Monitoring of the Federal Legislation dated 30.12.2004

Federal Law No. 209-FZ of December 29, 2004 on the Removal of the Reservation of the Russian Federation to Articles 16 and 18 of the Treaty on the Customs Union and the Uniform Economic Environment

Removes the reservation stating that the Russian Federation in its mutual trade with the member-states of the Customs Union and the Uniform Economic Environment Treaty, except for the Republic of Belarus, and other CIS member-states shall switch over from July 1, 2001 to collection of indirect taxes using the principle of the country of destination, except for the taxes on oil, including the stable gas condensate, and the natural gas.

The Federal Law is entered into force from January 1, 2005.

Federal Law No. 201-FZ of December 29, 2004 on the Amendments to Article 112 of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation

The amendments introduce additional non-working holidays: New Year Vacation (January 1-5) and the Popular Unity Day (November 4). The Law abandons individual non-working holidays: November 7 (Anniversary of the October Revolution. Day of Accord and Conciliation) and December 12 (Day of the Constitution of the Russian Federation). The Spring and Labour Day shall be celebrated on May 1 (earlier, May 1 and 2).

Employee earnings because of the introduction of the non-working holidays will not be reduced. Piece-work employees will get their wages for the non-working holidays in the amount specified in the local normative acts of the organisations adopted taken into account the opinion of the elected trade-union body, collective contract, agreements, labour contract.

The Federal Law is entered into force from January 1, 2005.

Federal Law No. 200-FZ of December 29, 2004 on the Amendments to Article 1 of the Federal Law on the Days of the Military Glory (Victory Days) of Russia

According to the amendments, the list of the days of the military glory of Russia shall include also the Popular Unity Day (November 4). The Law changes the Day of the Military Glory of November 7: it will be celebrated as the Day of the Military Parade at the Red Square in the City of Moscow in Commemoration of the 24th Anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution (1941).

The Federal Law is entered into force from January 1, 2005.

Federal Law No. 199-FZ of December 29, 2004 on the Amendments to the Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation Pursuant to the Expansion of Authority of the Bodies of State Power of the Subjects of the Russian Federation in the Common Sphere of Reference of the Russian Federation and the Subjects of the Russian Federation, As Well As Expansion of the List of Issues of Local Significance of Municipal Formations

The amendments envisage expansion of authority of the bodies of state power of the subjects of the Russian Federation in the common sphere of reference financed at the expense of the resources of the budgets of the subjects of the Russian Federation (except for the subventions from the federal budget), as well as the fixing of the authority of the bodies of state power of the subjects of the Russian Federation in the common sphere of reference financed at the expense of the subventions from the federal budget to the budgets of the subjects of the Russian Federation.

The Federal Law is entered into force from January 1, 2005 except for individual provisions where other periods of entry into force are specified.

Federal Law No. 198-FZ of December 29, 2004 on the Amendments to Article 1 of the Federal Law on the Minimum Amount of Labour Remuneration

Introduces the new, higher minimum amounts of labour remuneration: Rbl 720 per month from January 1, 2005, Rbl 800 from September 1, 2005, Rbl 1,100 from May 1, 2006.

Introduced minimum amounts of labour remuneration are used exclusively to regulate the labour remuneration, as well as to determine the amounts of the temporary disability allowances.

The Federal Law is entered into force from January 1, 2005.

Federal Law No. 197-FZ of December 29, 2004 on the Amendments to Articles 38 and 41 of the Federal Law on the Insurance of the Deposits of Natural Persons in the Banks of the Russian Federation

Amendments to Article 38 bring its provisions in compliance with existing structure of the federal bodies of executive power and exclude the reference to the Federal Commission for Securities Market dissolved by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 314 of March 9, 2004 on the system and structure of the federal bodies of executive power.

