TODAY: Sanctions compensation bill passes first reading; ‘foreign agent’ law fines may be softened; Russia’s business landscape looks feudal, says Putin associate; budget boosts RT funding by 41%; art market at a high, ruble still not recovering; Gazprom signs deal with Argentina; Rosneft will struggle at Arctic wells without Western assistance; 331 killed in Ukraine since ceasefire.

A bill dubbed the ‘Roterberg law’, which seeks to provide financial compensation to Russian companies and citizens affected by sanctions, has passed its first reading in the Duma. Initially ‘sneered at’ by the Kremlin, the name of the bill comes from the government’s U-turn last month after ‘Putin pal’ Arkady Rotenberg’s four Italian villas were seized as a result of sanctions.  A separate bill proposes reducing the fines levied against non-governmental organisations under the new ‘Foreign Agent’ law – apparently in response to complaints from the human rights commissioner.  Sergei Pugachev, a former close associate of Vladimir Putin, described Russian businessmen as ‘serfs’ who belong to the President, and that there are no longer any ‘untouchables’ or private property in the business landscape.  The new state budget includes a 41% funding increase for Russia Today, the ambitious, global, state-run television network; and just this year Putin cut a deal that will allow RT’s Spanish-language channel to broadcast 24/7 in Argentina.  The Central Bank’s interventions have not stopped the ruble from falling this week.  But despite Russia’s economic hardships, its art market is at a six-year high.  A majority of Russians believe that their country is seen by foreigners as ‘interesting’, and generally viewed favorably, according to a new poll.