US Blacklists Russian Singer for Alleged Criminal Ties

The US Department of the Treasury on Wednesday blacklisted three Russians for ties with an international criminal group, US Treasury spokesman John Sullivan said. The department said in a statement earlier in the day that it had “designated six individuals and four entities linked to the Brothers’ Circle, a Eurasian crime syndicate, pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13581, which targets significant transnational criminal organizations (TCOs).” Three of the six individuals have Russian citizenship, one is a national of former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan and one is an Israeli passport holder. The citizenship of the sixth person was not disclosed. The list mentions Grigory Lepsveridze, also known as Grigory Leps, whose personal data, such as the full name, date and place of birth coincides with that of a Russian singer-songwriter of Georgian origin. Sullivan confirmed that the person on the list was indeed “a singer.” However, RIA Novosti was unable to obtain an official confirmation from Lepsveridze or his authorized representatives at the time of the publication. Lepsveridze was put on the list for couriering money on behalf of Vladislav Leontyev, blacklisted under the same executive order last year for being “a key member of the Brothers’ Circle and has been involved in various criminal activities, including narcotics trafficking.” According to information provided by the US Treasury Department, The Brothers’ Circle is one of five TCOs sanctioned by the US, along with the Camorra, the Yakuza, Los Zetas, and MS-13.

http://en.ria.ru/world/20131031/184445277/US-Blacklists-3-Russians-for-Alleged-Criminal-Ties.html

Prosecutors Crack Down on Skolkovo President

The president of the Skolkovo Foundation, Russia's high-tech development center, had a personal stake in issuing unfounded research and developments grants, the Prosecutor General’s Office announced on Wednesday. The prosecutors claim that 17 grants totaling 3.6 billion rubles ($112 million) were issued without the requisite evaluation, and that three members of the grant committee, including the fund’s president, had a personal stake in the matter. In addition, The Prosecutor General's office reports a possible misuse of up to 125 billion rubles ($4 billion) of budget funds, and that the construction of the fund's facilities was conducted without proper licenses and papers confirming property rights. The Prosecutor General’s Office issued a warning, calling upon the fund to compensate the damages and to determine the party responsible. The Skolkovo Foundation, set up in 2010 by then-President Dmitry Medvedev, is the primary agency for the Skolkovo high-tech development hub, which includes a business center, a science and technology institute, and a management school. The project is intended to showcase the drive to diversify and modernize the Russian economy. Billionaire Renova Group president Viktor Vekselberg is the foundation's president and head of the Skolkovo Fund.

http://rapsinews.com/judicial_news/20131030/269454934.html
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/skolkovo-warned-over-potential-4bln-in-misspending/488793.html

Navalny Faces New Charges

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny is facing fresh charges of embezzlement over an alleged scheme to defraud a local branch of cosmetics manufacturer Yves Rocher, investigators said Tuesday. The Investigative Committee said in a statement that Navalny and his brother, Oleg, swindled Yves Rocher out of 26 million rubles ($812,000) and laundered 21 million rubles. The prospect of further legal troubles for the outspoken Kremlin critic follows a mild reprieve in mid-October when a court in the city of Kirov revoked a prison term for separate fraud charges, instead imposing a suspended sentence. Moscow City Court earlier this month turned down a motion by the Navalny brothers to dismiss the case against them. The Investigative Committee had in December 2012 accused the Navalnys of embezzling over 55 million rubles from a trading company that was subsequently revealed to be the Russian operation of French cosmetic giant Yves Rocher. Oleg Navalny is accused of using his senior position with Russia's Postal Service to manipulate Yves Rocher into entering into a contractual agreement for cargo mail transportation with a private mailing service in which Alexei Navalny was registered as founder.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20131029/184417499/Opposition-Leader-Navalny-Faces-New-Embezzlement-Charge.html
http://www.rapsinews.com/news/20131029/269444774.html

Russia Jumps Up 20 Spots in ‘Doing Business’ Rankings

Russia's business climate has made notable strides over the past year, climbing up 20 positions in the World Bank’s Doing Business rankings from 112th place. The World Bank Group's Doing Business 2014 report, which was launched in Thailand on Tuesday, presents business data for 189 economies and includes information from Libya, Myanmar and South Sudan for the first time. The authors of the report said Russia was third among 10 countries that showed the best results in liberalizing their economies last year, trailing Ukraine and Rwanda. In comparison, Russia climbed only eight spots in rankings in 2012, from 120th to 112th.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20131029/184404287/Russia-Jumps-Up-20-Spots-in-Global-Doing-Business-Rankings.html

