Monitoring of the Federal Legislation dated 11.04.2005

Decision of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 202 of April 7, 2005 on the Amendments to the Customs Tariff of the Russian Federation and the Decision of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 602 of August 21, 2001 Pertaining to Some Types of Technological Equipment for Making Paper-and-Pulp Products

Refines the codes of individual types of technological equipment for making paper-and-pulp items.

Equipment for packing rolls at least 600 mm, however, not more than 1,500 mm in diameter and 300 mm, however, not more than 3,200 mm in width, equipment for packing empty paper bags on trays with plastic tape not more than 16 mm in width in the amount not more than 3,500 pieces on a single tray shall be imported using the 0% rate. Other equipment shall be imported using the rate of 5% of the customs cost. The mentioned rates shall be valid for 9 months.

The Decision is entered into force one month after the day of its official publication.

Decision of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 200 of April 7, 2005 on the Endorsement of the Rates of Export Customs Duties for Precious or Semi-Precious Stones, Man-Made or Reconstructed

Precious or semi-precious stones, man-made or reconstructed (codes according to the Foreign Trade Commodity Nomenclature of the Russian Federation 7104 20 000 0, 7104 90 000 0), shall be imported using the 0% rate (earlier, duty free).

The Decision is entered into force one month after the day of its official publication.

Decision of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 199 of April 7, 2005 on the Endorsement of the Rate of the Export Customs Duty for Unprocessed Zinc

The rate of the export customs duty for unprocessed zinc (code according to the Foreign Trade Commodity Nomenclature of the Russian Federation 7901) is fixed in the amount equal to zero (earlier, 5% of the customs cost).

The Decision is entered into force one month after the day of its official publication.

Decision of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 198 of April 7, 2005 on the Interim Rate of the Import Customs Duty for Zinc Ores and Concentrates

The rate of the import customs duty for zinc ores and concentrates (code according to the Foreign Trade Commodity Nomenclature of the Russian Federation 2608 00 000 0) is fixed in the amount equal to zero (earlier, 5% of the customs cost) for 9 months.

The Decision is entered into force one month after the day of its official publication.

Decision of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 196 of April 7, 2005 on the Non-Application of the Rates of the Import Customs Duties for Individual Types of Technological Equipment

The earlier introduced rates of import customs duties (in the amount of 5% to 10% of the customs cost) shall not apply for individual types of technological equipment to be imported using the rate of 0%.

The Decision is entered into force one month after the day of its official publication for 9 months.

Decision of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 190 of April 6, 2005 on the Terms and Criteria of Determination of the Amount of Subsidies Granted from the Federal Budget to the Budgets of the Subjects of the Russian Federation to Provide State Support in the Sphere of Agro-Industrial Complex and the Rules of Their Granting

Resources to finance the measures in the sphere of agricultural production, plant growing and animal breeding, subsidise interest rates for attracted credits in Russian credit organisations and reimburse part of expenses to insure agricultural crops shall be allocated to the budgets of the subjects of the Russian Federation in the form of subsidies. The Decision lists the terms permitting to get the subsidies.

The main criteria of determination of the amount of subsidies shall be the gross volume of agricultural produce, the volume of attracted credit resources, number of breeding animals, size of the cultivated land used for agricultural crops, areas used for perennial plants, volumes of purchase of seeds, mineral fertilisers and chemical means of protection of plants.

Decision of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 183 of April 6, 2005 on the Amendment to the Decision of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 626 of October 14, 2003

The list of commodities (equipment, including the component and spare parts for it) imported to the customs territory of the Russian Federation under the contracts open for financing until August 1, 1998 inclusive at the expense of tied credits of the governments of foreign states, banks and companies against the guarantees of the Government of the Russian Federation shall be amended where it pertains to other items of plastic and other materials of Headings 3901-3914.

Decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 7 of April 5, 2005 on the Amendments to the Decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 35 of December 14, 2000 on Some Issues Emerging in the Cases Pertaining to Implementation of the Rights by Invalids Guaranteed by the Law of the Russian Federation on the Social Protection of Citizens Having Been Exposed to Radiation Because of the Disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station

The amendments are stipulated by adoption of a number of normative acts, the need to explain a number of issues pertaining, in particular, to the determination of the amount of reimbursement of the damage to the health of invalids because of the disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station and the indexing of the amounts of reimbursement of damage.

