Ukrainian President Vetoes Tax Code

Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovich vetoed the new Tax Code recently approved by the parliament. Ukrainian entrepreneurs had protested en masse against the Code's proposed restricted application of simplified taxation methods that apply lower tax rates.

http://lenta.ru/news/2010/11/30/veto/

Video: www.24tv.com.ua

Update: Yanukovich signes Tax Code with corrections
http://lenta.ru/news/2010/12/03/kodex/

High-Ranking Russian Official Suspected of Links with Organized Crime

Leading Russian business newspaper Vedomosti published an article alleging that Vasily Yakimenko, the head of Rosmolodezh (Federal Youth Agency of the Russian Federation), was among the members of a company named Akbars established in 1994 in Moscow. All five members of the company, except Yakimenko, were convicted in 2006 on charges of participation in an organized criminal group, racketeering, and numerous murders. The leader of the gang, Yuri Eremenko, also a member of Akbars, was sentenced to life imprisonment, and the other 31 gang members were sentenced to a total of over 400 years in prison. According to Yakimenko’s spokesperson, Yakimenko was included in the member list without his knowledge. Vedomosti notes that Yakimenko initiated the creation of controversial pro-Kremlin youth movements (such as “Nashi”) that have cost taxpayers about $15 mln. Yakimenko is also known for his conflict with journalist Oleg Kashin, who was recently seriously beaten by assailants who have not been identified.

http://www.vedomosti.ru/newspaper/article/250636/dengi_nashih

Georgia Promises Not To Attack Russian “Occupants”

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili announced that Georgia will never use force to restore control over its breakaway provinces Abkhazia and South Ossetia, whose independence was recognized by Russia after the 2008 Russia-Georgia war over South Ossetia. In his address to the European Parliament, Saakashvili said Georgia was ready for “unilateral initiative to declare that Georgia will never use force to roll back the Russian occupation and restore control over the occupied areas.” Russia’s Foreign Ministry responded that the pledge can be “perceived seriously” only if it “is put on paper” and when “it becomes legally binding.”


http://www.finchannel.com/Main_News/Politics/76153_Moscow_Responds_to_Saakashvili%E2%80%99s_Non-Use_of_Force_Pledge/

Visa Restrictions Proposed Against Russian Officials

The European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee voted to recommend denying visas to 60 Russian officials believed to have been involved in the investigation of tax advisor Sergei Magnitsky, who died in pretrial detention for lack of proper medical care in 2009. The recommendation, which would take effect only if adopted by member states, are based on a similar recommendation by US Senator Benjamin Cardin to the State Department. Russia responded to the European proposal with a threat to "very harshly retaliate" if the restrictions are adopted.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/26/world/europe/26russia.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=magnitsky&st=cse

Moscow Court Disregards Plea Bargain in Bribery Case

Moscow City Court sentenced Grigory Domovets, a former senior investigator in the Investigation Committee of the Prosecutor's Office Grigory Domovets, to three years in prison on bribery charges. Judge Valery Novikov disregarded a deal with the prosecution under which Domovets pleaded guilty and testified to expose his corrupt superiors and the prosecution withdrew some of the charges and requested a suspended sentence. After the sentencing, the prosecution reversed its position and announced that the sentence is well-grounded and lawful. The defense intends to appeal.

http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=1547274&NodesID=6

Arbitral Award Worth $3.6 b. against Naftogaz Ukraine Upheld

Ukraine's Supreme Court upheld a Stockholm arbitral award requiring Naftogaz Ukraine to make an in-kind payment of 12.1 billion cubic meters of gas (worth US $3.6 b. in today's European prices) to Swiss trading company Rosukrenergo, which is 50% owned by Russia's Gasprom. The dispute arise in 2009, when Naftogaz bought the trader's $1.7 b. debt to Gasprom, took 11 billion cubic meters from the trader's underground storage facility to satisfy the debt, and made a direct supply agreement with Gasprom. The arbitral award, providing for a return of the gas together with a penalty, could force Ukraine to decide between rescuing the company or letting it go bankrupt.

For an English translation of the decision, see http://www.sccinstitute.com/filearchive/3/38196/Ruling%20of%20the%20Supreme%20Court%20of%20Ukraine%2024%20November%202010_2.pdf


www.vedomosti.ru/newspaper/article/250452/ostalsya_s_gazom

President Discovers “Stagnation” in Russia

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stated in his video blog that the country is showing symptoms of political stagnation similar to that experienced in the Soviet era, which Medvedev believes is “equally damaging” to both the ruling party and the opposition. “If the opposition has no chance at all of winning fair elections, it deteriorates and becomes marginalized. If the ruling party never loses a single election, it just ‘bronzes over.’ Ultimately, it too deteriorates like any living organism that remains static,” Medvedev said.

http://blog.kremlin.ru:80/post/119

OCSE Condemns Arrest of “Russia Today” Journalists in US

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) condemned the detention and arrest of several journalists covering demonstrations outside the Fort Benning military base in the U.S. A television crew from Russia Today was found guilty of violating city ordinances. Each journalist paid a $290 fine. OSCE's Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic, wrote to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: “The fact that local police officers would detain, handcuff and arrest members of the press as they engaged in their duty to report on a public event is disturbing.”

http://www.osce.org/item/47771.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YCyY3FzG_c (video)

Smartphone Scanner Will Allow for In-Store Price Comparison

Internet marketers in Russia will now be able to compete with traditional retailers in their territories through a new service called "Yandex".  Yandex will allow a smartphone user to scan the bar code of a product in the store, and to compare the in-store price with the product's price on the Internet.  Similar services in the U.S. and Europe, including PriceGrabber, RedLaser, ShopSavvy, and Pic2shop, have been operating for several years.  According to Sergei Savin, analyst for Johnson & Partners, smartphones account for just 10% of the total phones used in Russia, with the percentage of people using all of the smartphones' capabilities even lower.  At least initially, the Yandex service is thus not expected to have a major impact on bottom-line Internet sales in Russia.

http://www.vedomosti.ru/newspaper/article/250070/v_magazine_so_smartfonom