Russia imposes 35% import duty on dietary supplements from unfriendly…

Viktor Pinsky, who heads the temporary deputy working group preparing the first sitting of the ninth State Duma, told reporters on 26 September that the new convocation will have 34 committees and four standing commissions and that parties entering the Duma have been asked to submit candidate lists for them. Under a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin, the first plenary sitting opens at 10:00 Moscow time on 30 September.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on 26 September instructed the signing of a memorandum on cooperation with Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member states in combating climate change. Interfax reported the instruction; the text of the document, the signing date and the list of participants were not disclosed.

The Russian Interior Ministry has drafted a government resolution: if a CIS state or Georgia decides to join the European Union, the extended stay of up to 180 days a year now granted to its professional drivers would be cancelled and capped at 90 days a year. The current 180-day arrangement has applied since 30 June 2026 and the draft was posted on the regulatory acts portal on 25 September. The initiative was prepared on instructions from Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk; the ministry argues that EU accession by these countries runs counter to the goals of the Eurasian Economic Union and may pose a national security threat.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul in New York on 26 September on the margins of the 81st UN General Assembly session — their first meeting since 2022 — with the talks running 22 minutes. Berlin said it requested the encounter after colleagues urged openness to dialogue. Moscow said the two discussed the situation around Ukraine; Lavrov said he heard nothing new from his German counterpart.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a wrap-up press conference in New York on 26 September after the high-level week of the 81st UN General Assembly session, saying Europe is doing everything to derail the prospect of peace talks on Ukraine and accusing EU and NATO elites of metastases of neo-Nazism. He also said Russia is ready to return to the understandings reached at the Anchorage meeting.

President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on 26 September, discussing cooperation in energy and the oil and gas sector. Vucic said afterwards that he hopes Serbia will keep low gas prices and extend its supply contract; Vedomosti reported the same day that he told Putin he intends to step down as Serbian president. Specific prices and contract terms were not disclosed.

The Russian government has imposed a 35% customs duty on biologically active food supplements from unfriendly countries, in force until 31 December 2027, with Hungary and Slovakia exempt. The relevant cabinet resolution was published on the official legal information portal. Russia's current list of unfriendly countries includes the United Kingdom, all EU member states, the United States, Canada, Iceland, Japan and South Korea.

Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov told RIA Novosti on 26 September that the ministry supports raising payout caps under compulsory motor third-party liability insurance, prioritising the limit for harm to life and health. The current caps are 500,000 roubles for injury and 400,000 roubles for property damage; raising the injury limit to 2 million roubles had been discussed earlier. Chebeskov said the issue needs further discussion with insurers, the central bank and parliament because it touches on sensitive tariff questions.

The Russian government press service said on 26 September that Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed an order releasing an additional 1.2 billion roubles from the reserve fund for co-financed social gasification in 56 regions, helping more than 13,000 eligible households buy equipment and connect their homes to gas grids. Beneficiaries include large families, low-income citizens, veterans of the Great Patriotic War, participants in the special military operation and their families, first-group disabled people, and carers of disabled children. Mishustin announced the measure at a cabinet meeting on 21 September.

Saint Petersburg authorities announced on 26 September that the remaining COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted from 1 October. Interfax and Vedomosti reported the decision; neither publication listed the specific measures being cancelled.

According to Social Fund data, the number of pensioners in Russia rose by about 21,000 in August to 40.496 million, against 40.475 million in July. Alexander Safonov, a professor at the Financial University under the Russian Government, attributed the growth mainly to the annual automatic recalculation of insurance pensions for working pensioners on 1 August and to the uneven inflow of new pensioners caused by the phased retirement-age increase. The monthly figure covers all pension recipients, including social payments and disability pensions.

Krasnoyarsk city hall said on 26 September that the Torgashinskaya staircase, considered the longest in Russia, has been closed to visitors because of the threat of bears, with a warning sign posted at the site. The same day, two people were hospitalised after a bear attack in the village of Khara-Shibir in Buryatia's Zaigrayevo district, and the animal was shot dead; another bear was killed in the Ust-Kut district of Irkutsk region after it entered a dacha cooperative. Across Siberia, bears approaching homes, roads and settlements were recorded in every region during September.

