OREANDA-NEWS. ‘New regulation of retail payment services in the European Union’. The EU legitimises the operation of hi-tech intermediaries in payment services, in a move that is likely to dramatically change the structure of the retail financial services market in Europe. The article is a reflection on what needs to be done to prepare the Russian market for new challenges so it stays current in the global race of payment technologies. The authors include Mikhail Mamuta, Head of the Service for Protection of Financial Services Consumers and Minority Shareholders, Bank of Russia.

‘Single Targeted Social and Economic Policy as a Prerequisite for Economic Growth Resumption’. A systemic reform agenda for the Russian economy, to put it on the path for sustainable economic growth, is presented by Abel Aganbegyan, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, head of the department at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. The author explains how the up-to-date approaches to public administration (for example, the introduction of KPI to look into the performance of social and economic policies) may combine with a five -year planning system.

‘The balance of payments of the Russian Federation in 2015 and in 2016 Q1’. Alexander Bulatov, head of the world economy department at MGIMO (the Moscow State Institute of International Relations) presents an indepth analysis of the Russian balance of payments to establish how sustainable is the trend towards a decline in both net capital exports and external sovereign debt, as well as towards a sharp reduction in dubious cross-border transactions. Of particular interest, according to the author, is the direction of investment flows, which indicates the onset of new growth points in the Russian economy.

‘Trans-Pacific partnership: new standards for investment and financial services’. Regional economic unions have recently been on the rise across the world, essentially a result of a certain crisis in the status quo of global trade regulation. To keep its external market position, Russia needs to take into account the current trends in investment and financial regulation in neighbouring states, conclude Alexey Portansky and Vladimir Davydov, Global Economy and Global Politics Department research officers at the Higher School of Economics.