Russia: watchdog opposes excise duty on sweetened beverages

Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service believes that a decision to introduce an excise duty on sugar-containing beverages will lead to higher food prices, a lower purchasing power and falling budget revenues, Anna Mirochinenko, director of the service’s chemical and agriculture industries control department, said. “The Federal Antimonopoly Service believes that expanding the list of excisable goods…

Russia: soybean production volumes to be doubled

The Ministry of Agriculture of Russia plans to double soybean production volumes in the country, the Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation Alexander Tkachev declared. According to him, increasing of the domestic production of the oilseed would break the dependence on imports of low-quality soybeans, including genetically modified oilseed, as well as allow increasing…

Russia: new Apple products certified

Russia has certified Apple’s new smartphones, smartwatches and wireless headphones. The certification shows two modifications of the iPhone 7 instead of three earlier expected. The smartphones will run on the iOS 10 operating system. Apple certified three new models of the Apple Watch on the watch OS2 system. The U.S. giant will unveil its new…