The fourth package of EU sanctions, the expropriation of foreign aircraft and YouTube under the threat of blocking The European Union announced the fourth package of sanctions against Russia - they include a ban on investments in the energy sector of Russia, the abolition of the most favored nation in trade, as well as a ban on the import of any luxury items.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has canceled the mask regime in the city. He wrote about this on his blog. “The steady improvement in the epidemiological situation allows us to make a long-awaited decision,” the mayor said. The mask regime is removed from March 15. Mandatory anti-COVID measures at enterprises and organizations are also canceled - regular measurement of the body temperature of workers, installation of dividing partitions at workplaces, Sobyanin emphasized.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing registration of rights to foreign aircraft leased by Russian airlines and issuing airworthiness certificates to them. The document is published on the portal of legal information. The amendments made to the Air Code of Russia and a number of legislative acts allow Russian airlines to keep the fleet of foreign aircraft and make it possible to operate aircraft on domestic routes, writes TASS .

In recent weeks, the Central Bank has introduced strict currency control measures, which, among other things, limit cross-border transfers of Russians. On Monday, the Ministry of Finance announced exceptions to these rules. What's happened?

The government has determined which of the Russians will be able to use the "credit holidays" for loans issued before March 1, 2022. Vacation period is from one to six months. The government has determined the parameters of loans for citizens to apply for "credit holidays". "Credit holidays" will apply to loans issued before March 1, 2022. Grace period of service can be obtained for a period of one to six months.

Hundreds of foreign companies have announced a partial or total withdrawal from Russia in recent weeks amid continuing fighting in Ukraine. These include: Apple, IKEA, McDonald’s, Microsoft, IBM, Sony, Shell, Porsche, Volkswagen, H&M, Inditex (that includes Zara, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear), Procter & Gamble (that covers brands including Tide, Ferry, Pampers, and Head & Shoulders), Universal, Mars, Warner and Sony Music.

The Bell continues to report online on the aftermath of the “special military operation” in Ukraine that began on February 24. Online continues here . 13:40 Poland is considering the possibility of introducing a special tax for Polish companies still operating in Russia, said Polish government spokesman Piotr Muller. Such exist - for example, the manufacturer of plumbing fixtures Cersanit.

Russian airlines halted most international flights Wednesday and the government is preparing plans for the de facto nationalization of foreign aircraft. Even domestic aviation faces an uncertain future: sanctions means it will be hard to service planes. Russia’s aviation authorities are concerned planes could be impounded at foreign airports at the request of lessors or insurers .

International credit rating agencies believe that President Vladimir Putin’s decree on foreign debt repayment means a default is all-but inevitable. The decree states that creditors from countries that have committed “unfriendly actions” against Russia can now be paid in (increasingly worthless) rubles via special accounts in Russian banks — and the Ministry of Finance is no longer obliged to pay debts in foreign currency.

Before ‘locking’ people’s foreign currency in their accounts this week, the Central Bank forced banks to set rates of up to 20 percent on ruble accounts, and advised imposing early termination fees for new foreign currency deposits. Since the beginning of the ‘special military operation’, the following currency controls have been imposed: Withdrawals from foreign currency accounts are limited to $10,000 in cash until September 9.

The main news of the past weekend is a new catastrophe for Russian civil aviation and signs of hopelessness in the negotiations between the delegations of Moscow and Kyiv In the negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations during the third week of the “military operation,” it seems that real progress and signs of preparations for contact at the highest level have been made.