21 novembre 2006
Projet de loi modifiant les modalités d’investissement étranger dans les entreprises classées "stratégiques" russes
Le ministère de l’Industrie et de l’Energie de la Russie a finalisé l’élaboration de nouvelles dispositions législatives concernant la protection des « secteurs stratégiques », destinées à empêcher leur prise de contrôle par des intérêts étrangers. Du point de vue des autorités russes, ce projet de loi devrait être considéré comme une tentative de rendre la situation actuelle – dans laquelle les limites fixées en matière de participation étrangère au capital des entreprises sont souvent définies au cas par cas – plus transparente et prévisible, et d'aligner les procédures russes sur les dispositions législatives similaires adoptées dans d'autres pays. Ce nouveau texte de loi sera dans l’agenda de la Douma (Chambre basse du Parlement) , le 30 novembre 2006.
Au départ, le projet de loi sur les secteurs stratégiques actuellement étudiés par le gouvernement devrait couvrir quelques secteurs fermés. Mais, sous la pression (sous forme des amendements) émanant du FSB, du FAS (Service Fédéral Anti-monopole) et de la Direction Principale Juridique de l'Administration du Président, la liste s’est élargie pour contenir au total 40 branches d'activité, notamment les secteurs liés aux armes et à la défense, l'énergie nucléaire, l'industrie aérospatiale ainsi que les produits militaires qui utilisent le magnésium, le titan, l'aluminium, le tantale, les alliages d’extrême solidité et les métaux rares, dans lesquels les investisseurs étrangers ne pourraient acquérir une participation de plus 50 % dans le capital d'une entreprise sans l'autorisation du gouvernement. En ce qui concerne les secteurs du gaz et du pétrole, les prises de participations majoritaires par des intérêts étrangers ne seraient soumises à autorisation préalable que pour un nombre limité de grands sites d'extraction, et ce régime d'autorisation 30 serait défini par une future loi sur le sous-sol. Une commission spéciale, composée de représentants des principaux ministères et services fédéraux, sera chargée d'octroyer les autorisations pertinentes, et de les notifier aux demandeurs dans un délai précis (3 à 6 mois dans la version actuelle du projet de loi du gouvernement).
La version originale (russe) de ce projet de loi est ici :
Bogdan Titomiroff
20 novembre 2006
Registration by Mail as of January
The Moscow Times - Tuesday, November 21, 2006. Issue 3544. Page 3.
Beginning next year, foreigners will be allowed to register their residency by mail, sidestepping some of the bureaucratic hassles endemic to the registration process, the Federal Migration Service said Monday.
From Jan. 15, a new law on registering foreigners will allow them to send registration papers by registered mail to the migration service within three days of their arrival, service spokeswoman Ksenia Gordeyeva said.
A post office receipt will then serve as confirmation of registration until the official documents are returned by mail, she said.
The migration service has touted the law, which President Vladimir Putin signed July 18, as a way of eliminating hassles, including long lines at local building-utilities administrator offices, known as ZhEK, and corruption in the form of bribes for speedy service or for the right to bypass registration protocol altogether.
But how much the new law will ease the registration process for foreigners with visas is unclear.
The government, for example, has yet to specify exactly which documents will be needed in the registration process, said Sergei Melnikov of Your Lawyer, a legal firm specializing in visa- and work-regulation issues.
"There's a whole list of statutes that have not been established and will determine how the new system will work," Melnikov said.
22 juin 2006
Law firm denies allegation of e-mail system break-in
A CLAIM has been made in court evidence that an international detective agency broke into the e-mail system of Wakefield Quin – but the local law firm has categorically denied that there is any evidence of that.
The allegation surfaced in a secretly-filmed video tape that was admitted into evidence in a civil case related to the IPOC International Growth Fund.
A senior counsel of Wakefield Quin referred us to Alan Dunch, the lawyer acting for the firm in connection with the IPOC litigation and investigation.
"Having been made aware of the allegation that Wakefield Quin's computer network had been breached, a full investigation was undertaken," Mr. Dunch said yesterday.
"No evidence whatsoever was unearthed that would in any way substantiate the allegation."
He declined to comment further.
The allegation was made by Jeffrey Galmond, the Danish lawyer who runs the Bermuda-based IPOC Fund, in the course of a conversation with a former business associate, James Hatt.
"You know Kroll broke into the e-mail system of Wakefield Quin," Mr. Galmond told Mr. Hatt. "They are very good, I must hand it to them, they are very good, right?"
The conversation took place at the Ritz Hotel in London on September 6, 2004, and Mr. Hatt filmed it without the knowledge of Mr. Galmond.
We contacted the global headquarters of Kroll in New York, but they offered no comment for our story. However, an industry source suggested that the company had not broken into Wakefield Quin's e-mails.
A transcript of the tape's content was entered into evidence in a British Virgin Islands court to support the case of respondents CT Mobile and Alfa against IPOC.
Wakefield Quin is one of several Bermuda companies to have provided services to IPOC.
A senior counsel of the firm and a former IPOC director, Roderick Forrest, gave evidence to a BVI court in one of several civil cases around the world involving the Fund.
Stephen Davidson, of IT security specialists QuoVadis, said, on hearing of the allegation: "When allegations such as this arise, it highlights the need for businesses, particularly professional advisers, to ensure they are providing adequate privacy and security for their systems, including e-mail.
"Even partial access to information can have great value to malicious outsiders. This is something that QuoVadis is actively engaged in working on with the Bermuda Government and with local law firms."
He added that many companies now used digital certificates and encryptions, which beef up e-mail security.
It is against Bermuda law to gain unauthorised access to any data held in a computer, under the Misuse of Computers Act 1996.
The $1-billion IPOC Fund is currently subject to a money-laundering investigation being carried out by KPMG on behalf of the Ministry of Finance.
Russia's IT and Telecommunications Minister Leonid Reiman is believed by some to be the fund's true beneficiary, although Mr. Galmond has consistently claimed that he is the owner.
The video evidence also reveals Mr. Galmond offering $1 million, apparently on behalf of Mr. Reiman, to Mr. Hatt to keep quiet about certain business matters, or, in Mr. Galmond's words, to "suffer a very strong attack of Alzheimer's concerning these things".
When Mr. Hatt said he had been offered $1 million to reveal information to outside parties on IPOC-related companies, Mr. Galmond said "we will compensate that, dollar for dollar," to keep quiet.
Kroll's name is mentioned several times in the video as being involved in gathering intelligence for opponents of Mr. Galmond. It is is not the only agency seeking information to use in legal proceedings involving IPOC.
KPMG Financial Advisory Services Ltd. is suing Washington, DC-based Diligence for $11 million for allegedly attempting to bribe its employees for information on the IPOC probe. That case is being heard in a US court.
Mr. Galmond is engaged in a legal battle with Russian oligarch Mikhail Friedman over the ownership of Russia's third-largest mobile telephone company, Megafon.
Several companies embroiled in the case are trying to prove that Mr. Galmond is just the front man for Mr. Reiman and that the pair have drained Russian telecommunication companies of millions of dollars.
They claim that this took place at the time of the privatisation of the Russian telecommunication industry at the beginning of the 1990s.
The Wall Street Journal claimed last December that Mr. Reiman's money was channelled through a number of shell companies and before being deposited in the Bermuda Commercial Bank (BCB) under the name of the IPOC Fund. Mr. Reiman has denied the claims.