Amendments to Article 41 bring its provisions in compliance with the requirements of the Budget Code of the Russian Federation. Article 41 envisages the right of the Government of the Russian Federation to grant interest-free budget loans to the Deposit Insurance Agency. However, Article 6 of the Budget Code of the Russian Federation states that budget loans are granted to the budgets of other levels. Therefore, the Law specifies that the Government of the Russian Federation may grant budget credits to the Deposit Insurance Agency to provide for the financial stability of the deposit insurance system.

Federal Law No. 196-FZ of December 29, 2004 on the Amendments to the Federal Law on the State Registration of the Rights for Immovable Property and Transactions with It

Individual changes pertain to the state registration of encumbrances and restrictions. Restrictions (encumbrances) for the rights for immovable property emerging from a contact or act of the body of state power or act of the body of local government must be registered in cases envisaged in the legislation.

The State Register shall include information on disabilities or absence of abilities. A copy of the court decision having entered into legal force restricting the citizen's abilities or recognising his absence of abilities must be sent on the obligatory basis within three days by the judicial bodies to the body in charge of the state registration. The same time limit is specified for the bodies of trusteeship to send information on the family members of the owner of the given dwelling space in trusteeship living in it or the underage family members of the owner of the given dwelling space having found themselves without parental attendance.

The Law sets forth the provision stating that the bodies in charge of the state registration of rights may provide statistical information from the Register to any interested party for payment if the granting of such information is not in violation of the rights and legal interests of the holders of rights.

The Federal Law is entered into force from January 1, 2005.

Federal Law No. 195-FZ of December 29, 2004 on the Amendments to Article 236 of the Budget Code of the Russian Federation

According to the amendments, the rule prohibiting the placing of the budget resources on the bank deposits, transfer of budget resources in trust control does not apply to the subjects of the Russian Federation other than those getting grants from the Federal Fund of Financial Support of the Subjects of the Russian Federation to equalise the level of the budget security of the subjects of the Russian Federation. The procedure of placing of the budget resources on the bank deposits is defined by the bodies of state power of the subject of the Russian Federation. The bodies of executive power of the subjects of the Russian Federation shall bear responsibility for the return of the resources to the budgets of the subjects of the Russian Federation.

The Federal Law is entered into force from January 1, 2005.

Federal Law No. 194-FZ of December 29, 2004 on the Amendments to Article 446 of the Code of Civil Procedures of the Russian Federation

Specifies that the dwelling space (parts thereof) owned by the debtor citizen as property, as well as the land plots where this dwelling space (parts thereof) is located, may be vindicated under the writs of execution if they are being the object of the mortgage contract and are subject to vindication in compliance with the mortgage legislation.

Federal Law No. 193-FZ of December 29, 2004 on the Amendments to the Federal Law on the Mortgage Securities

The amendments introduce the notion of the "housing bond with the mortgage coverage" which is a bond with a mortgage coverage including only the claims rights secured with the dwelling space. The mortgage coverage of the mortgage-coverage bonds, except for the mortgage-coverage housing bonds, may include claims secured with immovable property still under construction.

The Law omits the provision stating that the claim under the mortgage-secured obligation included in the mortgage coverage must be confirmed with a deed of pledge with all attachments to it. However, if the deed of pledge was drawn up and handed out to confirm the claim included in the mortgage coverage under the mortgage-secured obligation, the deed of pledge alone is enough.

The Law introduces the new Article 16.1 pertaining to the implementation of the mortgage coverage of the bonds in cases of insolvency (bankruptcy) of the organisation issuing the mortgage-coverage bonds and 16.2 pertaining to the sale of the mortgage coverage in cases of issuer insolvency.

Federal Law No. 192-FZ of December 29, 2004 on the Amendments to Some of the Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation Pursuant to the Adoption of the Federal Law on the Mortgage Securities

Specifies the particulars of the procedure of satisfaction of the claims rights of the holders of mortgage securities in cases of bankruptcy of the credit organisation issuing mortgage-coverage bonds. The assets used to secure the mortgage bonds are not included in the bankruptcy assets.

