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Articles by Diana Kulchitskaya

Crimea Officials Safe From Russian Anti-Corruption Law, For Now

A Russian anti-corruption law banning politicians from business activities will not be applied to Crimean officials until the end of the year to give...

Crimean Chemical Plants Threatened by Ukraine's Water War With Russia

Having despoiled Crimea's harvest, Ukraine's water war with Russia may take more victims, with two major Crimean chemical plants near closure because of a...

Finance Ministry Wants to Raise Property Tax on Homeowners Tenfold

The Finance Ministry is finalizing plans to levy a property tax on individual homeowners and ratchet up the cost by pegging the tax rate to cadastral...

Sochi Lawmakers Attempt to Save Failing Olympic Venues With Tax Break

Sochi's Olympic sports venues and hotels have been exempted from property tax for two years by the regional government, a move that analysts say simply...

U.S. Ends Russia's $544M Tax Break

The U.S. will call off some $544 million in trade benefits by excluding Russia from the Generalized Preferential System, or GSP, which reduced import...

Crimea Gets $196M to Avoid Collapse in Tourist Numbers

The Russian government will pump 7 billion rubles ($196 million) into subsidizing transport links and infrastructure between Crimea and the Russian...

Ukraine Crisis Hurts Russian Tour Operators

The crisis in Ukraine has led skittish U.S. and European tourists to rethink their holiday plans, leading to a wave of cancellations and drop in sales...

Visa and MasterCard Cling to Russia Despite $3.8Bln Blow

Visa and MasterCard will hold fast to Russia despite a new law that forces them to pay over $3.8 billion as a security deposit to the Central Bank...

Central Bank Revokes Mestny Kredit and NBB's Licenses

The Central Bank has revoked the licenses of Mestny Kredit Bank and the National Bank for Business Development as a part of a massive campaign to regulate...

Government Mulls Domodedovo Toll Highway Plan

The highway linking Moscow to Domodedovo Airport may become a new toll road under a government scheme to raise funds for road repairs and development...

Falling Ruble Threatens Fiat and Renault LCV Project

Fiat and Renault may pull out of a car assembly deal with the Russian near century-old ZIL plant as a falling ruble makes the project unprofitable...

Moscow Considers Industrial Zone Revamp

The Moscow government is considering introducing a new law that would force those who own real estate in industrial zones to renovate their properties...

Government Projects Bring Losses to Builders

The construction industry is in huge turmoil as major firms, which were involved in building the infrastructure for the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games, have...

Russia Mulls Extra Fee for International Flights to Support Home Routes

Russia's Transportation Ministry is examining the possibility of introducing an additional fee for passengers of international flights in order to channel...

Duma to Mull Ban on Foreign Telecom Equipment

The State Duma is likely to consider in July a ban on foreign telecom equipment, which constitutes the core of the multi-billion ruble market, Lenta...

Rostelecom to Invest More Than $400M in Crimea Network

Russian long-distance telecom provider Rostelecom will set up a branch office in Crimea and  invest 15 billion rubles ($417 million) in developing...

Moscow Government Plans to Auction Majority Stake in Olimpiisky Sports Complex

The Moscow government plans to auction off it majority stake in the massive Olimpiisky Sports Complex on May 15, the latest in a series of unsuccessful...

Olimpstroi to be Dismantled by Year-End

Olimpstroi, a huge state company responsible for construction in Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, will be dissolved by the end of the year...

Russian Eco-Publishing House Finds Way into Niche Market

Young businesswoman sets up green business and wins against all odds.

EcoSystem Firm to Invest $450M in Waste Recycling Business

Major waste recycling firm EcoSystem plans to invest 16 billion rubles ($450 million) in creating a large network of processing facilities throughout...

Russia Mulls Lifting Medical Advertisement Ban

The Russian parliament may pass a law lifting a ban on media advertising medical services and equipment, which was imposed at the start of 2014...

Economic Ministry Drops GDP Growth to 0.5% at Best for 2014

The Russian economy could stagnate due to political tensions with Ukraine and cooling relations with the West, the Economic Development Ministry predicted...

Regions Group to Build Russian Disneyland in Moscow's Nagatino

One of Russia's top development firms, Regions Group, will build a "Moscow version of Disneyland," a theme park under the brand of Hollywood's DreamWorks...

Russia May Switch to Chinese Pork from European

Russia is considering importing pork from China to compensate for the loss of European pork banned in the beginning of January because of an outburst...

Moscow to Give Tax Breaks to Downtown Restaurants

Moscow's government may soon ease the tax burden for property owners on central shopping streets and pedestrian zones. This scheme may affect first...

Renault Suspends Combat Vehicle Project with Russia

France's Renault Trucks Defense, or RTD, has effectively suspended its participation in the French- Russian project of developing Atom armored personnel...

Ukraine Bans Russian Foodstuffs in Apparent Tit-for-Tat

Ukraine has banned sales of Russian chocolate, cheese and fish on its territory, the Ukrainian Liga.Biznes website reported Thursday.

Ukraine Crisis Forces Some Expats to Sell Elite Moscow Property

Some foreigners owning elite real estate in Moscow have started selling their property amid political tension between Russia and the West over Ukraine...

U.S. Suspends FATCA Talks With Russia

The U.S. government has practically stopped talks with Russia on the exchange of tax information about U.S. residents' accounts in foreign banks under...

Vkontakte Founder Resigns as Social Network's CEO

The founder of Russia's largest social network Vkontakte, Pavel Durov, stepped down as CEO of the company after seven years in the post. He announced...

Moscow Hopes Industrial Zones Revamp Will Ease Traffic Jams

As the redevelopment of Moscow's three biggest and largely defunct industrial zones gears up to begin, City Hall is nursing plans for the process...

Government Promotes Special Support of Crimean Wine

Russian government officials are asking retailers to give special support to Crimean wine producers in an attempt to help that sector of the peninsula's...

U.S. Online Education Site Coursera Expands Russian Reach

Coursera, a U.S.-based online education site, plans to reach its already thriving Russian audience by translating its material into Russian.

Crimea Needs Energy Independence from Ukraine, Says Business Lobby After Visit

Businessmen in Crimea have a positive attitude toward joining the Russian economy, but are concerned about legislation and banking, members of Delovaya...

List of Companies to Head East Is Set and Secret

The list of state-owned companies that will have to move their headquarters to Russia's Far East as part of an effort to rejuvenate the region's economy...

Booking.Com Investigates Hotels for Links to Sanctioned Ukrainians

International online reservation service Booking.com is investigating Ukrainian and Crimean hotels for possible connections to Viktor Yanukovych and 17...

Ruble Rolling Toward Crimea

Crimea’s switch to the ruble will not happen overnight, and although the peninsula will initially be a drain on Russia’s economy, it could bring long-term...

Crimea Needs Investment Splurge to Become Next Sochi

Having voted to leave Ukraine and become part of Russia, the Crimean peninsula will need an expensive Moscow-funded overhaul if it is to become a popular...

Young Entrepreneur Tackles Online Education (Video)

Yelena Masolova, who has 20 startups under her belt, is aiming to bring premier business education to Russia and other BRIC countries through an education...

Whiz Kid Invents 'Talking' Walking Stick for the Blind (Video)

A first-year student at Moscow Bauman State University creates something of a furor by inventing a walking cane with a GPS system for the visually impaired...