Monitoring of the Federal Legislation dated 7.12.2005

Federal Law No. 157-FZ of December 5, 2005 on the Amendment to Article 5 of the Federal Law on the Popular Crafts

Refines the criteria of qualifying legal entities as organisations of popular crafts in pursuance of the changing in 2005 of the figures of the federal state statistical monitoring. Such criteria is the volume of dispatched (due for sale through supplies or another sale or exchange) commodities of own production.

The Federal Law is entered into force from January 1, 2006.

Federal Law No. 156-FZ of December 5, 2005 on the Amendments to the Code of Administrative Violations of the Russian Federation

Introduces administrative responsibility for public drinking of alcoholic and alcohol-containing products with ethyl alcohol content by volume up to 12% (including beer and drinks made on its basis), as well as for engaging the underage in the drinking of the given category of light alcoholic drinks.

The beer and drinks made on its basis includes beer with ethyl alcohol content greater than 0.5% of the volume of finished product and drinks made on its basis with the mentioned ethyl alcohol content.

Public drinking of beer and engaging the underage in beer drinking will be fined in the amount of Rbl 100 to Rbl 300. Drunken appearance in public for teenagers and public beer drinking shall imply a fine on their parents in the amount of Rbl 300 to Rbl 500, engaging the underage in beer drinking by the parents - a fine of Rbl 1,500 to Rbl 2,000.

The selling of beer to the underage in a shop will be fined in the amount of 20 to 30 minimum amounts of labour remuneration from officials and 200 to 300 minimum amounts of labour remuneration from legal entities, followed by a possible confiscation of beer and drinks made on its basis.

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

Federal Law No. 155-FZ of December 5, 2005 on the Amendment to Article 333.29 of Part 2 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation

The amendments envisage exemption for the citizens of the Russian Federation living in the Kaliningrad Province from the state duty for the passport of the citizen of the Russian Federation for exit from and entry to the Russian Federation. The amendment is stipulated, in particular, by the entry into force from January 1, 2004 in the Lithuanian Republic of the rules of transit travel abandoning the earlier available procedure of travel for the residents of the Kaliningrad Province through the territory of the mentioned state using internal Russian passports, making it necessary to provide foreign passports to residents of the Kaliningrad Province.

The Federal Law is entered into force from January 1, 2006, however, no sooner than one month after the day of its official publication.

Federal Law No. 154-FZ of December 5, 2005 on the State Service of Russian Cossacks

Defines the legal and organisational fundamentals of the state service of Russian Cossacks. Specifies the main provisions of the procedure of keeping of the State Register of Cossack Societies in the Russian Federation and the procedure of conclusion by the federal bodies of executive power and/or their territorial bodies, bodies of executive power of the subjects of the Russian Federation and the bodies of local government of municipal formations of contracts (agreements) with Cossack societies. Activities of Russian Cossacks other than the state service is not regulated by the Federal Law.

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

Federal Law No. 153-FZ of December 5, 2005 on the Amendments to Article 23 of the Federal Law on the State Registration of the Rights for Immovable Property and Transactions with It

According to the amendments, the notion of "condominium" in the name and Item 1 of Article 23 of the mentioned Federal Law is replaced with the notion of "apartment houses". The mentioned amendments are stipulated by the entry into force of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation from March 1, 2005, where the notion of "condominium" as a single complex of immovable property is not used, and the Federal Law on the partnerships of owners of dwelling space regulating condominium issues is invalidated from March 1, 2005.

Federal Law No. 152-FZ of December 5, 2005 on the Amendment to Article 18 of the Federal Law on Associations of Employers

All organisations (commercial and non-commercial ones) created before the entry into force of the Federal Law No. 156-FZ of November 27, 2002 on associations of employers and implementing the rights and duties of associations of employers must bring their constituent documents in compliance with the mentioned Federal Law before November 1, 2007. In cases of failure to fulfil the mentioned norm, such organisations loose opportunities to implement the rights and duties of associations of employers.

The amendments are introduced since before the entry into force of the Labour Code of the Russian Federation and the Federal Law on associations of employers, there were no associations in the Russian Federation created exclusively for participation in social partnership relations and meeting the requirements of associations of employers.

Federal Law No. 151-FZ of December 5, 2005 on the Amendments to Article 30 of the Federal Law on the Quality and Safety of Foodstuffs

Excludes perfumery and tobacco items from the list of products subject to the state registration in compliance with the Federal Law on the quality and safety of foodstuffs. This will permit to remove unnecessary administrative barriers in circulation of perfumery and tobacco items. Besides, legislation of the Russian Federation already has a mechanism of control of the quality of the mentioned commodities where it pertains to their compliance with the sanitary, epidemiological and other requirements.

Direction of the Central Bank of Russia No. 1633-U of November 22, 2005 on the Amendments to the Direction of the Bank of Russia No. 1476-U of July 16, 2004 on the Demand of the Bank of Russia to Present the Bank Request to Terminate the Right of Work with Deposits

Lifts a temporary restriction for the Bank of Russia to adopt a negative statement upon examination of the repeated request for the statement of the bank compliance with the requirements of participation in the deposit insurance system, confirmation of such statement by the Committee of Bank Enforcement and the Chairman of the Bank of Russia. Earlier, the mentioned restriction could apply for 21 months after the day of entry into force of the Federal Law No. 177-FZ of December 23, 2003 on the insurance of the deposits of natural persons in the banks of the Russian Federation.

The Direction is entered into force 10 days after the day of its official publication in the Herald of the Bank of Russia.

Registered in the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation on December 6, 2005. Reg. No. 7237.

Direction of the Central Bank of Russia No. 1636-U of December 2, 2005 on the Invalidation of the Direction of the Bank of Russia No. 1124-U of March 19, 2002 on the Procedure of Work with the Documents Having Served As Grounds for the Work of Credit Organisations before Replacement of Licenses for Bank Operations

The Direction of the Bank of Russia No. 1124-U of March 19, 2002 is invalidated pursuant to the adoption of the Direction of the Bank of Russia No. 1606-U of August 11, 2005 defining the procedure of work with the documents having served as grounds for the work of credit organisations before the state registration of the changes introduced in constituent documents, state registration of credit organisations created through reorganisation, as well as replacement of licenses for bank operations.

The Direction is entered into force 10 days after the day of its official publication in the Herald of the Bank of Russia.