Support for the IT industry and reduction of VAT for retail chains: large commercial events on July 7

World

• Boris Johnson has announced his resignation as British Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party.

• IMF head Kristalina Georgieva did not rule out a global recession in 2023.

Russia

• The Knight Frank Russia consultancy calculated that in the first half of 2022, for the first time in the history of observations (since 2014), only two foreign brands entered the Russian retail market. This is an absolute low even compared to the first half of 2020, when six foreign companies entered the local market due to the pandemic.

• The Russian government is developing a new socio-economic program, which should become a kind of model for the development of the country in the current geopolitical reality.
• The State Duma adopted a law to support the IT industry. New legislative initiatives in the field of IT will help not only reduce the number of Russian specialists traveling abroad, but also accelerate the technological development of the Russian economy.

• The Ministry of Finance allowed Russian companies to repay loans in foreign currency ahead of schedule if it is at least 20% and before September 1.

• Eduard Zernin, president of the Board of the Union of Cereal Exporters, said that "hidden" sanctions against Russian raw materials hang over agribusiness: it is about problems with ships entering Russian ports and payments in effectiveness of the products ("Everyone unanimously publicly assures that there are no problems, but it is not).

• Demand for the Chinese yuan has grown 8-fold, and for the British pound and Swiss franc 2.5-fold since May, Otkritie Bank reported.

Business

• The Russian Hays team began work under the Get Experts brand, Anna Spirina, director of marketing for the revamped company, told RB.RU. Russian management bought Hayes Specialist Recruitment LLC, the rebranding was a condition of the deal.

• The Ministry of Industry and Commerce will consider the initiative of the Association of Retail Companies to reduce VAT for retail chains.
• Pinskiy&Co founder Anton Pinsky may become the new owner of the Russian Starbucks business.
• In Russia, the cost of charging the iPhone has increased by 1.5-2.5 times. In February, official retailers sold them for 1.9 thousand rubles, but now the price has risen to almost 4.5 thousand rubles.
• SberMarket plans to start deliveries from restaurants. You can use the Delivery Club base for your own purposes.
• Aeroflot employees complained about the reform of the maintenance unit, which consists of 2 thousand people, - experts fear cuts. The carrier refutes such a risk: the company is creating the largest provider of technical services.

• It has emerged that Wargaming has sold the Russian and Belarusian divisions, which have been owned by former Lesta LLC CEO Malik Khatazhaev since July 1 (dev.by).

• Since the end of February, the Karo cinema chain has suspended about 20% of its 280 theaters to minimize its maintenance costs (Forbes).

• Gazprombank announced that from July 15, 2022 it will increase commissions for interbank transfers in foreign currency for natural persons from 1% to 3% (RBC).

Services

• WhatsApp may be fined 18 million rubles for repeatedly refusing to locate the personal data of Russians.
• For the same violation, Zoom, Spotify and Snapchat also face fines of 6 million rubles.