Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev paid a visit Wednesday to a Bryansk region farm that has imported cattle from the U.S. and also some American cowboys to help the Russians develop their struggling meat industry. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev paid a visit Wednesday to a Bryansk region farm that has imported cattle from the United States...

... the end of the summer of 2012), the rates of duty may not be established at a rate higher than is set by Russia's obligations to the WTO. This fact is causing apprehension among many Russian producers that their goods will not be able to compete with imports. In actual fact, by the end of the transitional period, which is between three and seven years, the weighted average rate of import duty will be reduced by more than 40 percent (the following figures have been mentioned: on goods within the agricultural...

The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service has opened a case against the Federal Customs Service "in the defense of competitiveness," concerning allegations that the customs service was not charging import duties on Apple iPads, while it was collecting the tariff from other manufacturers of tablet computers. The customs service was supposedly charging a 5 percent duty to other manufacturers of tablets that had built-in GPS receivers as if their units...

Syria is facing a halt in imports of diesel needed to power heavy vehicles including army tanks, as a stream of shipments from Russia and other sources has dried up over the past four weeks. LONDON — Syria is facing a halt in imports...

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has called for dialogue with the European Union on and described the bloc as "an important partner." MINSK — Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has called for dialogue with the European Union and described the bloc as "an important partner." "Yes, we [Belarus and the West] have different views...

... announcement that historian Vladimir Medinsky was appointed the culture minister, critics quickly labeled him the new propaganda minister. Medinsky's academic ethics and historical distortions may raise serious questions, but for the Kremlin, he has three important attributes that are much more important: He is a model United Russia leader, a firm Putin loyalist and a skilled sophist. With Monday's announcement that historian Vladimir Medinsky was appointed the culture minister, critics quickly labeled...

... been the bane of industries dependent on intellectual property rights, such as the software industry. Sixty-five percent of software in Russia is stolen, Bloomberg reported last year. The country's accession to the WTO, however, has already resulted in important steps to more effectively enforce intellectual property rights, said Michael Malloy, head of the intellectual property and technology practice at DLA Piper in Russia. Emerging economies like Russia have long been the bane of industries dependent...

There is a hard-and-fast rule on how new laws are passed in Russia: The most important legislation is usually approved with the least public discussion and debate. There is a hard-and-fast rule on how new laws are passed in Russia: The most important legislation is usually approved with the least public discussion...

... President Vladimir Putin. At that point, Putin struggled hard over the choices and finally settled on the final list of names. But apparently only after Medvedev returned from Camp David did he learn what names he had actually submitted. Second, the most important decision was actually the placement of Igor Sechin as head of Rosneft. On paper, Medvedev is the second-most powerful man in the government, but in reality it is Sechin. That is why many had predicted that Sechin would not be appointed to Medvedev's...

... With the accession to the WTO, Russian taxpayers are eligible to use "circumstances of the sale" tests based on internal comparables. The Agreement on the Implementation of Article VII of the GATT 1994 and Interpretative Notes to it allow the importer to apply the transaction value method for customs valuation where the circumstances surrounding the sale show that the relationship between the parties did not influence the price. The circumstances of the sale test may be met where the price...

... we also have a responsibility to deal swiftly, firmly and fairly with the perpetrators. No civilized country can tolerate behavior of this kind. This is exactly what we are doing, and we have also taken an extra step by making the trials open. It is important that the citizens of Kazakhstan and our international partners are able to see that justice is being done. A number of human rights organizations have claimed that some of the 37 charged with instigating the disturbances in Zhanaozen gave evidence...

... current, whether having discussions with authorities or trying to get responses from them. You need to be ready for the fact that it is a very tough but wonderful thing. There is no happiness like receiving videos of happy, healthy children. The most important thing is to have patience; it is a very slow, painstaking, tedious job. Q: Why do you think the charity has been so successful? A: Because Gift of Life is full of unique people, and I really value them. Because we did everything on one principal;...

... cars are nearing completion in Moscow, although there are only about 100 electric cars throughout the entire country. The stations are part of the experimental MOESK-EV project by state-owned Moscow Grid Company MOESK, Revolta, CirControl, and ROLF Import, Mitsubishi's Russian distributor. The stations will charge cars for free until October, project director Denis Tsypulev told Vedomosti. MOESK earlier put the cost of each station at about $30,000 to $40,000. Revolta, Russia's first company focused...

... and a prime location for viewing the northern lights are all points of pride for Murmansk residents. Despite the cold, this Arctic seaport amazingly remains ice-free all year long due to the warming effects of the North Atlantic Current, making it an important trade port on the eastern part of the Kola Peninsula. Shipping and fishing are the largest industries in the city, which trades extensively with neighboring Norway and Finland. Founded in 1916, Murmansk was officially the last city created under...

... is why we decided to have a fourth child." Lamara Georgadze, whose fourth child was among those baptized this week, said she and her husband also answered the patriarch's call to have more children. "The Holy Father reminded us all of the importance of increasing the birthrate," she said. "There are too few of us Georgians, and therefore this is very important." Saakashvili has set a goal of increasing Georgia's population from 4.5 million to 5 million by 2015. Since coming...

... prospect of change. This frustration also comes from Putin-fatigue, an unwillingness to be led by the same politician for 24 years. While the streets may become quieter in the coming months, the protest movement is likely to turn to the more mundane but important task of challenging the authorities on a local level, mainly focusing on the issue of corruption, which seems to resonate with voters the most. Aside from the grassroots opposition, Putin also has to deal with the varying groups of the political...

... Monday whether to boycott this year’s European football championship matches played in Ukraine to protest alleged abuse of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko. “We’ve been very consistent in sending messages to Ukraine about the importance of justice being done and seen to be done,” EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said. When Tymoshenko launched a hunger strike last month after saying she was beaten by prison officials, several European leaders vowed to shun Ukraine...

Transneft posted 188.1 billion rubles ($6 billion) in net profit last year, up from 118.6 billion rubles in 2010, the company said Thursday. (Reuters) Belarus imported 5.56 million tons of oil in the first quarter of this year, a 25.1 percent year-on-year increase, the Belarussian national statistics committee told Interfax, with 97 percent of that coming from Russia. (MT)

... this day. But in the age of conflicts in Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur, weapons of mass destruction and global warming, does it make sense to insist on the truth about one man who disappeared 67 years ago? Over time, Wallenberg has come to personify the importance of individual action and individual rights — first as a rescuer of tens of thousands of lives in Budapest and later as a victim of Stalinist terror in the Soviet Union. Wallenberg's humanitarian achievements are widely recognized and...

... increase significantly in the near future. This paradigm shift is very simple to explain. Before the crisis, many companies expected permanent economic growth and actively invested in their infrastructures, and this mindset is still common. However, it is important that there is no postponement in the carrying out of IT projects because any company that lags behind in adopting new technologies risks losing its competitiveness during the next economic turn. The problem is that this country does not (and...