A customs broker has complained that the Federal Customs Service gave too short notice to suspend its payment system used by international majors like LG Electronics and Coca-Cola.
With stunning abruptness, the Federal Customs Service stated Nov. 7 that it would temporarily halt servicing online payments with Green Gate cards, effective the next day. It said the suspension would be indefinite because it had to move computer servers to a new location.

Russiacleared a major hurdle toward opening up its huge oil-driven economy Thursday, with negotiators agreeing to final terms that would allow it to join the World Trade Organization after an 18-year effort. 
The deal is expected to quickly inject 4 billion euros ($5.45 billion) a year into the ailing European economy by boosting European Union exports.

Economic relations between Russia and Norway are strong and dynamic. They have developed steadily since the disintegration of the Soviet Union. The main point of contact is the Russian-Norwegian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic, Industrial and Scientific-Technical Cooperation. I have chaired the last two meetings with my Russian co-chair, First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov. With the commission as our solid basis, I meet regularly with Mr. Zubkov. Politicians and authorities have close contact through meetings in working groups, seminars, consultations and ongoing negotiations. The scope of dialogue is broad with cooperation in almost all spheres of economic activity: energy, fisheries, R&D, tourism, maritime issues, financial issues, etc. We are also constantly developing measures to enhance cross border cooperation in the north.

Most former Soviet republics have signed a free-trade agreement that looks to increase mutual trade, especially between Russia and Ukraine, by removing some import and export duties.
Eight members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a loose group of 11 former Soviet republics, agreed to the deal at the meeting of their prime ministers in St. Petersburg that ended late Tuesday.

Russians might soon need to forget Italian footwear and try on Belarusian shoes for size as import duties would double under a Customs Union proposal, the National Shoe Union warned on Tuesday.
New Customs Union duties for all imported leather shoes have been proposed by Belarus, which together with Russia and Kazakhstan are member of the Customs Union that sets Russia’s import duties.
The regulation is aimed at “protecting local manufacturers from foreign competitors” but is more likely to do more harm than good, according to the National Shoe Union of Russian shoe makers, retailers and importers.

The oil industry expects a 2012 windfall of almost $6 billion after changes to the oil taxation system designed to sustain high production levels came into force Saturday.
The 60/66 reform, which has been debated for more than two years, will lower the marginal rate on the export duty for crude oil from 65 percent to 60 percent in an attempt to stimulate investment in upstream developments and extend the lifespan of declining western Siberian fields.

This year’s Yalta European Strategy conference, or YES, organized and largely financed by oligarch Viktor Pinchuk, was held from Sept. 15 to 18. This was the sixth YES that I have attended, and Pinchuk seems to make it better each year. This conference is not as large as the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, but therein lies its advantage. With a maximum 250 participants, you can get a much better feeling about what is going on in Ukraine.

Authorities have stepped up checks on expatriates using multientry business visas to make sure they do not overstay their visits, the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia said Tuesday.
 Customs and border officials started to use a database this month that allows them to quickly check the total number of days a foreigner has stayed in the country, AmCham said in an e-mailed statement.

Crude oil exports may increase as much as 10 percent, almost catching up with Saudi Arabia's, after customs duties change later this year, a deputy energy minister said Friday.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin last week finally ordered the government to close a loophole that allows oil companies to circumvent the steep export duty on crude by subjecting it to the slightest possible refining. Customs officers levied a much smaller duty on the resulting fuels, while foreign customers still treat the products as a surrogate for crude.

Three months after a top customs official's car was videotaped pulling into a shopping mall with its blue light flashing, an explanation has finally been offered: The official urgently needed to pick up a suit from the dry cleaners.
 Vladimir Malinin needed the suit for an official function where he would be representing the Customs Service, agency chief Andrei Belyanikov wrote in a letter to LiveJournal blogger habar777 that was posted on anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny's blog Monday.