BMIR # 20

2011-10-06 16:52:57  The Imaderm beauty centre in Geneva offers a new therapeutic approach to beauty care by combining the patient's comfort with technological innovations.

2011-10-06 16:26:27  Georges Nivat, Professor Emeritus at the University of Geneva and co–author of a monumental work entitled History of Russian Literature, is a renowned Slavist, literary historian and translator who describes himself as someone who, “lives life through the Russian language”. The scholar is sometimes musingly referred to as ‘The French Pillar of Russian Culture’ and his resarch covers a extremely broad range of topics – from Andrei Bely and Mark Kharitonov to his work on Soviet dissidents or the Russian landscape as myth.

2011-10-06 15:40:58  The Customs Union linking Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus has become reality. The approximately 170 million people, more than $2 trillion in GDP as well as the emerging common market of goods, labour and capital the Customs Union comprises give its supporters much to be proud of... Vladimir Miroshnichenko, head of the Legal Department at customs holding operation Targo Group, explained what the change means for investors in an interview with Business Mir.

2011-10-06 14:55:50  Russia is preparing for a new wave of large-scale privatisation. This is largely evident in the financial scope of the measures planned to come in the near future. Among these is the withdrawal of State control from some of the nation’s largest companies and banks. This move is due to be followed by the sale of a number of companies that were previously considered to be inaccessible to private owners. Although the results of the first phase of privatisation of the 1990s with its universal ‘voucherisation’ and ‘loans for shares’ are considered to be disappointing and – with good reason – very doubtful, Russia is currently entering its second phase of privatisation.

2011-10-06 11:02:16  Approximately 5,000 tax payers in Switzerland take advantage of the so-called ‘lump-sum taxation’ method, which offers significant tax advantages based on a flat-rate tax system.

2011-10-06 10:03:36  Business Mir met with Mr. Johann Schneider-Amman, the Swiss Federal Councillor charged with heading the Federal Department for Economic Affairs, and interviewed him about his recent journey to the Swissrail Forum in Moscow as well as his views on Russo-Swiss relations.

2011-10-06 09:27:42  As the old saying goes, you can’t dispute the facts. The steady increase in cooperation and development between Russia and Western nations is undeniable.