Rospotrebnadzor reminds that its recommendations adopted within the period of the pandemic (for catering organisations, beauty salons, trade, hotels, schools, etc.) shall not be considered as regulatory legal acts. There is no responsibility provided by the law for failure to comply with them.
On the contrary, the requirements SP 3.1.3597-20 on prevention of COVID-19 are obligatory. For non-compliance with these sanitary rules, administrative responsibility is provided.
According to the new SP 3.1.3597-20, which are valid until January 1, 2021, employers shall provide for the following:
- disinfection regime at workplaces and in all working spaces, disinfection of equipment and inventory;
- cleaning the air using special equipment;
- stock up of disinfectants;
- discovering employees with fever, cough or other signs of SARS.

Changes have been made to the March "anti-covid" decrees, according to which a two-week quarantine for persons that entered the Russian Federation is obligatory for:
- everyone who returned to the Russian Federation by the “export” international flights;
- labour migrants.
At the same time, there are requirements that Russians that returned to the Russian Federation must pass an analysis for COVID-19 using the PCR method within the first three days, and labour migrants must present fresh certificates of their negative COVID status.
 

From July 27, 2020, manufacturers of traditional Russian goods will be able to mark their products with special emblems confirming that the appellation of origin or geographical indication has been registered with respect to such goods. The protection marks were developed by the Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) and have successfully passed the heraldic examination.
 

The law provides, starting from 2021, the opportunity for retail organisations to form a document (check) to reimburse the amount of value-added tax in electronic form when selling goods to individuals that are citizens of foreign states and to confirm the export of such goods (Tax Free system).

New forms, formats and rules for filling in documents used when registering foreign organisations with tax authorities have been approved. There are 12 forms in total, including separate application forms for different cases of registration of a foreign organisation, an international organisation, as well as a diplomatic mission, a representative office of a state (government) body of a foreign state.

The Chief State Sanitary Doctor of the Russian Federation made an amendment to his decision No. 7 of March 18 (on ensuring the lockdown):
- two-week isolation for all Russians arriving from abroad is cancelled, now it is enough for citizens of the Russian Federation to pass a COVID test by PCR method in the first three days after returning;
- the two-week isolation is cancelled for all foreign citizens arriving from abroad who have either certificates of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies, or certificates of a negative test result for COVID-19 by PCR method, issued no earlier than three days ago.

Income tax relief, VAT relief and preference for mineral extraction tax have been introduced for residents of the Arctic zone. The amendments define:
- conditions for applying a zero rate of income tax to the federal budget;
- list of works (services) for icebreaker assistance of sea vessels and sea transportation of goods taxed at a zero VAT rate;
- the procedure for applying the tax deduction for the mineral extraction tax when extracting minerals from a new subsoil plot.
 

On July 7, 2020, the Regulations came into force establishing the specifics of the execution of the contract for the carriage of passengers by air in the event of a threat and (or) the occurrence of individual emergencies, the introduction of a high alert or emergency regime throughout Russia or in part of it.
The approved rules shall apply to contracts to be executed from February 1, 2020 for international air carriage with the People's Republic of China, from March 18, 2020 - for all domestic air carriage and other international air carriage concluded before May 1, 2020 (with China - from February 1). These rules shall not apply to charters.
According to the document the air carrier has the right to unilaterally change the terms of the contract (date, time, route, type of aircraft):
- change the terms of the contract (date, time, route, type of aircraft);
- refuse to fulfill the contract (cancel the flight) and refund the carriage charge paid for the air carriage of a passenger.
The passenger can use this amount to pay for other tickets for three years.

According to the Ministry of Finance, organisations’ outlays on payment for services for conducting research on whether workers have a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), as well as immunity to it, aimed at meeting the requirements of the current legislation of the Russian Federation in terms of ensuring normal working conditions for workers, are recorded for taxation of profit as part of other expenses related to production and sale, on the grounds of Subitem 7 of Item 1 of Article 264 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, that is, as part of outlays on ensuring normal labour conditions and accident prevention measures.
 

A law has been adopted that provides for the creation of a Federal Register of Citizens Eligible to Provide Drugs, Medical Devices or Specialized Health Food Products at the expense of the federal budget or the budgets of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
 

On July 3, 2020, the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation adopted a resolution on the results of an all-Russian vote on the approval of amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation. According to this document 77.92% of the number of citizens of the Russian Federation participating in the vote supported the amendments.
These amendments entered into force on July 4, 2020.
 

Levilimab (trade name Ilsira) became the second drug registered under the accelerated procedure. This drug is indicated when an excessive inflammatory reaction of the body to the introduction of the virus develops, which leads to damage to tissues or organs, to a severe course of infection with a possible fatal outcome.
 

In Russia, the IFRS document "Reform of the Basic Interest Rate" is being introduced. It shall come into force on the territory of our country within the time periods specified in this document.

The Government of the Russian Federation postponed the All-Russian Population Census to April 2021. In the hard-to-reach areas events shall be held within the period from October 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021.

In April, in connection with the pandemic and in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, Russian passports and driver's licences that expired, or should have been expired, from February 1 through July 15, 2020, were deemed valid. The same Decree established that for citizens who have reached the age of 14 years and have not received a passport, an identity document is a birth certificate or travel passport.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation determined that it will be possible to replace or receive such documents until the end of 2020.

The Federal Tax Service has upgraded personal accounts of legal entities and individual businessmen in order to speed up removal of restrictions with respect to operations on debtor accounts and updating information contained in the Bank-inform Internet service on the current suspension decisions.
Now taxpayers may file an electronic appeal themselves and attach payment documents confirming payment of debts.

The government postponed the period of informing employees about the possibility of switching to electronic employment books until October 31, 2020, inclusive. In this case, notification methods should be established in local regulations.

On July 1, 2020, amendments to the Law on the Electric Power Industry entered into force. From now on, the installation, replacement and verification of meters, as well as the transfer of testimonies, are the duties of energy service companies. Smart meters with remote access will allow consumers to track the amount of energy supplied online.

The RF Ministry of Public Health has again postponed operation of the updated Medical Examination Procedure for drivers and candidates for driver’s licences, and it is expected to start on January 1, 2021.
It goes about "total" check (urinalysis) for psychoactive substances and "total" blood tests for a marker of alcohol addiction.

Citizens who do not have time before July 1 to issue a Mir bank card to receive social payments will be able to do this before October 1, 2020. It is until this date that the transitional period is extended, during which the benefits can continue to be credited to the cards of other payment systems. But after October 1, these payments can be transferred exclusively to Mir cards.

The Board of Directors of the Bank of Russia decides to reduce key rate. Since June 22, 2020 it is 4.50% per annum.
It is reported that this decision is aimed at maintaining annual inflation near 4% and maintaining (along with other measures) lending, including in the most vulnerable sectors of the economy.

The Federal Service for Supervision over Communications, Information Technology and Mass Communications removes restrictions to access to the web resources of Telegram messenger in Russia.

A service is launched for remote filing of documents for admission to the selected 54 universities on the free basis. This may be done without waiting for the results of the Uniform State Exam. After results of the exams are available, the points will be automatically transferred to universities and the committee will distribute students into the competition lists.
Through this service, documents for full-time education are accepted. For admission on the contract basis, students shall contact the university directly through the electronic service on the official website of an educational organisation.