Russia

MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/: Renault increased car prices in Russia by 1.14% in average on the back of falling oil prices and fluctuated ruble rate, an official spokesperson of the company told TASS.

"Yes, prices were adjusted [+1.14% - TASS] on the basis of the evolved economic situation," the spokesperson said.

MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/: Several employees of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences were quarantined after visiting European countries, press service of the Institute told TASS.

"Several Institute employees are quarantined after the return from European countries," the press service said.

MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/: Test systems for identification of the new coronavirus are available in each Russian region in sufficient quantities, press service of the Russian consumer rights and health control watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said.

MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/: The route of Russian-Turkish patrols in the Syrian province of Idlib has been shortened because of militants’ plans, which involved using women and children as human shields, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry pointed out that Russia and Turkey had carried out their first joint patrol mission along the M4 highway in Idlib earlier on Sunday. "The patrol’s route was shortened in light plans made by radical groups not controlled by Turkey," the statement added.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has formally asked the country’s constitutional court if it is legal for him to change the constitution, the Kremlin said on Saturday, a move that could allow him to remain in power until 2036.

Putin in January unveiled a major shake-up of Russian politics and a constitutional overhaul, which the Kremlin billed as a redistribution of power from the presidency to parliament.

MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/: The crews of Su-34 multirole fighter-bombers from the Leningrad Air Force and Air Defense Army held drills for breaching a notional enemy’s air defenses and struck ground targets with air bombs, the press office of Russia’s Western Military District reported on Friday.

At the first stage of the drills, the pilots made a flight from the Voronezh Region in Russia’s south to the Tver Region in central Russia.

MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/: Rossiya Airlines (Part of Aeroflot Group) cancels flights from Moscow’s Vnukovo airport and St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport on March 14 and will only operate return flights because of the spread of the novel coronavirus, the company said on its website on Saturday.

MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/: Russia will provide funding for government spending commitments, including social sphere for six year at current oil process, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said at a meeting of the Federation Council.

"I want to say that even at current energy prices, we will have enough resources for a period of about 6 years with our current obligations. We have no reason to say today that we will reduce the obligations stipulated in the three-year plan or reduce those budget parameters," Siluanov said.

MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/: The Russian government is preparing proposals to mitigate the negative effects of coronavirus, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said at a plenary meeting of the Federation Council.

"The Russian Government is now considering and preparing a set of proposals to neutralize the effects of this negative factor [coronavirus]," Siluanov said.

He previously stated that the consequences of the spread of coronavirus in the world affect the Russian economy, as it is part of the global scene.

MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/: Russia’s partial suspension of flights to the EU due to the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to a wave of bankruptcies among Russian tour operators, Irina Tyurina, a spokesperson for the Russian Union of Travel Industry (RST), told TASS on Friday.