POLITICS
Russian President Vladimir Putin has reassured UN special envoy Kofi Annan during his visit to Moscow that the Kremlin continues to back his peace plan for Syria. Russia submitted on Tuesday an “enhanced” version of its draft resolution on Syria, which focuses, in particular, on the extension of a UN monitoring mission to Syria for another three months. (Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Moscow News)
Over 60% of Russians support a new law forcing non-government organizations (NGO) engaged in political activity with foreign financing to be classified as "foreign agents," according to a poll conducted by Russia's state-run polling agency VTsIOM. (Kommersant)
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Gasoline and diesel fuel prices in Russia remained practically unchanged over the past 30 days despite a recent increase in excise duties on all types of fuel. Analysts expect a sharp increase in prices by the end of summer, though. (Moscow News)
Uzbekistan has suspended a license of a subsidiary of Russia's leading mobile operator MTS following a similar move by Tajikistan earlier. MTS considers both decisions as an “attempt of a hostile takeover.” (Kommersant, Vedomosti)
Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, has set an ambitious goal to join the elite group of the top 10 global banks in the furure after it took the 17th place in rating of the most valuable banking brands in the world published by the consulting company Brand Finance in February. (Vedomosti)
Russia may introduce a unified ID code for food products which would allow the food safety officials to trace the goods from the production facility to consumers. (Kommersant)
Air ticket prices for flights from Moscow airports may go up as the government has announced plans to increase the rent of airport facilities and equipment for air carriers. (Vedomosti)
Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russian energy giant Gazprom is eyeing new assets in the Balkans. The company has announced plans to take part in privatization of the Albanian Albpetrol company, which the government values at $500 million. (Vedomosti)
Indonesian air carriers are unlikely to buy Russia’s Superjet 100 passenger plane following a fatal crash of its promotional model during a short demonstration flight for potential buyers near Jakarta on May 9, an unofficial poll among the Indonesian companies revealed. (Izvestia)
WORLD
Russia is planning to fight the $4-bln Iranian claim over the alleged breach of contract on the deliveries of S-300 air defense systems in an international arbitration court. Experts believe, though, that Russia’s chances of winning are slim as the S-300 systems are not on the list of weaponry banned from supplies to Tehran under sanctions by the United Nations. (Kommersant)
Tajikistan’s Foreign Ministry has dismissed “as ungrounded” the announcement by Russia's ground forces commander Vladimir Chirkin that the Central Asian state has agreed to Russian terms of a lease extension for a Russian army base in the country after 2014. Russian military sources confirm that the “tough” talks are still under way. (Moscow News, Kommersant)
Syrian opposition may have to wait for a foreign military intervention until November as Washington has refused to consider direct military support of forces opposing President Bashar al-Assad until after the presidential elections in the United States. (Kommersant)
SPORTS
The Russian government may soon take control over the election of the heads of sports federations in the country as the Sports Ministry prepares amendments to legislation, which allow the state to interfere in the affairs of public sports unions if their activities are financed from the federal budget by over 50%. The move, if approved, could lead to serious international sanctions, expert believe. (Moscow News)
SOCIETY
The Russian government has reiterated its promises of continuing support of retirees despite a serious deficit of the Pension Fund budget. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced on Tuesday that working pensions would increase by 50% starting in 2015. (Kommersant, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Moscow News)
On August 16-19, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill will visit Poland where he and Archbishop Jozef Michalik, the head of Poland's conference of bishops, will sign a document appealing to Poles and Russians to forgive each other for past wrongs and injustices. Church leaders have already called the upcoming visit “a historic step toward healing wounds between Russians and Poles.” (Moscow News)
Ethnic conflicts on the household level may fuel clashes between ethnic communities on the regional and even national levels in Russia. Recent public opinion polls in 43 regions of Russia showed that over 60% of Russians insist on restricted migration of “representatives of some nationalities” to their regions. (Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Moscow News)
Russian lawmakers will hold hearings in the fall on the revival of mandatory civil defense training to teach Russian citizens how to face emergency situations and natural disasters. (Izvestia)
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