Page 38 - RusRPTOct20

2.14 ​Politics - misc
The Russian Government has approved and published a draft protocol on the amendment of the agreement with Cyprus on the avoidance of double taxation​. For public companies with more than 15% free float, the cross-border dividend tax rate is to remain at 5%. Previously, President Vladimir Putin suggested applying a 15% tax rate for all dividends paid by Russian legal entities to foreign legal entities, with no exceptions (for the details see our President suggests 15% cross-border dividend tax). There was no clarity as to whether there will be any exceptions for public businesses; therefore, the fact the nominal cross-border dividend tax rate for Polymetal has remained the same is positive.
Russia’s coronavirus treatment drug Avifavir will be made available in 17 more countries in addition to the six countries where it is already sold​, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund ​said​ in a statement September 24. Avifavir, manufactured by Russia’s ChemRar biotechnology firm, was the world’s first drug to be ​registered​ for coronavirus treatment. Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan already sell Avifavir, though it remains unavailable to Russian consumers as production is mostly export-oriented.
German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz offered to spend €1bn ($1.2bn) on the construction of two LNG import terminals, ​in exchange for Washington dropping plans to impose extra sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 project, German newspaper Die Zeit reported on September 15.
Russia sees "minimal chances" of extending the last major nuclear arms pact New START treaty with the United States​, Reuters reported on September 21 citing the Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov. Geopolitical tensions around Russia are in focus as the sanction risks have spiked after political instability in Belarus and the poisoning of the dissident Alexei Navalny. The conditions imposed by the US on the New START extension are unacceptable, after the US Special Presidential Envoy for Arms Control Marshall Billingslea demanded that the treaty to be accepted before the US presidential election in November. “We cannot talk in this manner,” TASS news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying, while RIA Novosti quoted him as saying the chances of a treaty extension were “minimal”.
The ​large-scale investigation​ of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, based on the leaked money laundering records or the FinCEN Files, shows that a number of Western banks defied sanctions in continuing to operate with Russian oligarchs​, The Bell wrote on September 21. The FinCEN files that were studied by over 400 reporters in 90 countries, including Russia, reportedly revealed that sanctioned ​stoligarch
38 ​RUSSIA Country Report​ October 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com