May 7 – Investors from all over the world came to the first-ever business angel week in Russia, which started in Moscow but is continuing for a week across 25 regions.
Business angels are investors who not only finance entrepreneurial projects at an early stage and readily risk their own money, but they also support the project with their business experience and contacts. Basically, business angels work in innovative sectors. Read the rest of this entry »
May 2 – Standard & Poor’s upgraded Russia’s third largest city, Novosibirsk, from “stable” to “positive,” the credit-rating agency said in a statement issued this Monday.
The ratings are constrained by what the agency regards as the city’s limited financial flexibility and predictability, as well as low economic productivity. However, these constraints are mitigated by a relatively diverse economy, moderate debt, and prudent debt management which is resulting in a favorable debt profile.
As with other Russian local and regional governments, Novosibirsk’s financial predictability and flexibility is severely limited because the federal government regulates tax rates and shares and distributes responsibilities to different layers of the government. Standard & Poor’s still regard Russia’s institutional frameworks as “developing and unbalanced” as defined by the credit-rating agency’s criteria. Read the rest of this entry »
Apr. 27 – Russian lawyers look forward to Russia’s World Trade Organization upcoming accession, which is highly expected by the end of this summer, as it will boost the demand for legal services, the local press reports quoting market participants.
“The need for legal services will definitely increase,” Alexander Muranov, the managing partner of law firm Muranov, Chernyakov & Partners, said to the Russian daily Vedomosti.
“Some new practices will be built up, for example in the insurance market where expansion of foreign companies is very much expected,” Oksana Balayan, the managing partner of Hogan Lovells, notes. The firm is considering the possibility of establishing a practice in Russia this year. Read the rest of this entry »
Apr. 26 – Russia needs to decentralize power to lure a greater number of investors, former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said at a conference run by Russian lender VTB Capital in New York.
“The vertical of power that’s built today is flawed and the effectiveness of state governance is very low,” Kudrin said, adding that “the power to regulate currently held by federal ministries should be passed to municipal governments.”
Should the government boost social spending to fulfill promises made during Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s successful campaign for president, taxes will “inevitably” increase, Kudrin said. Read the rest of this entry »
Apr. 20 – The Russian government will insist that foreign companies in the country use the GLONASS satellite navigation system equipment, Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov said at the Sixth Annual Satellite Navigation Forum in Moscow.
According to Surkov, the requirement to use chipsets supporting Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) will affect communication equipment producers and carmakers.
Meanwhile, some of the foreign gadgets already support GLONASS. Read the rest of this entry »
Apr. 5 – Moscow has forced Vladistok’s regional authorities to kick out foreign workers from the Russian Far East as soon as they finish their work on construction sites for the upcoming APEC 2012 Summit, which will be held in the city this September.
The majority of the foreign workers, mostly citizens of China and North Korea, came to the Russian Far East to work on the APEC Summit and benefit from a simplified foreign labor entry regime to Vladivostok, which was set up by the country’s Ministry of Regional Development upon mass requests by APEC contractors. Read the rest of this entry »
Mar. 30 – The Federation Council of Russian Parliament on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed long-awaited legislation to liberalize party politics in Russia, despite concerns raised by existing parties, parliament groups and opposition.
The bill, introduced in mid-February by President Dmitry Medvedev following large-scale protests last December, slashed the minimum membership required for a party to officially register from the current 45,000 to just 500 nationwide. Read the rest of this entry »
Mar. 27 – The United States issued 221,888 visas to Russians in 2011, more than at any time in history and 27 percent more than 2010, U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul said yesterday at the International Travel and Tourism Exhibition in Moscow.
According to State Department statistics, the refusal rate for Russian applicants last year was 10.3 percent, which is slightly above the 10.1 percent in 2010. Read the rest of this entry »
Mar. 26 – Russia’s M&A market experienced a strong reduction in value in 2011, dropping by almost 28 percent year-on-year to an overall market activity of US$71.1 billion, global audit and consulting firm KPMG said in its annual report on the M&A market. Worldwide, the value of M&A activity decreased by about 6 percent.
Almost one-third of the total deal value was transacted just by four companies: Moscow-based internet investor Digital Sky Technologies, state gas monopoly Gazprom, Novolipetsk Steel, and VTB Bank. The 21 deals made by those companies came to US$23.1 billion. Read the rest of this entry »
Mar. 15 – The government of Siberia’s Tyva Republic has asked foreign and domestic miners operating in the region to pay subsidies to local reindeer breeders, according to the republic’s web site.
Under the agreement, China’s Longxing and the local Golevskaya Mining Company will allocate 600 rubles (US$20) for the maintenance of each reindeer in the Todzhinsky District of Tyva, where both companies operate and where 77 percent of the region’s reindeer population is located. The funds will go to the district’s reindeer breeding farms. Read the rest of this entry »
Dezan Shira & Associates provide a range of services for companies looking to undertake foreign direct investment into Russia and Asia. These include corporate establishment, accounting, tax, payroll, audit and due diligence. To learn more about our practice, and our partner firm in Moscow and St.Petersburg, please contact us at russia@dezshira.com. Download our corporate brochure or visit at us www.dezshira.com.
