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1. Making the lives of civil servants easier.
Russia’s Finance Ministry has moved to soften the ban on the ownership of foreign financial instruments by the nation’s civil servants, says the business daily Vedomosti.
According to the amendments, Russian officials would be authorized to hold ADRs and GDRs (American Depository Receipts and Global Depository Receipts) of Russian companies that are listed on foreign stock exchanges and foreign corporations whose shares are traded on Russian stock exchanges.
According to Investopedia, a depositary receipt is a negotiable financial instrument issued by a bank to represent a foreign company's publicly traded securities. The depositary receipt trades on a local stock exchange, such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in the U.S., but represents an interest in a company that is headquartered outside of the United States.
Many of Russia’s major companies have issued GDRs, including AFK Sistema, Akron, Evraz Group, Lukoil, Magnit, Novatek, Gazprom, Rosneft, Uralkali, VTB Bank, X5 Retail Group.
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2. Russian MPs are making yet another attempt to help people facing trial for killing armed intruders or burglars.
Liberal Democrat Igor Lebedev has proposed to introduce the concept of My Home is My Castle into the Russian Criminal Code, that would allow people to defend themselves and avoid prosecution, as is the common practice today.
According to Russian law, flat owners who have gravely injured or killed a burglar have to prove in court that they were facing an imminent threat to their lives, otherwise they run the risk of getting into jail.
Lebedev’s bill is expected to hit the floor this autumn.
This is not the first time Russia-IC has covered similar moves. Previously, it was United Russia’s Alexey Zhuravlev who drafted a law to expand the legal boundaries for self-defense. He referred to international practice when people are cleared of charges even if the burglar they had killed while defending their property dies.
Zhuravlev insisted he wanted to bolster the rights of the law-abiding citizens and clarify the definition of the ‘acceptable limits of self-defense’, which is used in current legislation.
Earlier in March, a group of legislators proposed to give home owners a carte blanche to defend themselves, including murdering intruders, with any legal means.
3. Faster, higher and cheaper.
The Russian Economic Development Ministry has drafted a package of amendments to stimulate developers to stick to a short project timeline – or face a higher land tax.
The agency wants construction companies to build homes faster and avoid delays that are a frequent occurrence in Russian practice.
Lawyers say the measure could bring down the costs and the end price for future home owners.
You can find more law news on our website. If you are interested in some specific piece of legislation, you can request translation services.
Author: Mikhail Vesely
