Amendments to the Civil Code should be passed in second and third reading in June 2012. Changes will include mandatory notarization of real estate transactions coming into force with new tools to hold notaries liable for their unlawful acts. Further separate disposal of land and building thereon and vice versa will be prohibited. In addition the new Civil Code provides for premises as a separate form of immovable property. Completely new in Russian Civil Code is European non-accessory, transferable form of mortgage.
New legislation has been long awaited by Russian business community. New Civil Code finally meets Western standards.

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The government is boosting the numbers by developing programs as Russia faces deficit of medical staff. The main reason for the lack of doctors is a low salary and many other opportunities at pharmaceutical companies or abroad. The shortage is more apparent in rural localities. President Putin promised to double doctors´ salaries regional averages by 2018. However those monetary incentives still lag behind what can be make at private pharmacy in Russia or a clinic in Europe.
As a result of the financial situation in state-run hospitals many doctors are quitting their professions to go to pharmaceutical industry and many students are opting for different university subjects due to long many years´ study followed by a low paid job.

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A new comprehensive selection of the statistical data provided by the Eurostat has been released recently.  The Eurostat yearbook is available as a regularly updated electronic publication on the Eurostat website and it will be available also in PDF format shortly.
The 2012 Eurostat Yearbook contains 13 different chapters, covering topics as economy and finance, labour market, industry, trade and services or international trade. The Yearbook highlights the main issues in tables and graphs together with explanatory texts.

For more information, click here.

A new deal has been negotiated by the European Parliament and the Council on the prices of mobile roaming services, including data services. The new rules will be adopted by the Council of Ministers in June and the proposal will enter into force on 1 July 2012. The implementation of cuts is projected until 2014 and will expire by 30 June 2016.
From 1 July 2012, customers will pay a maximum of 29 cents for the phone calls made and only 8 cents for the received ones. The ceiling of 70 cents per megabyte set for the data services should drop to 20 cents per megabyte until July 2014. The new rules will also enable customers to buy roaming services from an operator other than their national operator.

For more information, click here.

Economic slowdown, growing energy prices and labour market stabilization – those are the key issues discussed in the European Economic Forecast, which has been released on 11 May by the European Commission. According to the European Commission, most Member States have entered or are moving into recession in 2011/2012.
Inside the euro area, the forecast predicts favourable grow in the German and the Irish economy. In Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece, GDP growth is not expected until the end of 2012. Poland, Lithuania and Latvia are expected to grow significantly in 2012. Domestic demand is therefore expected to stay low, but a consolidated current – account balance is predicted thanks to dynamic global economy.

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China will let small and private companies to use junk bonds, in order to make it easier for companies to obtain credit. Currently eighty percent of the bonds issued in China are backed by State credit and most of the rest come from large companies that have AAA or AA ratings, which indicates that they are risk-free. The interest rate of the bonds should be lower than three times the national benchmark interest rate.
 New policy excludes real estate developers and financial firms from the pilot program. Junk bonds will give companies an alternative mean of raising capital, when they have trouble getting bank loans. This type of bonds carries high risks, but also gives high yields. However rules to govern the investors and trading markets for the bonds still need to be clarified.

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The Chamber of Deputies insisted on the Act on the Support of Renewable Energy Sources (Zákon o podporovaných zdrojích energie) by the vote of 145 Deputies. The Bill has been rejected by the President. The Bill stipulates conditions under which the state support is granted to renewable energy sources and precise buyout prices. The Act should come into force on 1 January 2013.

For more information regarding the Bill, click here. 
On 4 May, the President approved amendments to the Bill on Entrepreneurship proposed by the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The Bill was passed by the Senate on 25 April.
For further information, click here.     

At its session on 9 May, the Government also approved a proposal of the Ministry of Interior of Code of Ethics for public officials and public administration employees (Etický kodex úředníků a zaměstnanců veřejné správy). The aim of the Codex is to decrease possibilities of corruption. The text enumerates situations of conflicts of interest and explains how civil servants should behave in such cases. The Codex also emphasizes characteristic features of a servant (professionalism, efficiency, impartiality, loyalty, etc). The Codex also regulates the process of whistleblowing and encourages servants to announce corruption acting. However, some NGOs (Transparency International, Ekologický právní servis) claim that the Codex does not regulate the process effectively; a servant should inform a supervisor in case of corruption first instead of contacting an investigation authority.
The Codex is rather non-binding; any trespassing against the Codex should be treated according to the employment contract and to contract-based duties. The Ministry’s intention is that each public authority should prepare its own text in accordance with the Codex.  

The text of the Codex available here (Ministry of Interior sites)
For further information regarding the Codex, click here (Government) and here (Transparency International).