The operator of the Global Blue VAT refund system and the former co-owner of Troika Dialog Ruben Vardanyan announced the creation of a joint venture “Global Blue Russia” in Russia, which will participate in the launch of the tax free system in Russia. This is stated in their joint message. Their representative refused to disclose how the partners’ shares in the joint venture will be distributed.

US President Donald Trump has reversed his predecessor Barack Obama's order to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, Reuters reports. Keeping the prison open was one of Trump's campaign promises. Obama signed an order to close the prison at Guantanamo on his first day as president in 2009. The facility was supposed to be closed within a year, but Congress did not support the president's plan.

The publication of the so-called "Kremlin report" is a short-sighted move by the United States and will negatively affect relations between Moscow and Washington, according to Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev. However, it will not affect Russia's foreign policy, he added. "The 'Kremlin report' published yesterday is nothing more than a new attempt by the US to hide its internal problems behind external threats," Interfax quotes Patrushev as saying.

Russian President Vladimir Putin reminded the Cabinet of Ministers on Wednesday of the decision to organize competitions for Russian athletes who were not allowed to compete in the Pyeongchang Olympics, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Putin instructed the government to ensure that the medalists of these competitions receive bonuses in the same amount as at the Olympic Games, Peskov added.

The discount can be used not only during the renovation of your home, but also for two years after moving to an equivalent apartment / Evgeny Razumny / Vedomosti Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin approved a resolution regulating the procedure for increasing living space for renovation participants for an additional fee. All owners and tenants of apartments in buildings included in the program will be able to take advantage of this.

January 31, 2018, 10:43 / Finance / News The Supreme Court allowed banks to refuse to issue cash to suspicious clients undefined Vedomosti On Tuesday, the panel of the Supreme Court for civil disputes ruled in favor of Sberbank, which refused to issue cash to a client at the end of the deposit period because it suspected him of laundering income. This was reported by Kommersant with reference to court materials. Sergey Budnik filed a lawsuit against Sberbank.

The deal between Yandex.Taxi and Uber is planned to close in the first half of February, Yandex reported on Wednesday. The companies are currently completing the preparatory process, the statement said . In July 2017, Yandex announced that it had agreed to merge its taxi service with Uber's business in Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, and Georgia.

US President Donald Trump, in his annual State of the Union address, spoke of challenges from China and Russia. He said the US faces threats from “rogue regimes” such as Iran and North Korea, terrorist groups such as the Islamic State (banned in Russia), and “rivals” such as China and Russia “that challenge our interests, our economy and our values,” the Associated Press reports .

January 31, 2018, 12:39 / Business / News Rostec began testing an unmanned helicopter undefined Vedomosti The Russian Helicopters holding company (part of Rostec) has developed an unmanned helicopter with a coaxial design (the arrangement of the rotors when they are located parallel to each other and rotate in opposite directions - Vedomosti note). This is stated in a message from Rostec.

The editor-in-chief of the online newspaper “Strana” (“Strana.ua”) Igor Guzhva left Ukraine for Austria, asking for political asylum. "We would like to inform you that Igor Guzhva left for Vienna and asked for political asylum from the authorities of the Republic of Austria in accordance with the adopted procedure.

The package of anti-terrorist amendments by Irina Yarovaya and Viktor Ozerov will come into force on July 1, 2018 / Anna Isakova / State Duma photo service / TASS The company Citadel, which owns the SORM equipment manufacturer MFI Soft, received 24.5% of the joint venture of Rostec and the National Computer Corporation (NCC) – the company National Technologies. This follows from SPARK data.

People get used to free things quickly, but to the need to pay – much longer, be it payment for information, a movie on the Internet, or once free, but now paid services. After the New Year holidays, customs officers stunned many – “suddenly” it turned out that you have to pay a duty if a person imports things worth more than 10,000 euros when crossing the border at airports (for those traveling by train and car, the duty-free thresholds are lower).

In the short term, the publication of the list will play into the hands of Putin and his campaign organizers On Tuesday, a long-announced list of people close to the Russian president was published, who are officially declared to be part of his inner circle and could potentially be hit by a new wave of sanctions.

The Federation Council decided to reappoint the Chairman of the Constitutional Court Valery Zorkin for a new term. 153 senators voted for approval, one abstained. Zorkin’s candidacy was previously introduced to the chamber by President Vladimir Putin. According to amendments made to the law “On the Constitutional Court” in 2009, its chairman is no longer elected by judges, but is appointed by the Federation Council on the proposal of the president. Zorkin will turn 75 on February 18.

The court has arrested Denis Mikhailov, coordinator of opposition leader Alexei Navalny's headquarters in St. Petersburg, for 30 days. He was found guilty of violating the rules for holding a public event, TASS reports, citing the united press service of the St. Petersburg courts.