Russia's Defence Ministry reported on 26 September that between 08:00 and 20:00 Moscow time on-duty air defence units intercepted and destroyed 105 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones over Russian regions. Regnum and Interfax reported the statement separately the same day; neither specified where the intercepts occurred or any ground damage.

The prosecutor's office of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) reported on 26 September that an explosion occurred during welding at a backup pumping station of the Elga coal deposit, killing people; the death toll was not disclosed. The Neryungri prosecutor's office opened an inquiry on instructions from republican prosecutor Sergey Dyabkin, and the regional Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under Part 3 of Article 216 of the Criminal Code, which covers safety violations during construction and other works causing the death of two or more people by negligence. The circumstances are still being established.

On 26 September authorities in Rostov region declared a state of emergency in the areas of Azov hit by an attack, with five people injured across the region. Interfax and Vedomosti reported the situation; neither listed the damaged facilities nor gave details about the injured.

Russia's Energy Ministry proposed on 26 September examining the possibility of applying an external management mechanism to the assets of the operator of the Trassa filling-station network, a mechanism provided for by a recent presidential decree on critical infrastructure security. RBC and Vedomosti reported the proposal; neither gave specific reasons or a timetable.

Irina Akopyan, first deputy general director of the A7 international settlement system, said at the 23rd International Banking Forum on 26 September that up to 40% of transactions are delayed by documentation errors rather than sanctions when Russian companies handle China payments themselves. Typical problems include mismatches between contract and invoice data, wrong SWIFT codes or account numbers, beneficiary names differing from the contract, discussing the payment route only after signing — for instance when the contract makes no provision for third-party payment through a payment agent — and failing to account for the fees of every bank in the chain. A7 was set up in 2024 with the participation of PSB bank and handles more than 2,000 transactions a day.

Compared with the 25 September report on his candidacy, this item adds the election result. On 26 September, at the FIDE General Assembly in Samarkand, Timur Turlov, CEO and co-owner of Kazakhstan's Freedom Holding, was elected the eighth president of the International Chess Federation, receiving 110 votes in the second round. At 38, Turlov became the second youngest FIDE president, succeeding Arkady Dvorkovich, who led the body for two terms from 2018 to 2026 and announced his resignation after being added to the EU sanctions list in July.

Interfax reported on 26 September, citing Russian Culture Ministry data, that the Pushkin Card youth culture subsidy programme has sold more than 115 million tickets worth about 58 billion roubles over its five years of operation. Year-by-year figures and the number of participating institutions were not disclosed.

The Russian government signed a resolution introducing a 35% import customs duty on dietary supplements (biologically active food additives) originating from countries that take measures violating Russia's economic interests, with Hungary and Slovakia exempted. The duty applies to supplements in marked consumer packaging. The document was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, published on the official legal information portal, enters into force seven days after publication - 2 October 2026 - and remains valid until 31 December 2027. Applicability to Chinese sellers is limited: China is not on the unfriendly-countries list, so the confirmed impact covers only shipments whose declared origin is a listed country; whether transit via third countries changes the origin determination remains to be confirmed.

The Russian Defence Ministry said on 26 September that air defences shot down 1,222 fixed-wing drones in one day, along with four guided aerial bombs and two HIMARS rockets. According to the ministry, strikes hit transport infrastructure used by Ukrainian forces, UAV production workshops and storage sites, and Ukrainian deployment points in 152 areas. Moscow aviation hubs were affected the same day: Vnukovo and Domodedovo introduced flight restrictions around 00:45 and resumed operations around 09:03; Sochi and Krasnodar also saw temporary restrictions. For Chinese sellers the implication is an inference rather than a confirmed impact: overnight restrictions compress arrival and sorting windows, while in the Seversky district of Krasnodar Krai two enterprises caught fire from falling debris with a temporary power outage, and Azov and Taganrog were placed under a state of emergency.

