The Federal Customs Service has postponed its exit from the TIR international customs control system for road transport until Sept. 14, following a meeting with the Association of European Business, Vedomosti reported Thursday.
TIR allows sealed, pre-approved shipments to cross borders with minimal delays and no on-the-spot payments. It was established by UN Convention in 1975 and operates in 68 countries.
The FCS had said that it would withdraw from the system on Aug. 14, saying that it is owed to 20.8 billion rubles ($630 million) by the Association of International Automobile Carriers.
The association, which is entrusted with guaranteeing the payment of Russian taxes and duties on shipments within TIR, has disputed the figure and said that it still has time to pay what is owed.
The AEB proposed a six-month postponement, in view of the fact that it would take that length of time for the FCS to change its regulatory framework and update software for a new customs regime.

Commenting on Russia's enormous problem of corruption several years ago, then-­President Dmitry Medvedev tried to put a positive spin on the issue, saying that all countries are corrupt and that the real problem for Russia is one of perception rather than reality.
Yet most foreign businesses have taken a much different view on the subject. Surveys conducted among foreign investors have consistently shown that corruption matters enormously in the decision to invest in Russia or increase the scale of existing operations in the country.

The Cabinet on Thursday discussed a move to slash taxes for large new projects in the Far East in a bid to buoy the region's economy.
Another item on the agenda was a sharp increase in the tax on luxury cars.
The discussions took place behind closed doors, and their outcome remained unreported Thursday. But the Cabinet most likely backed the proposals because a Cabinet commission gave them the go-ahead earlier this week.

Russia will sharply boost oil supply to China, making Beijing its top customer, in a package of deals to be signed this week, industry sources said.
Russia's top crude producer Rosneft will increase exports to China by some 34 million tons to about 50 million tons (1 million barrels per day) by 2018, the sources said.
The deal could be signed later this week during a visit to Moscow by China's new president, Xi Jinping, as part of a broader agreement which may include more arms deliveries and long-discussed gas supply.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych said Monday that his country was holding talks on cooperating with the Russia-led customs union.
Yanukovych made the statement during his meeting with Vladimir Putin at the Russian president's Zavidovo residence, in the Tver region.
Moscow wants Kiev to stay a close ally, while Ukraine looks forward to integrating with the European Union, which could pull it away from Russia on some counts.
Ukraine hasn't yet contacted the other two countries in the customs union, Belarus and Kazakhstan, to find out how it could get a role in the group, Yanukovych said.
Ukraine has adamantly refused membership in the customs union but said it could agree to some other status in the organization, such as that of an observer.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, re-elected in a landslide victory Monday, is expected to keep the promotion of Russian ties a priority during his second five-year term, as his country moves closer to clinching an Association Agreement with the European Union.
 Flare-ups in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, seized by Armenia in the early 1990s but still considered part of Azerbaijan, have left Armenia seeking Russian support in peace talks. Gunfire exchanges along Nagorno-Karabakh's border with greater Azerbaijan escalated in the run-up to the election.
 Sargsyan, who was born in Nagorno-Karabakh's capital and largest city, Stepanakert, "sees the Russian-Armenian alliance as the main pillar of Armenia's security," said Simon Saradzhyan, a research fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center. "The partnership has a stabilizing impact on the region if only because it helps to deter Azerbaijan from waging a war over Nagorno-Karabakh."

Norway, Italy and the Netherlands have the most expensive gasoline in Europe, according to research prepared by the agency RIA Rating, while Russia comes in toward the bottom – but it’s in the top 10 according to rates of price growth.

Investing in emerging markets is both challenging and rewarding in equal measure, and while most corporate deals progress smoothly, there are occasions when it is necessary to call in the litigation and dispute resolution teams.
Here are some of the main areas of corporate and shareholder disputes we see in emerging markets transactions:M&A TRANSACTIONS — SALE AND PURCHASE AGREEMENTS, MERGERS, TAKEOVERS, RESTRUCTURINGS

Russia’s accession to the WTO was arguably the most discussed subject of the final months of last year. It is hard to be original in the blizzard of opinions and views about the consequences of our country’s accession to the WTO. Nevertheless, I am happy with this opportunity to express my point of view on this subject.
Negative assessments of Russia’s accession to the WTO, as a rule, are based in the unpreparedness of Russian industries for the escalation of competition on the Russian market, in connection with the lowering of access barriers to foreign products and services.