TODAY: Navalny exposes officials’ luxury dachas; commercial court abolished as planned; Putin’s high hopes for bilateral trade with Italy; economy slowing; former Prosecutor General employee alleges interference in Magnitsky case; Ukraine candymaker exports to resume; Russia vs. Europe; Amnesty calls to repeal ‘foreign agents’ law.

Cottages in a luxury dacha complex are supposedly owned by top United Russia officials including Vyacheslav Volodin, according to Alexei Navalny, who posted images of the complex online.  In spite of warnings of severely weakening the court system, Russia’s highest commercial court was abolished yesterday, giving President Vladimir Putin more power over prosecutors.  Putin expressed hopes that Russia and Italy will be able to reach bilateral trade volumes of $50 billion this year, as Rosneft and Eni announced a mutual supply deal.  The rouble has hit a four-year low, and Sberbank’s increased loan provisions suggest that it is vulnerable to the slowing economy.  Galina Tarasova, a former employee of the Prosecutor General’s Office, has accused her ex-colleagues of illegally intervening in the investigation into the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.