on benefits should not be established.

If a company turns no profit, it does not need to pay the minimum tax.

Courts find outsourcing arrangement to be legal.

Tax debt grows in Russia.

The Head of Federal Antitrust Service (FAS) has proposed fining and disqualifying officials for projections which may affect the markets.

Presidential budget message: Russia is still in trouble.

GDP drop reached double digits in April. Has Russia's economy hit bottom?

The Moscow Department of the Federal Tax Service (FNS) that works with "problematic organizations" summed up the statistics for 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. Data for all of Russia is not yet available.

Russia's statistics service is turning into a propaganda tool. Seeking reasons for discrepancies in economic statistics.

Experts say that there is no way to improve the existing police force because the system itself breeds corruption.

Payments will increase substantially.

The Federal Tax Service (FTS) may be able to track individuals' tax payments more effectively.

President Medvedev has established a working group, headed by Vladislav Surkov, to work on measures to liberalize the law on non-profit organizations. NGOs are looking forward to a respite from the onerous bureaucratic requirements they have endured for the past two years.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin believes that only one economic leader cannot overcome the world crisis.

Article by Yuriy Korgunyuk, head of Political Analysis Division of Indem Foundation: "The Way Out of the Dark Room".

Article by Andrey Konoplyanik (doctor of economic sciences, deputy general secretary of the Energy Charter Secretariat 2002-2008): "Energy Charter and the Russian Initiative -- What Should be Done With the International Community's Legal Base".

Editorial report: "Bureaucratic Class Gets Russia Under. Bureaucratic Rampaging Rises to a New Level".

Regions Strike Blow to Russia's Unity. Wave of Economic Separatism Growing Within Country Due to Crisis.

Interview, under the rubric "The Actors," with Aleksey Kudrin, Russian deputy chairman of the government and minister of finance, conducted by Yevgeniya Pismennaya, Nadezhda Ivanitskaya, and Vasiliy Kudinov: "'We Should Not Drive Our Tanks Onto the Mines,' -- Aleksey Kudrin, Deputy Chairman of the Government and Minister of Finance"

Never before has such a stormy meeting been held at the plenipotentiary representative's office: governor refuses to speak, deputy minister falls out with Uralites, plenipotentiary representative gives reprimand.

President Medvedev has fired Moscow police chief Vladimir Pronin in the wake of a supermarket shooting committed by a police officer earlier this week. Pronin had headed the Moscow Directorate of the Interior Ministry since 2001.

Russians are becoming more optimistic.

The complicated investigation into and precedent-setting case against Interoptica, the first company to prosecuted for using an illegal scheme to "mask" part of its salary payments to employees.

GDP will fall by 6% and industrial production by 9.1% in 2009. Economic Development Ministry updates its forecasts for 2009.

The State Duma has passed the second reading of the presidential dart law allowing local councils to sack mayors.

Russia's population is falling.

Temporary personnel has to be legalized.

Premier Vladimir Putin extended the list of criteria to be used in evaluation of gubernatorial efficiency. The federal government is more than willing to share responsibility for the crisis with the regional authorities.

Independent experts doubt that the new legislation will ensure equal coverage of Duma political parties in the media.

“A Measure of Mercy. Throughout Last Week Dmitriy Medvedev Was Demonstrating That He Is Capable of Broad Gestures"

Russian Prime Minister cancels plans to attend summit in Bulgaria. Gas trade summit is likely to criticize Russia.

Russia has to concentrate on raising labor productivity.

Former YUKOS lawyer Svetlana Bakhmina released. Bakhmina's release is Medvedev's message to the public.

Russia suggests a new energy treaty with the European Unity. President Dmitry Medvedev presented a draft document that would replace the Energy Charter.

Polls show 10% drop in pessimism about the crisis. Russia's crisis hasn't produced major horrors so far.

Upper echelons of the government are at odds over the budget strategy. Discourse over 2010 state expenditures comes down to the same old tax debates.

Report by Aleksandra Samarina: "System Deficiency. Society Urgently Needs Its Political and Social Structures To Become More Sophisticated".

