The United Kingdom has granted duty-free access to a range of goods originating in Armenia. The preferential trade arrangements cover agricultural produce, spices and alcoholic beverages and are intended to make it easier for Armenian producers to enter the British market.

With the assistance of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, Russian regions have entered into 146 agreements aimed at stabilizing fuel prices. As of early November, these arrangements are in effect across 52 constituent entities of the Russian Federation, including the Volgograd and Rostov regions, as well as the Stavropol Territory.

Armenia will introduce a new biometric identification system on 1 November, with citizens set to receive passports containing electronic chips and a new generation of national ID cards. The reform is intended to make Armenian identity documents compatible with international authentication systems and, in the longer term, allow their holders to pass through automated border gates.

Utility bills rose across the North Caucasus on 1 October. The average increase across the North Caucasus Federal District (NCFD) was 14.5% — almost 2.7 percentage points higher than in the rest of Russia. The national average stands at around 12%.