There are too many bureaucrats, and each year they are costing more, according to government experts. Their ranks have to be reduced 30 percent, and those that remain have to be compelled to work better...
Russia's largest plane builder has dismissed concerns that domestic aviation could suffer from the loss of protective tariffs thanks to the country's entry into the World Trade Organization.
The outcome of the parliamentary elections in Russia is expected to be beneficial for domestic business because the new State Duma structure will provide a democratic environment for discussing new legislative initiatives, Sergei Katyrin, president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Wednesday.
The Federal Customs Service could have to change some of its internal regulations that bog down foreign trade, following Russia's accession to the WTO.
Poll results gave United Russia a disappointing 50 percent of the vote by Monday morning after State Duma elections that took place amid an unprecedented series of detentions, threats and attacks against the independent media, election observers and opposition activists.
Almost a year after a tumultuous election season rocked Belarus politically and economically, Russia has done what many analysts predicted it would and used its eastern neighbor’s weakened state to boost its influence in the country. Belarus agreed last week to sell its national pipeline operator to state-owned Russian energy giant Gazprom for $2.5 billion and the promise of reduced-rate gas supplies.
The Russian government's Resolution No. 565, dated July 12, 2011, allows application of the customs procedure of processing goods for domestic consumption. The main goal of this procedure is to enhance import substitution by incentivizing production in Russia.
On Nov. 10, the World Trade Organization Working Party for Russia’s accession to that organization finally approved the country for membership after 18 years of negotiations. On Dec. 15-17, the WTO ministerial conference in Geneva will also approve Russia’s bid. Then, the State Duma has six months to ratify the membership, and then, one month later, Russia will formally be a member.
Kremlin economic aide Arkady Dvorkovich proposed on Monday that the government consider introducing a sales tax to replace the backbone of federal finances, the value-added tax. The tax has to be reinstituted as the government plans to give regional governors more authority and revenues in a decentralization bid, he said. The current tax system doesn't facilitate that effort, he told attendees at a tax conference.
