The parameters of the windfall tax (excess profit tax) for 2025, which the authorities have been publicly discussing since at least the end of March, became known to Interfax: the rate is 20%, the comparison base is the average profit for 2018–2019. The deadline for the execution of Putin’s instructions to work on this proposal is today, April 10. The rate is included in the order itself.

THIS MATERIAL (INFORMATION) IS PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED BY THE BELL'S FOREIGN AGENT OR CONCERNES THE ACTIVITIES OF THE BELL'S FOREIGN AGENT. 18+ While markets' attention is focused on the war in Iran, the decline in valuations of technology companies is almost unnoticeable. From last year's highs, they are already approaching the market average. And a growing number of strategists are saying the tech sector is now looking attractive to long-term investors again.

The American market experienced another volatile week. Hopes for a ceasefire in the US-Israeli war with Iran quickly gave way to disappointment. Iran never opened the Strait of Hormuz, Israel continued to exchange blows with Lebanon, and markets fell again. In this newsletter, we will look at how to correctly position yourself as an investor in the American market, taking into account increased uncertainty and what factors, in addition to the conflict in the Middle East, to keep in mind.

The O23 company of venture investor Alexander Chachava increased its stake in Ozon to 34.95%, as follows from the financial statements of the marketplace. Before this, the largest shareholder was AFK Sistema with a share of 31.8%. Frank Media drew attention to this. Chachava became a co-owner of Ozon in July 2025, having purchased 27.71% - the former share of Michael Calvey's Baring Vostok fund.

On March 24, the day after Donald Trump abruptly announced a pause in strikes on Iran, the White House sent out a warning to staffers against using their positions for personal financial gain, The Wall Street Journal reported . Trump wrote about the five-day pause on the social network Truth Social on March 23. Approximately 15 minutes before this post, a surge of abnormal activity was recorded in the futures markets.

RKS Global experts analyzed 30 of the most popular Russian Android applications and found that 22 of them detect VPNs, and 18 send this information to their servers - from where it can be transmitted to security forces upon request, follows from a study reviewed by The Bell. In early April, the Ministry of Digital Development held meetings with the largest Internet companies and instructed them to restrict access to users with VPN enabled by April 15.

The head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov, “the main negotiator with Russia,” believes that the end of the war is not so far away. He said this in an interview with Bloomberg . Main: Both Ukraine and Russia adhered to “maximalist” positions during the negotiations mediated by the United States, but are capable of bringing them closer together. Russia, “unlike Ukraine,” spends its own funds, amounting to trillions, and therefore has a clear incentive to end the conflict.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell held an emergency meeting with the heads of major US banks to discuss cyber threats associated with Anthropic's latest artificial intelligence model, Mythos. Sources from Bloomberg , Reuters and the Financial Times talk about the meeting. It took place on April 7 at the headquarters of the Ministry of Finance in Washington and was organized as quickly as possible.

Vladimir Putin's approval rating in the weekly VTsIOM poll in the week of April 5 fell by 2.3 percentage points, to 67.8%, according to the closed list (“Do you generally approve or disapprove of the activities of...?”). Since the end of January, the approval rating has fallen by 7.3 percentage points, and the disapproval rating has increased by 5.7 percentage points, to 20.7%.

Brent futures prices do not reflect the true severity of the crisis arising from the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Some real oil is trading at $150 and does not react to either the fragile truce or Trump's rhetoric Ricardo José/Pexels

European countries increased imports from Yamal LNG in the first quarter by 17% compared to the same period last year, to 5 million tons, the Financial Times reports , citing Kpler data. The reason for the increase in Russian purchases was the reduction in LNG supplies from Qatar after Iranian attacks on local energy infrastructure and blocking of the Strait of Hormuz.