Mass disturbances are expected in Kishinev. The Moldovan authorities are resolved to use force now.

Published April 15, 2009

The Kremlin becomes increasingly more critical of state corporations.

Presidential administration officials declared income: presidential aide Konstantin Chuichenko is unquestionable leader. Konstantin Chuichenko, Chief of the Control Directorate of the Presidential Administration, made 368.5 million rubles in 2008. No other Presidential Administration official took home even 2% of what Chuichenko made.

The State Duma has decided against passing amendments to the law that limits tobacco smoking in the country.

The authorities urge consolidation on society. Society does not care. The powers-that-be seek support from general public.

This year, bankruptcy and company liquidation is turning into its own special form of business.

Fundamental improvement in the situation is still far off.

The Federal Tax Service (FTS) has decided to punish companies which pay out interim dividends but finish the fiscal year at a loss.

People are prepared to invest in health and housing, and forgo cars and pleasure.

Russia starts exporting liquefied natural gas from Sakhalin. The first tanker loaded with Russian liquefied natural gas from Sakhalin Island has sailed for Japan. Exporting LNG frees Russia of its dependence on pipelines and transit countries. Russia's revenues from Sakhalin LNG exports could reach $60 billion over the next decade.

The G20 summit in London will follow the American script.

Parliamentary parties will get equal access to state-controlled electronic media. It is a step toward equal media coverage for the top four parties. A presidential bill guaranteeing equal state media coverage for parliamentary parties has been passed by the State Duma in the first reading. The Communist faction abstained from voting, on the grounds that it doesn't trust the Central Electoral Commission.

Putin is willing to adjust anti-crisis measures, but the opposition isn't prepared to support the amended budget Parliamentary opposition factions prepare to vote on budget amendments.

No more than a unit. Governors will establish total control over municipalities.

Regardless of Legal Entities. Dmitriy Medvedev Advised To Abolish All State Corporations.

Officials are gearing up for global currency devaluation game.

EU supports Ukraine's gas transit monopoly. Russia shows its displeasure at EU-Ukraine gas transit agreement.

Crisis impact: Russia's consumers are spending less.

The government will not revise Russia’s socioeconomic development program for the period until 2020, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov announced today.

The Ministry of Economic Development is expecting Russia’s 2009 GDP to be 40.42 trillion rubles, which is 1.11 trillion rubles less than in 2008 – a 2.7% drop.

The Moscow Arbitration Court is postponing review of a $22.5 billion dollar lawsuit against the Bank of New York Mellon (BoNY) until April 14, at the request of both the Federal Customs Service (FCS) and the Bank. They hope to come to an amicable settlement.

Vladislav Surkov has developed a special computer program in the Kremlin to track political problems in the regions.

Results on the meeting between presidents of Russia, Moldova and Trans-Dniester region in Moscow.

What can edge out the dollar? "Supra-national currency is a question of decades."

The government formulated seven anti-crisis priorities of the economic policy. Social support of the population tops the list.

Direct phones to the President and prime minister installed in Gennadi Zyuganov’s office.

Natural gas transit across Ukraine has halved. European Union countries are buying less gas from Russia.

Russia's budget spending in 2009 will reach a quarter of GDP. New spending commitments amount to 1.61 trillion rubles. There will be extra funding for social spending, aid to banks and companies, and television broadcasting.

President Dmitry Medvedev urged banks to cooperate.

The crisis has not reduced the bribes and kickbacks market. Corruption in Russia amounts to $240-300 billion a year. The scale of corruption will only increase during the crisis, as the government allocates more funding for anti-crisis measures. After all, no system of oversight has been established for spending this money.

A delegation from the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs has visited the United States. The Russian business leaders met with Vice President Joe Biden and other senior US administration officials, with talks focusing on economic cooperation prospects. Russian business leaders satisfied with reception in Washington.

Russia's regional governments have updated the Finance Ministry on measures they have taken to cut budget spending.

