The Russian government has proposed to increase total defense spending in 2017 by 179.6 billion rubles - to 3.05 trillion rubles or $52.4 billion (3.3% of GDP), as indicated in a draft amendment to the budget submitted to the State Duma, Rosbalt.ru reports.

The increase in expenses will be for the closed part of the military budget. The expenditures in all other areas, including social policy, education, and healthcare, are planned to be reduced by 54 billion rubles ($938.5 million). …

The German company BMW intends to build a full-cycle car assembly plant in Russia, Vedomosti newspaper reports citing a source familiar with BMW management. The probable location for the production facility is the Kaliningrad region.

The Kaliningrad Region is located in a special economic zone (SEZ), whose residents receive budget subsidies covering the costs of customs payments when importing components. As the interlocutor of Vedomosti specifies, welding and tinting of (cars’) bodies will be …

Budapest does not intend to violate European unity over the issue of sanctions against Russia, despite the conflict with Kyiv over education legislation, as stated by Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó in an interview with newspaper Kommersant.

According to him, while the Ukrainian law on education remains in force, Hungary will not support a single Ukrainian initiative or any important for Ukraine issue in any international organization. However, sanctions against the Russian …