The Russian Interior Ministry published on the draft regulations portal a proposal amending government resolution No. 467 of 27 April 2026: if CIS countries or Georgia join the EU, the preferential 180-day temporary stay for their drivers would end, and drivers transporting cargo and goods who enter visa-free would be limited to 90 days in Russia. The explanatory note says such accession would threaten Russian national security and contradict Eurasian Economic Union rules. The background: Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on 3 September that Yerevan is not abandoning its EU course, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on 24 September urged Armenia to choose between the EU and the EAEU; the Georgian parliamentary speaker said on 9 September that Tbilisi does not plan accession under the current EU course. Applicability to Chinese cross-border sellers remains to be confirmed: the draft targets CIS and Georgian drivers and does not directly affect Chinese nationals; if adopted, the pressure would fall on international road haulage capacity that relies on Armenian and Georgian drivers. The draft is not yet in force.

Kommersant, citing the operator of the Honest Sign track-and-trace system, reports 2025 data: imports account for about 16% of all dietary supplements put into circulation in Russia, the rest being domestic production; most imported product comes from Eurasian Economic Union countries, with about 45% of imports arriving from Kyrgyzstan. These figures tie directly to the 35% duty in the Logistics & Customs section: the new duty is determined by country of origin, while the main supply flow comes from EAEU members, so the actual impact on Chinese sellers depends on declared origin and supporting documents rather than the shipping country. This is an inference: goods routed through Kyrgyzstan or other union states recognised as EAEU-origin fall outside the new duty, while goods whose origin is determined to be a listed country are charged 35%. The determination procedure remains to be confirmed - rely on a customs advance ruling or written broker confirmation rather than past practice.

From 1 October 2027, Russian banks and microfinance organisations must transmit information on newly signed loan agreements to a qualified credit history bureau, which must then deliver a notification to the borrower's Gosuslugi personal account within 15 minutes. The message will include the creditor, the amount or limit, the interest rate and the repayment term. The mechanism was described by Senator Artyom Sheykin, deputy chair of the Federation Council digital economy development council, on which basis Expert filed its report. For Chinese sellers there are two layers: the mechanism and its start date are confirmed - borrowings through a Russian legal entity will show up promptly; the associated risk is an inference - fraudsters may send fake notifications urging recipients to cancel a loan via a link or transfer to a safe account, and verification should be done only by logging in to the portal directly or through the creditor's official channels.

The Russian government issued an order approving the conclusion, by exchange of notes, of an agreement among the governments of Russia, the DPRK and China on a joint ecological inspection of the Tumannaya (Tumen) River; the text was published on the official legal information portal. The order adopts a Foreign Ministry proposal coordinated with the Transport Ministry, the Natural Resources Ministry, the Agriculture Ministry, the FSB and the Primorsky Krai government and pre-negotiated with the Korean and Chinese sides. The Foreign Ministry is instructed to carry out the exchange of notes, with non-substantive amendments permitted; the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport and the Federal Agency for Fisheries, together with the FSB, are to provide special equipment, vessels and technical personnel. Inspection participants are allowed to cross the Russia-Korea and Russia-China state borders repeatedly during the inspection. Applicability to Chinese sellers is explicitly to be confirmed: this is an ecological inspection agreement containing no provisions on freight corridors, border crossing points or customs procedures, so no conclusion about a new logistics route to the Tumen estuary can be drawn from it.

The Central Bank of Russia official rates dated 26 September are USD 84.3414, EUR 95.8709 and CNY 12.5355 rubles, down 56.43, 101.50 and 11.45 kopecks respectively from the previous set effective 25 September (84.9057 / 96.8859 / 12.6500), i.e. the ruble strengthened across the board. What is new in this check is the validity period: querying the Central Bank interface for 27 and 28 September returns the same set dated 26.09.2026, meaning it stays in force through the weekend to 28 September inclusive, with the next repricing expected for 29 September (published 28 September under the usual practice). For Chinese sellers this is confirmed timing information: payout conversion is locked to one rate from 26 to 28 September with no extra weekend FX gap; rates must be rechecked from 29 September.