Russia & CIS

On 30 July 2018, Mars and Earth will be closer than since their historically close approach in 2003, the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) told APA.

On Thursday, July 26, many Russians could see the phantom of the good old iron curtain falling between Russia and the West. The news came from the press secretary of the Russian Union of Travel Industry, Irina Tyurina. Last week, United Russia MPs proposed amending the federal law about the procedure to leave and enter the territory of the Russian Federation. In accordance with these amendments, the Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs should hold mandatory accreditation of all companies rendering intermediary visa registration services to Russian citizens. In order to obtain accreditation, a visa issuance company is supposed to have representative offices in at least 20 regions of the Russian Federation, whereas the share of foreign participation in the authorized capital of the company should not exceed 20 percent. In addition, applicants should have certified technical means to process confidential information (including biometric personal data). The amendments also require at least three years of experience in collecting and processing documents for obtaining visas on behalf of diplomatic missions and consular missions.According to the press secretary of the Russian Union of Travel Industry, Irina Tyurina, none of  existing operators can meet the criteria proposed in the draft law. For example, it is unclear how they should comply with the requirement of foreign participation. Presently, there are six companies that run visa service centers in Russia: VFS Global, GVCW - Greece, VMS - Italy, BLS - Spain, India, TLS - Great Britain, Switzerland, Belgium and Pony Express. The information on each of these companies is available to the public in the state register of legal entities.It is unlikely that these companies can be replaced with Russian ones: even if they meet all other requirements, Russian companies will not have three years of experience in rendering visa services. Needless to say that the adoption of amendments will trigger a mirror response from other countries. In this case, big plans to attract foreign tourists to Russia, especially after the World Cup, may not materialize.To make matters worse, residents of Russians regions will have to come to Moscow to get a visa to a foreign country. They will also have to spend many hours standing in long lines to visa departments of foreign embassies, as it was practiced during the 2000s. In a nutshell, all this is nothing but bad news that, if it becomes real, will complicate the lives of all Russian travelers. The news triggered countless "iron curtain" discussions in social media in Russia. The "iron curtain" has many holes in it as Russia has visa-free regime with many countries. Yet, the curtain would be very strong when it comes to a trip to Europe or to the States. Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee for Physical Culture, Sport, Tourism and Youth Affairs, Sergei Krivonosov, (United Russia) said that the Russian authorities, on the contrary, seek to minimize visa restrictions."At the initiative of the president, we are currently preparing proposals to simplify visa procedures. There are a number of countries that have already simplified the procedure to issue visas for Russian citizens. I haven't heard of the initiative that you're talking about. The State Duma's Subcommittee on Tourism (Sergei Krivonosov heads it - ed.) works to simplify visa procedures," the MP told Pravda.Ru. "We do want to make the procedure simpler, because we've had problems with bankruptcies of tour operators. We believe that an electronic visa can help. I am sure that there is no iron curtain of any type involved," Sergei Krivonosov added. Oleg ArtyukovPravda.Ru Read article on the Russian version of Pravda.Ru

U.S. President Donald Trump will postpone the second meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin until next year after the federal probe into Russian election meddling is over, national security adviser John Bolton said on Wednesday, APA reports quoting Reuters.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed an Order on the construction of a carpet weaving workshop in Tartar region, AzerTag reports.

As of July 1, 2018 the profit of the banking sector stood at AZN 36.3 million.

Azerbaijani Prime Minister Novruz Mammadov has met with African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy, ICT, and Tourism Amani Abou-Zeid to discuss prospects for cooperation between Azerbaijan and the African Union.

At least 31 people have been killed in an explosion outside a polling station in Pakistan.

Terrorists carried out deadly attacks in As-Suwayda, in southwestern Syria, over a fear of an imminent defeat, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, TASS reports.