Explains that from February 15, 2001 to January 1, 2005, reimbursement of damage to health pursuant to radiation exposure because of the Chernobyl disaster or the carrying out of works to eliminate the consequences of this disaster was guaranteed by the payment of the monthly monetary compensation in fixed amount, the amount depending only on the disability group. However, if the amount of compensation did not reach the amount of compensation received by the invalid earlier, he was entitled for a monthly monetary compensation in the previous amount, however, not greater than the maximum amount of the monthly insurance payment specified in the Federal Law on the budget of the Social Insurance Fund for the subsequent fiscal year.

Amounts of reimbursement of damage may not be indexed on the basis of the growth of the minimum amount of labour remuneration from February 1997 to July 1, 2000, since this figure did not change in the mentioned period.

The courts may carry out the indexing for the period from July 1, 2000 to January 1, 2001 using an increasing factor of 1.581 from July 1, 2000 and 1,515 from January 1, 2001 on condition that from February 1997 to July 1, 2000 the indexing of the mentioned amounts was not carried out taking into account the consumer price growth. If such indexing was carried out, its amount must be taken into account in the determination of the monthly amounts of reimbursement of damage for the period from July 1, 2000 to January 1, 2001.

Since the delay in the payment of the amounts of reimbursement of damage to health because of the disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station incurs a material damage on the plaintiff in view of inflation, the court may satisfy his demand to index the mentioned amounts taking into account the growth of consumer prices.

Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation No. 31n of March 3, 2005 on the Endorsement of the Forms of Tax Declarations for the Value Added Tax and Indirect Taxes (Value Added Tax and Excises) for the Cases of Import of Commodities to the Territory of the Russian Federation from the Territory of the Republic of Belarus and Their Filling Procedures

Endorses three forms of tax declarations: VAT, 0% VAT and indirect taxes (VAT and excises) for the import of commodities to the territory of the Russian Federation from the territory of the Republic of Belarus, as well as their filling procedures.

The declarations are submitted by taxpayer organisations and independent entrepreneurs, as well as tax agents, to the tax bodies at the place of their registration no later than the 20th of the month following the expired tax period. The Order specifies the particulars of filling of the declarations in the absence of operations subject to VAT and operations exempted from taxation under product-sharing agreements.

For operations of sale of commodities (works, services) subject to the 0% tax rate in compliance with the agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus on the principles of collection of indirect taxes in export and import of commodities, carrying out works, rendering services of September 15, 2004, the taxpayers, beside the usual declaration, shall also submit the declaration for the 0% tax rate.

The Order shall apply beginning with the tax declaration for March and the I quarter of 2005.

Registered in the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation on April 7, 2005. Reg. No. 6476.

Order of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation No. 32n of March 3, 2005 on the Endorsement of the Forms of Tax Declarations for Excise Duty Taxes and Their Filling Procedures

Endorses five forms of tax declarations: for excise duty taxes for excisable commodities, except for oil products, tobacco items and alcoholic products sold from excise-duty warehouses of wholesale organisations, for excise duty taxes for alcoholic products sold from excise-duty warehouses of wholesale organisations, for excise duty taxes for oil products, for excise duty taxes for tobacco items and excise duty tax for excisable mineral raw materials (natural gas), as well as their filling procedures.

The Order shall apply beginning with the tax declaration for March 2005.

Registered in the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation on March 30, 2005. Reg. No. 6454.

Letter of the Central Bank of Russia No. 53-T of April 4, 2005 on the Fixing of the Rouble Equivalents for the Figures Envisaged in the Direction of the Bank of Russia No. 1346-U of December 1, 2003

Specifies rouble equivalents for the registered capital of created banks and non-bank organisations, own resources (capital) of operating credit organisations requesting the general license, as well as own resources (capital) of non-bank credit organisations requesting the status of a bank, for the II quarter of 2005.