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In H1 2016, balance profit of the Russian banking sector amounted to Rb 360bn which is seven times as much than a year before (in H1 2015 the banking sector received only Rb 51bn worth of profits) and nearly twice as much than in the entire 2015 when the banking sector’s profits amounted to Rb 192bn.

Amidst budgetary constraints and the need to find new sources of income, Russian government is developing mechanisms to reduce the shadow economy and control officials’ large expenditures as well as expenditures of employees of state companies. However, as finance minister Anton Siluanov stated, they are not talking about controlling all citizens’ expenditures.

This spring, data on the System of indicators for the assessment of government-owned property management effectiveness were first published.

It is only occasionally that the strengthening of the territorial approach in the system of state governance in Russia is observed – for example, in the development and activities of specialized bodies, including ministries, carrying out state policy related to specific territories, or in the approval and implementation of strategies and government programs aimed at social and economic development of certain regions of the country.

From 1 August, 2016, the Bank of Russia increases reserve requirements for all types of credit institutions’ liabilities in roubles and foreign currency by 0.75 percentage points.

The problem of creation and development of a complex monitoring system for the financial market has gained relevance for the expert community as a result of the 2008 crisis that had demonstrated the vulnerability of the global and national financial systems, including regulatory and supervisory subsystems. The instability of the Russian financial market during the past two years only stresses the importance of developing a monitoring system.

In the present-day state management practice, the role of strategic planning in which setting of priorities and development objectives is an important component – otherwise efficiency of the state system is impossible – is growing.

Ratification in November 2014 of the Convention of 25 January 1988 on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters imposed on Russia concrete obligations, including additional ones as regards rendering of assistance in tax matters.

The scope of opportunities which emerged on the back of depreciation of the national currency and sanctions forms a substantial growth potential for Russian enterprises in different industries.

On 1 January 2016, Federal Law No.224-FZ of 13 July 2015 on Public-Private Partnership and Municipal-Private Partnership in the Russian Federation and Amendment of Individual Statutory Acts of the Russian Federation (hereinafter the PPP Law) became effective.

In 2015, a law was passed to charge an individual property tax on the basis of the cadaster (market) value and not on that of state assessment of the property as it used to be done fr om 1992.

The system of centralized procurement used in Russia does not imply centralization in its strict sense. Such conclusion was made by the Gaidar Institute and RANEPA experts in their study.

On 10 June, for the first time since summer 2015 the Central Bank of Russia approved reduction of the key rate. It fell 0.5 p.p. to 10.5%.

The RF Ministry of Economic Development is ordered to consider the issue of closing down inefficient special economic zones (SEZ).

Earlier this week, the Russian Ministry of Finance began attracting foreign loans. The first step was the placement of 10-year government bonds in the amount of $1.75 billion.

On 23 May, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the law on the distribution of revenues fr om excise duties on fuel. According to the law, starting from 1 June, 2016, the standard distribution of revenues from excise duties on petroleum products will be changed: 12% of them will be transferred to the federal budget, 88% – to regional budgets.