The draft agreement "on cooperation in the field of labor and social protection between the Ministry of labor and social protection of the population of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of social security and labor of Lithuania" is ready for signing, Minister of labor and social protection of the population Sahil Babayev said at a meeting with Lithuanian Ambassador Valdas Lastauskas in Baku, the Department of public relations of the Ministry of labor said in a statement.

The administration of the Bank of Russia decided to tighten requirements for banks that offer individuals and companies a possibility to open foreign currency deposits. From August 1, the government intends to increase reserve requirements, i.e. amounts of money that banks should reserve to secure deposits.According to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, standards will grow by one percentage point: for obligations to individuals up to seven percent, and to legal entities - non-residents and other liabilities - up to eight percent. At the same time, standards for deposits in the Russian ruble will remain unchanged.Experts note that the decision is to discourage the growth of currency obligations of the banking system. The Central Bank made the decision after a number of major banks raised their rates for dollar deposits thus encouraging customers to invest in foreign currency while the yield of ruble deposits fluctuates near historical lows.Analyst Denis Poryvay believes that the Central Bank of Russia intends to reduce rates and thereby deprive the population of the incentive to keep their savings in foreign currency, because banks will be obliged to pay more for foreign currency deposits. Russian banks will thus have to make foreign currency deposits unattractive. They will also need to attract less foreign currency and reduce the currency share on the balance sheet, the expert said. Denis Poryvay also noted that banks already experience a currency deficit that will continue to grow. In a long-term perspective, such a measure will put direct pressure on the rate of the Russian ruble. Russia pays her foreign debt in foreign currency, and ruble loans will have to be converted into currency loans, the expert believes.Investment director of Peter Trust investment company, Mikhail Altynov, explained that the ruble rate remains only slightly dependent on manipulations of the Central Bank. Globally, the ruble remains a hostage to what is happening on foreign markets: capital flows from/to emerging markets and fluctuations of oil prices, the expert believes.In fact, the Central Bank wants to stop people and businesses from going into foreign currency deposits, so that they do not abandon the ruble completely. This suggests that the Central Bank foresees a growing demand for currency and serious restrictions on dollar liquidity.The Russian government may also expect new sanctions. Not long ago, the government decided to withdraw funds from the US national debt and tries to switch to domestic resources to finance the federal budget by raising taxes and introducing new excises.

The ceasefire monitoring exercise on the Azerbaijan and Armenia state border, in the direction of Tovuz region, held in accordance with the mandate of Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on July 25, ended with no incident.

Due to unbearable conditions of service and hazing in the Armenian army units deployed in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, almost every day, cases of desertion and unauthorized abandonment of duty by military personnel are recorded.

Iran has abolished a duty of $600 levied on each truck traveling from Azerbaijan to Qatar in connection with the transportation of agricultural goods, Deputy Head of the State Road Transport Service under the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies Ibrahim Aliyev said at a conference dedicated to innovations, problems and upcoming tasks in passenger and cargo transportation July 25.

One of the participants of the assassination attempt on the head of Azerbaijan’s Ganja Executive Power, Elmar Valiyev, has been eliminated.

In the units of the Armenian occupation army stationed in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the arbitrariness of officers, the complete absence of military discipline and non-adherence continue to "rule the ball".

During the joint press conference with Turkey Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusolgu, Azerbaijan Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov responded to a journalist's questions about his impressions of his newest Armenian counterpart, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan.

Survivors of the wildfires that have killed at least 74 people in Greece have described how they were forced into the sea by a blaze that "struck like a flamethrower", BBC reports.

The Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies constantly supports successful innovative projects, as one of the measures taken to expand the startup movement in the country.

Over the first six months of 2018, 115 criminal cases against 184 officials accused of corruption offenses were sent to courts in Azerbaijan, said Kamran Aliyev, Deputy Prosecutor General, Head of the Anti-Corruption Department under the Prosecutor General, APA reports.

The delegation of State Civil Aviation Agency under the Ministry of Transport, Communication and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan and General Directorate of Civil Aviation of the Republic of Turkey held a meeting in Baku.