The issue of the mortgage-coverage bonds are not covered by the rules specified in Article 102 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation stating that the company may issue the bonds for the amount not greater than the amount of the registered capital or the amount of the backing provided to the company for these purposes by third parties after the full payment of the registered capital.

The Law introduces additional reason for the revocation of the license for bank operations from the credit organisation: failure to execute by the credit organisation being a mortgage coverage manager of the requirements of the Law on the mortgage securities and adopted in pursuance of it normative legal acts, as well as the failure to eliminate the violations within specified time limits if the measures envisaged in the Federal Law on the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Bank of Russia) were applied to the credit organisation several times within one year.

The Law reduces the maximum time limit from one months to 14 days when the credit organisations must satisfy creditor claims under monetary obligations and/or execute the duty to transfer obligatory payments. In case of a failure to fulfil this rule, the Bank of Russia must revoke the license from the credit organisation.

The Law on the banks and bank activities is extended to include new Articles 23.2 "Credit Organisation Liquidator", 23.3 "Consequences of Adoption of the Decision of the Court of Arbitration on the Liquidation of the Credit Organisation" and 23.4. "Regulation of the Procedures of Liquidation of the Credit Organisation". The provisions of the mentioned Articles apply to credit organisations where the liquidation procedures as of the day of entry into force of the Federal Law are not available or not yet started.

Federal Law No. 191-FZ of December 29, 2004 on the Entry into Force of the City-Planning Code of the Russian Federation

The City-Planning Code of the Russian Federation is entered into force from the day of its official publication. The earlier endorsed city-planning documentation, including the general plans of urban and rural residential settlements, general plans of the cities of federal significance of Moscow and St.Petersburg, as well as adopted before the entry into force of the City-Planning Code of the Russian Federation rules of land use and city planning of urban and rural residential settlements, other municipal formations (city-planning charters of urban and rural residential settlements, other municipal formations) remain in force inasmuch as they do not contradict the City-Planning Code of the Russian Federation. The Law also envisages a stepwise entry into force of the requirements to the obligatory presence of the fundamental documents to be used as the basis for the city-planning activities in the Russian Federation.

The Land Code of the Russian Federation is extended to include Article 30.1 specifying the particulars of granting of land plots for the housing construction out of lands available in the state or municipal property and Article 30.2 specifying the particulars of granting of land plots for their complex use for the purposes of housing construction out of lands available in the state or municipal property. The Law introduces a number of other amendments.

The Law invalidates the City-Planning Code of the Russian Federation of 1998 except for its individual provisions to be invalidated from July 1, 2006.

City-Planning Code of the Russian Federation No. 190-FZ of December 29, 2004

The Code regulates legal relations in territorial planning, urban zoning, architectural design, relations in construction of the objects of capital construction, their reconstruction.

Defines the main notions, principles of legislation on the city-planning activities, authority of the bodies of state power of the Russian Federation, bodies of state power of the subjects of the Russian Federation, bodies of local government in the sphere of city-planning activities. Individual chapters are dedicated to issues of territorial planning, urban zoning, architectural design, construction and reconstruction of objects of capital construction. Specifies the responsibility for the violation of the legislation on the city-planning activities, defines the particulars of the city-planning activities in the subjects of the Russian Federation - cities of federal significance of Moscow and St.Petersburg.

Federal Law No. 187-FZ of December 28, 2004 on the Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, Code of Criminal Procedures of the Russian Federation and the Code of Administrative Violations of the Russian Federation

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is extended to include Article 322.1 "Organisation of Illegal Immigration". Organisation of illegal delivery to the Russian Federation of foreign citizens or stateless persons, their illegal stay in the Russian Federation or illegal transit shipments through the territory of the Russian Federation is punished with the fine in the amount of Rbl 200,000 or the amount of the earnings or other incomes of the convict for the period of 18 months, or obligatory works for up to 180 hours, or corrective labour for the period from 6 months to 1 year, or detention for up to 2 years. Specifies the responsibility for the same actions committed by an organised group, as well as for the purpose of criminal activities on the territory of the Russian Federation. Appropriate amendments are introduced in the Code of Criminal Procedures of the Russian Federation.

