Transfers through the SBP abroad, toll-free roads for electric cars: the main thing February 17

World

• The Portuguese government will no longer issue “golden visas”, according to the Público newspaper. Visas were issued in exchange for investments in real estate or in the country’s economy, allowing, over time, to obtain Portuguese citizenship and a passport.
• Apple began massively terminating contracts with freelancers. Unlike other large corporations, Apple has refrained from cutting staff, but is now laying off employees and not refusing to renew contracts with them.

Russia

• Apple Authorized Service Centers (ASCs) began refusing to repair devices purchased abroad, Izvestia found. One of these ASCs reported that they do not accept devices purchased outside the Russian Federation after March 2022.

Finance

• For the first time since April 25, 2022, the dollar exchange rate exceeded 75 rubles, the euro – 79.9 rubles.

• The Bank of Russia announced the start date for testing the digital ruble on individuals. The pilot project will begin on April 1; 13 banks have already confirmed their technical readiness to carry out operations.
• The Russian government does not abandon the idea of ​​voluntary contributions to the budget of companies, but intends to implement tariffs through additional taxes from part of the increase in financial results, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in a interview with the television channel Russia 24. .
• Money transfers through the fast payment system (FPS) to neighboring countries became available to the Russians. For example, Tinkoff clients will be able to send funds to banks in Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

• They want to make a voluntary contribution from companies to the Russian budget through additional taxes. We are talking about fees from part of the increase in profits in recent years, said Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.

Business

• Taiwan’s MSI has surpassed Huawei and Lenovo in terms of laptop deliveries to Russia. Volumes decreased by 30%, writes Kommersant.
• The Swedish group Ingka, owner of the IKEA chain and the Mega shopping centers, is looking for buyers for its properties in Russia, reports RBC.
• PickPoint, one of the main players in the delivery market, faced financial difficulties due to a foreign shareholder and stopped accepting requests to send parcels from most Russian cities, Kommersant writes.
• By 2025, the kicksharing market volume will triple compared to the results of 2022 and will reach 39.5 billion rubles. The customer base will increase to 32.5 million users who will make 337 million trips.
• “Vkusno – and that’s it” will open the sale of subscriptions for hot drinks from February 20. The subscription will have the same cost in all the cities where the restaurant chain operates. The cheapest subscription will cost 525 rubles.

Services

• Yandex opened access to the Yandex.Metrica service counter code. Access is provided under the Apache 2.0 Open License.
• Roskomnadzor began considering the possibility of blocking the Twitch video streaming service in Russia. To enable this, it is necessary, among other things, to assess the risks for Russian bloggers using the platform, the department noted.

• There was a failure in the YuMoney and YuKass services. Due to technical problems, online stores had problems accepting bank card payments. The company confirmed the issue and noted that they are working on its removal.

• The MTS neural network created posters for fictional movies about work relations. The company posted examples of what the neural network is capable of on the project’s website and invited users to enter a contest to create their own poster. Winners will receive a cash prize and Apple AirPods Pro.

Transport

• Starting March 1, Kommersant learned, owners of electric vehicles will be able to use toll roads free of charge. The experiment will last until the end of the year and will only affect travel on federal highways.