Russian Ballet Star Pleads Not Guilty to Bolshoi Acid Attack

Bolshoi Ballet star soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko pleaded not guilty to masterminding an acid attack on the theater’s ballet artistic director, RAPSI legal news agency reported from the Moscow courtroom where the trial opened Tuesday. Sergei Filin, 42, suffered third-degree burns to his face and eyes on January 17 when a masked assailant threw concentrated acid in his face outside his apartment building in Moscow. Dmitrichenko, 29, has been in pre-trial detention since he was arrested in March, when police said he had confessed to organizing the attack but claimed he did not know that the perpetrator planned to use acid. The assault was reportedly motivated by Dmitrichenko's desire to avenge his girlfriend, a fellow dancer who had been passed over by Filin for key roles in the Bolshoi's productions.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20131029/184410411/Russian-Ballet-Star-Pleads-Not-Guilty-to-Bolshoi-Acid-Attack.html

Putin: No Customs Union with Ukraine in Case of EU Deal

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that it would be impossible for Ukraine to join a Moscow-led Customs Union if the country signs an association agreement with the European Union. “It will be impossible since such association stipulates the creation of a free-trade zone between the European Union and Ukraine,” Putin said at a session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Minsk. However, he noted that Russia is neither for nor against Ukraine’s drive to join the European Union.

http://en.ria.ru/world/20131024/184338889/No-Customs-Union-for-Ukraine-in-Case-of-EU-Deal--Putin.html

Russia Cancels Handgun Order after Navalny Expose

Russia has canceled an order for Austrian-manufactured Glock pistols placed by the Defense Ministry after the prices were found to be inflated. The Federal Defense Contracts Service said Friday that the procurement process is to be investigated. A preliminary probe revealed that the Defense Ministry’s procurement agency inflated the initial contract price in a notice on its website earlier in October, a contracts service spokesman told RIA Novosti. He said that other defense, security and law enforcement agencies could buy the same guns at a quarter of the price. The procurement agency said it would pay up 210,000 rubles ($6,600) for Glock 17 handguns and 191,000 rubles for Glock 26 models. This sum covers a full set, including barrels and silencers not mentioned in the order, the spokesman said. The order was canceled after a post in the blog of prominent opposition leader Alexey Navalny who pointed out the the retail price of the guns is around 50,000 rubles and surmised the price had been corruptly inflated.

http://en.ria.ru/military_news/20131025/184348191/Russia-Cancels-Austrian-Gun-Order-Over-Inflated-Price-.html
http://lenta.ru/news/2013/10/23/glock/
http://www.echo.msk.ru/blog/navalny/1184632-echo/
http://navalny.livejournal.com/870130.html

FAS Russia Considers Amendments to Antimonopoly Laws

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) is discussing amendments to the current antimonopoly laws (the so-called “third antimonopoly package”) as suggested by authorities and businesses. In particular, the draft amendments would eliminate the requirement to file multiple annual notifications with the FAS, require the FAS to send a warning prior to opening an investigation, provide for publication of rules for issuing determinations by the FAS, prohibit the formation of state and municipal enterprises in competitive markets, detail the procedures for applying antimonopoly laws to actions and agreements concerning the use of intellectual property rights, enable the use of joint operating agreements, and provide that entities with less than 35% market share could not be recognized as having a "dominant position" in the market.  Discussion and review of the amendments remains on-going, with the hope that their adoption will reduce administrative burdens on the FAS and facilitate development of competition in Russia.

http://en.fas.gov.ru/news/news_33260.html

Russian FSB To Increase Control of Internet

Russia’s Communications Ministry, in cooperation with security services, is finalizing a directive obliging internet providers to record private internet communications. However, unwilling to bear unanticipated expenses, internet providers are citing constitutional freedoms. According to Kommersant daily, the new directive has been in development for over six months, in close cooperation with the Federal Security Service (FSB). The major innovation of the new directive is that it would require internet providers to record constantly the last 12 hours or more of traffic coming through their servers, starting from July 1, 2014. This would allow the FSB secret service to control phone numbers, IPs, register entries, e-mails of social networks users etc.

http://rt.com/news/fsb-internet-recording-bill-482/
http://www.rferl.org/content/fsb-control-internet/25143395.html