The Code of Administrative Violations of the Russian Federation is extended to include Article 18.11 "Violation of Immigration Rules" specifying administrative responsibility for the avoidance on the part of the immigrants of immigration control, failure to present or untimely presentation of the specified documents and other.

The Federal Law is entered into force 30 days after the day of its official publication.

Federal Law No. 186-FZ of December 28, 2004 on the Amendments to the Federal Law on the General Principles of Organisation of Local Government in the Russian Federation

The amendments envisage an enhanced role of the subjects of the Russian Federation in the legal regulation of the organisation of local government. The amendments are aimed at improving the territorial fundamentals of the local government, optimisation of delimitation of issues of local significance among the residential settlements and municipal regions.

If there is a city or other residential settlements being municipal formations within the territory (within the boundaries) of the municipal formation (except for the region), the law of the subject of the Russian Federation shall take the decision to abandon them no later than March 1, 2005 or to exclude the territories of the residential settlements outside the city boundaries from the territory of the mentioned municipal formation. Intracity municipal formations are abandoned from January 1, 2006.

If the municipal formation consists of several cities not being municipal formations, each city, no later than March 1, 2005, is assigned the status of an urban settlement (city district), its boundaries are defined, and elections to the bodies of local government are arranged before November 1, 2005. The mentioned municipal formation shall be dissolved from January 1, 2006 by the law of the subject of the Russian Federation.

The Federal Law is entered into force from the day of its official publication.

Federal Law No. 185-FZ of December 28, 2004 on the Amendments to the Family Code of the Russian Federation

The amendments are introduced in the procedure of finding and registration of children having found themselves without parental support. The children may be handed over for adoption to citizens of the Russian Federation permanently living abroad, foreign citizens or stateless persons not being their relatives 6 months (earlier, 3 months) after the day of receiving of information on such children in the state databank of information on children having found themselves without parental support.

The Law specifies that when taking the decision on the adoption of the child, the court may bypass the provisions stating that the persons without incomes providing for the living substance may not act as adoptive parents, as well as those with housing conditions failing to meet the sanitary and technical rules and norms. The given deviations are permitted only in the presence of deserving circumstances taking into account the interests of the adopted child.

Federal Law No. 184-FZ of December 28, 2004 on the Budget of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation for the Year 2005

Endorses the budget of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation for the year 2005 with incomes amounting to Rbl 1,177,375.0 million, Rbl 1,088,465.1 million out of which not connected to the obligatory financing of the accumulated part of the labour pensions, and expenses amounting to Rbl 1,176,131.3 million, Rbl 1,171,321.0 million out of which not being connected to the obligatory financing of the accumulated part of the labour pensions.

The Law envisages additional increase of the amount of the insured part of the labour pension from April 1, 2005 proceeding from estimated figure of 4.8%. However, the given increase will be implemented proceeding from the actual execution of the Fund budget for the year 2004.

The Federal Law is entered into force from January 1, 2005.

Federal Law No. 183-FZ of December 28, 2004 on the Amendments to Some of the Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation Pursuant to the Forming of the Federal Treasury

The amendments are stipulated by the reorganisation of the Federal Treasury from January 1, 2005 into an independent federal service and the need to define for the newly created Federal Service of the Federal Treasury and the Federal Service of Financial and Budget Enforcement the functions and authority earlier vested in the Ministry of Finance of Russia. In this connection, the amendments are introduced in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the Code of Administrative Violations of the Russian Federation, Laws on the financial fundamentals of the local government in the Russian Federation, on political parties and other.

The Federal Law is entered into force from January 1, 2005.