Experts say that even though most Russian citizens are not prepared to participate in protests, and still say they trust the president and the prime minister, the number of citizens dissatisfied with the government's performance is set to grow. Citizens don't understand the reasoning behind anti-crisis measures The government can boost public confidence by explaining its actions.

This is applicable if a Russian is not a tax resident in Russia.

The Forbes removed 55 Russians from the billionaire list. The Forbes' latest list of billionaires includes only 32 Russians.

President asks Central Electoral Commission to file complaints. In writing.

The population sympathizes with protesters and sneers at actions supposedly showing support of the government's anti-crisis efforts.

"Transcript" of speech by Vladislav Surkov, first deputy chairman of the Russian Presidential Staff, to March 2, 2009, Moscow "Strategy 2020" forum marking first anniversary of President Dmitriy Medvedev's election.

Opening Remarks At Meeting With Members Of The First Hundred In The High-Potential Management Personnel Reserve.

Authorities ‘clear’ foreigners from Russian labor market.

MICEX reached historic minimum: 36.55 rubles/USD as a next-day forward exchange rate. Banking analysts do not expect the ruble to strengthen.

In 2008, Russians' expenditures exceeded their earnings for the first time – by 4.1 billion rubles.

Kommersant-VLAST asked its readers if they thought it was time for President Dmitry Medvedev to fire Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Russian Public Opinion Research Center discovered that most Russians perceive no military threats to the country at this point but acknowledge the situation with the Armed Forces as problematic.

The authorities fear domestic threats and challenges more than they do external ones: security structures intended to deal with domestic challenges outnumber the regular army.

Closer commercial relations are urged as a key to creating a more productive bilateral relationship.

Ramifications of Medvedev's gubernatorial appointments examined.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev demonstrated to the nation he will no longer stake on former security officers and law enforcers, dubbed as "siloviki", in running the country.

Failure to diversify economy dooms Russia to be an exporter of oil and gas and preciously little else. Convinced that Russian economy will remain raw-material oriented, experts appeal to the government to abet its marketability.

Street cleaners and freight handlers are Russia's least satisfied workers.

According to Kaspersky Lab’s annual report on the development of computer threats in 2008, last year’s principle trends were the development of virus technologies, the formation of a criminal virus ecosystem and the growth of online threats. Russia has surpassed all other countries in its spam generation and in the sophistication of its malicious software.

Lawmakers are seeking control over the distribution of bailout funds.

The gap between the rich and the poor remained unchanged in 2008, but it is set to grow as the crisis tightens its grip on the economy.

The balance profits and losses earned by Russian companies in January – November 2008 dropped to 4.6 trillion rubles, which is the same as it was for the same period of 2007.

Employers will be obligated to pay 1/200 of the refinancing rate per day on the amount owed.

Forgiven interest does not decrease profit tax base.

Sociologists claim that society is rapidly losing interest in politics. Experts warn of the implications of this turn of events.

Novaya Gazeta has finally gotten condolences: Dmitriy Medvedev met with Mikhail Gorbachev and Dmitriy Muratov.

Political party controlling regional parliament will nominate governors.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama confirmed that they sought to meet shortly.

Poll results reveal opinions about the economic crisis. Most Russian citizens don't see the crisis as their problem.

The authorities are losing battle with the growing unemployment. Army of the unemployed will average 5.5 million in 2009.

An update on amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Governor's Conversation With 25 Informers.

Pessimistic predictions for the Russian economy in 2009. Growth forecasts from state officials and experts are increasingly grim.

The Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the Federal Law “On Auditing.”

Russia’s State Duma deputies approved measures proposed by the state government.

Gazprom's explanation for the failure of Russian gas to reach Europe is that the amount of gas Ukraine requires for the technical purpose of pumping transit gas has been stolen. For the first time, Russia has accused the Ukrainian government of taking orders from Washington on gas issues.

Premier Vladimir Putin advised Europe to tell Kiev to behave in civilized manner and to stop dallying with construction of new gas pipelines.

Interview with Arkadiy Dvorkovich, economic aide to the Russian president, by Mikhail Fishman: "Arkadiy Dvorkovich: 'We Always Said: Russia Is an Open Country'"