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Early in May, submitted to the State Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes were draft law No. 66360-6 on Amendment of the Budget Code of the Russian Federation, amendments to Article 13 of Part One of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and amendments to Part Two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation providing for introduction of a new federal tax - the wealth tax - in the Russian fiscal system.

Within the frameworks of Russia's accession to the WTO, the Bank of Russia has abolished the requirement which obliged Russian subsidiaries of foreign credit institutions to secure permit to open a branch in the Russian Federation.

On May 22, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation has renewed direct exchange REPO transactions with banks against a security of shares included in the Lombard list of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

The ongoing decrease in global prices on hydrocarbons and depreciation of the national currency against the US dollar raised concerns again about the new wave of the crisis and ability of the financial system to respond to such threats adequately.

A few days ago, the Business Software Alliance, BSA presented the latest report on the shadow market of software for personal computers.

On May 16, by a majority of vote the State Duma supported in the first reading the draft of the new Federal Law on the State Defense Order submitted by the Government on March 6. The Just Russia Party in the State Duma was the only party which refused to support the new law.

The latest report of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and INSEAD, an international business school - The Global Information Technology Report - came out in April. The above report has been published since 2002.

In mid-April 2012, the International Monetary Fund published its latest analytical report -- The Fiscal Monitor¹ - with assessment of the conditions and mid-term prospects of budgetary and fiscal policy in different countries of the world.

The uninterrupted growth in global military expenditures which was observed from 1998 virtually stopped last year. According to the data of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI, Sweden) published on April 17, in 2011 military expenditures amounted to $1.74 trillion having increased in real terms by the mere 0.3% as compared to the previous year. The average annual growth in global military expenditures amounted to 4.5% in the 2001-2009 period.

On the basis of the results of the 2010-2011 period, the average annual growth rates of the GDP amounted to 4.3% and as regards that indicator of development the Russian economy attained the pre-crisis level of 2008.

According to the Report of the World Trade Organization published on April 12, 2012, in 2011 the volume of the global trade increased by 5%.

Early in April, draft law No. 46986-6 on Amendment of Individual Statutory Acts of the Russian Federation as Regards Creation of Favorable Tax Conditions for Innovation Activities to Be Carried Out by Small and Mid-Sized Enterprises was submitted to the State Duma.

On April 9, the Bank of Russia reported that starting from April 10, 2012 the system of instruments of the monetary policy of the Bank of Russia would be supplemented with deposit auctions for the term of one week with the maximum interest rate of 4.75% per annum.

On 29 March, the RF Central Bank announced that, in accordance with the decision of the Monetary Policy Committee, it would resume auction-based allocation of Lombard credits and direct repo auctions for 12 months.

Last year, privatization processes in the Russian economy highly intensified which situation resulted both in the number of the sold assets and the financial results of the privatization. In the past two years, the post-crisis growth was accompanied by a considerable increase in the budget revenues related one way or another to state property which situation is particularly explicit in comparison with the low starting base of the 2008–2009 crisis.

In February 2012, yet another issue of The Russian Statistical Annual was published. It contains a collection of articles in the field of venture and direct investment in Russia, compiled by the Russian Association of Venture Investors (RAVI). Statistical data of this type have been collected since the early 2000s. The latest publication was based on a survey of more than 80 representatives of the leading asset managers operating in the Russian market of direct and/or venture investments.