Federal Law No. 182-FZ of December 28, 2004 on the Amendments to the Budget Code of the Russian Federation Pursuant to the Creation of the Federal Treasury

The amendments are stipulated by the reorganisation of the Federal Treasury from January 1, 2005 into an independent federal service and the need to define for the newly created Federal Service of the Federal Treasury and the Federal Service of Financial and Budget Enforcement the functions and authority earlier vested in the Ministry of Finance of Russia.

The Federal Law is entered into force from January 1, 2005.

Federal Law No. 181-FZ of December 28, 2004 on the Ratification of the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Belarus on the Principles of Collection of Indirect Taxes for the Export and Import of Commodities, Carrying out Works, Rendering Services

Ratifies the Agreement signed in Astana on September 15, 2004 with the declaration defining the notion of commodities for the Russian Federation. The Agreement specifies that the zero VAT rate is applied for the export of commodities and/or exemption from excise duties (redemption of the paid amount) under the condition of the documentary confirmation of the fact of export. When importing commodities, indirect taxes are collected in the importer country, except for the commodities imported for processing followed by subsequent export of the products of processing, moved in transit shipments, as well as commodities exempted from taxation according to the legislation of the states of the parties.

Federal Law No. 180-FZ of December 28, 2004 on the Ratification of the Treaty on Strategic Partnership between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Uzbekistan

Ratifies the Treaty signed in Tashkent on June 16, 2004. The Treaty envisages in particular that the parties shall grant to each other on the mutually beneficial basis maxim favourable conditions for participation in investment and privatisation projects on their territories.

Federal Law No. 179-FZ of December 28, 2004 on the Ratification of the Protocol on the Amendments to the Agreement of October 9, 2000 between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the Principles of Collection of Indirect Taxes in Mutual Trade

Ratifies the Protocol signed in Astana on September 15, 2004. According to the amendments, all imported commodities placed under the customs regime of export, in particular, natural gas, oil, including stable gas condensate, are subject to the indirect taxes using the zero rate. When imported, the mentioned commodities are subject to indirect taxes in the country of destination in compliance with the national legislation.

Federal Law No. 178-FZ of December 28, 2004 on the Amendments to Article 6 of the Federal Law on the Particulars of the Functioning of the Electric Power Industry in the Transient Period and on the Amendments to Some of the Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation and Invalidation of Some of the Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation Pursuant to the Adoption of the Federal Law on the Electric Power Industry

Legal entities and independent entrepreneurs are permitted to combine activities in the transfer of electric power and operative-and-supervisory control in electric power industry with activities in production and purchase-and-sale of electric power until April 1, 2006 (earlier, until January 1, 2005). After this date, it is not permitted to simultaneously possess on the proprietary basis or on other grounds the property directly used in the transfer of electric power and operative-and-supervisory control in electric power industry and the property directly used in production and purchase-and-sale of electric power.

The Federal Law is entered into force from the day of its official publication.

Federal Law No. 177-FZ of December 28, 2004 on the Entry into Force of the Provisions of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Criminal Execution Code of the Russian Federation on the Punishment in the Form of Obligatory Works

Enters into force the provisions of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Criminal Execution Code of the Russian Federation on the punishment in the form of obligatory works.

Federal Law No. 176-FZ of December 28, 2004 on the Ratification of the Treaty on the Cooperation of the Member-States of the Commonwealth of Independent States in Combating Terrorism

Ratifies the Treaty signed in Minsk on June 4, 1999 with a number of reservations. For servicemen and other persons forming anti-terrorist formations of the Russian Federation and participating in the anti-terrorist measures on the territories of the CIS member-states, legislation of the Russian Federation applies rather than the legislation of the accepting party. The Russian Federation may not be confined with provisions stating that the citizenship of the person accused of the act of terrorism is determined as of the moment of committing it.

Federal Law No. 175-FZ of December 28, 2004 on the Amendments to Articles 253 and 256 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Differentiates the responsibility for the crimes envisaged in Articles 253 "Violation of the Legislation of the Russian Federation on the Continental Shelf and on the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Russian Federation" and 256 "Violation of the Rules of Protection and Use of Subsoil Resources" of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.