Monitoring of the Federal Legislation dated 6.04.2005

Federal Law No. 32-FZ of April 4, 2005 on the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation

The Public Chamber shall provide for interaction of the citizens of the Russian Federation with the federal and regional bodies of state power and the bodies of local government to involve large circles of the Russian public in the implementation of the state policy of the Russian Federation, take care of public initiatives and interests of the citizens of the Russian Federation, ensure protection of the rights of public associations, as well as create a mechanism of public control over activities of the bodies of public power.

The Public Chamber shall include the citizens of the Russian Federation known for distinguished services to the state and society, representatives of public associations, as well as associations of non-commercial organisations.

The first plenary session of the Public Chamber shall elect the Council of the Public Chamber and the Secretary of the Public Chamber, their authority and procedure of activities being defined in the regulation. The main form of work of its members in the Public Chamber shall be participation in the plenary sessions of the Public Chamber, commissions and working groups formed by the Public Chamber.

The Public Chamber shall handle the tasks of coordination of the interests of citizens, public associations and the state bodies to solve the most important, for the population of Russia, issues of economic and social development, ensuring security of the person, society and the state, protection of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation and the democratic principles of organisation of the civil society.

The mentioned tasks shall be solved by the Public Chamber by arranging public expert evaluation of the draft federal constitutional laws and federal laws, draft normative legal acts of the federal bodies of executive power of the Russian Federation and the bodies of local government, public control over activities of the bodies of executive power and putting forward of civil initiatives of common Russian significance and aimed at implementation of the constitutional rights, freedoms and legal interests of citizens and their associations.

Decisions of the Public Chamber shall be of advisory nature and shall be adopted in the form of statements, proposals and appeals.

An office of the Public Chamber is being created to provide for the activities of the Public Chamber, which will be a state institution. The head of the office of the Public Chamber shall be assigned to his position and dismissed from it by the Government of the Russian Federation at the presentation of the Council of the Public Chamber.

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

Federal Law No. 31-FZ of April 4, 2005 on the Amendment to Article 10 of the Federal Law on the Defence

The amendments specify the legal fundamentals for application in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to combat terrorist activities. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are intended to repel aggression against the Russian Federation, to provide armed protection of the integrity and inviolability of the territory of the Russian Federation, as well as to fulfil the tasks in compliance with international treaties and the federal constitutional and federal laws.

Order of the Federal Customs Service No. 183 of March 10, 2005 on the Authority of the Customs Bodies to Commit Customs Operations with Fissionable and Radio Active Materials

Lists specialised customs bodies whose authority is limited exclusively to customs operations with fissionable and radio active materials moved across the customs border of the Russian Federation and classified under Headings 2612, 2844 and code 8401 30 000 0 of the Foreign Trade Commodity Nomenclature of the Russian Federation, other commodities containing the mentioned components, as well as equipment for their production, storage, transportation, taking measurements and appropriate documentation.

Any other customs bodies do not have the authority to commit customs operations with such commodities. An exception is made for the cases of arrival of commodities to the customs territory of the Russian Federation and their dispatching, procedure of internal customs transit shipment, customs regimes of international customs transit shipment and re-export, as well as the customs registration of the air, sea and river vessels possessing instruments outfitted with radio isotope sources.

The Order is entered into force 90 days after the day of its official publication.

Registered in the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation on March 30, 2005. Reg. No. 6457.

Letter of the Central Bank of Russia No. 50-T of March 30, 2005 on the Special Registration of Credit Organisations in the Bodies of the Federal Assay Enforcement

Before the adoption by the Ministry of Finance of Russia of the special act excluding credit organisations from the list of organisations subject to the special registration, operations with precious metals carried out by credit organisations without the special registration in the bodies of the federal assay enforcement shall be considered legal.

Letter of the Central Bank of Russia No. 48-T of March 29, 2005 on the Application of Article 11 of the Federal Law on the Banks and Banking Activities

In cases of revealed facts of purchase by a group of legal entities and/or natural persons interconnected by an agreement, or a group of legal entities being branches or dependent on each other, of stocks (shares) of credit organisations, if the mentioned purchase operations were not coordinated with the Bank of Russia, territorial institutions of the Bank of Russia are recommended to send information of the revealed facts of this kind to the appropriate credit organisation.

In this case, the purchase by a group of persons is implied to be the acquiring of the mentioned stocks (shares) in property (or trust control) by the founders (participants) of the credit organisation - members of the group of persons directly, as well as obtaining the right of disposal of such stocks (shares) by being able to exert a significant influence directly or indirectly (through third parties) on the founders (participants) of the credit organisation. Territorial institutions of the Bank of Russia shall arrange a coordination of participation in the bank's registered capital on the basis of a preliminary consent of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, as well as the documents on the system of relations among the participants of the group of persons interconnected by an agreement.