Forget the past
A law canceling more than 20,000 pieces of Soviet legislation becomes active, the Vedomosti business daily reported. On Sept. 11, 2019 Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed an order saying that laws adopted in the U.S.S.R. should cease to be effective from the beginning of 2020. “We need to cancel the laws that currently harm the development of the country and limit the economy,” he said.
Big money
The minimum wage will increase by 7.5% based on legislation passed by the State Duma in December this year, the RIA Novosti state-run news agency reported. The new minimum wage will rise 850 rubles ($13.50) to 12,130 rubles ($196) per month. This sum is equal to the living wage calculated in the second quarter of 2019.
Expensive wine
Excise taxes on Russian and foreign wines will increase by 30 rubles per bottle from the start of 2020, rising to 31 rubles in 2021 and 33 in 2022, after President Vladimir Putin signed a law in September. The government said the hike is necessary to increase budget revenues.
