Diplomatic World nummer 54

Arkady Arianoff (President of the Board of Directors CCBLR Moscow and Director CCBLR)
Oleg Prozorov (General Director CCBLR Moscow)
Kurt Demeyere (Vice President CCBLR and Senior Associate NautaDutilh Brussels)
annual International Conference on Tax Case Law of the
Russian Constitutional Court, organised by the Russian tax
journal Nalogoved and Russian law firm Pepeliaev Group.
Next April, I will speak at this conference for the 10th time.
Each time, I learn a lot about Russian tax law and have
interesting conversations with participants.
These gatherings are crucial as they enhance my knowledge
of Russian tax law and legal practice. I have noticed an
increase in the quality of the presentations, discussions and
questions raised by both panel speakers and members of
the public. These conferences bring together people from
diverse backgrounds who would otherwise not hear each
other’s opinions: university professors, lawyers, judges,
in-house counsel, etc. While most Russians working with
international companies can speak English, it is a real asset
to be able to converse with them in their mother tongue.
Finally, I would like to stress the importance of the
Eurasian Economic Union, an economic and customs union
founded in 2015 between Belarus, Kazakhstan and the
Russian Federation, which entered into force on 1 January
2015. In the meantime, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan have also
joined. This union can be a genuine instrument to boost
business.
Arkady Arianoff: The January conference about the
Eurasian Economic Union was indeed a huge success. Our
New Year cocktails always attract a lot of people, bringing
together anyone and everyone interested in the Russian
economy and Russian culture. We are pleased by the
attendance, despite recent negative coverage of Russia in
the international press.
What are the sectors where you see the greatest
interest on the part of the Russian Federation?
Kurt Demeyere: The most important sector is still energy.
On 29 May 2017, NautaDutilh hosted the CCBLR
General Assembly. On this occasion, more than 50 people
attended a roundtable and panel discussion on the Year
of Ecology and Environmental Awareness in the Russian
Federation (moderated by me). The discussion focused
on both efforts being made (especially with respect to
technological innovation) and what Western European and
Russian companies can do to contribute to energy efficiency
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