Russian Duma (Parliament) passed the law in the first reading, which will prohibit cell phone companies to charge clients for incoming phone calls! Yes, you read it right, the Russian Parliament will make all cell phone companies in the country re-write their contracts and deal with the losses.

Boris Gryzlov, Parliament Speaker, justifies the action supported by 400 MP’s (out of 226 necessary votes) saying, “At least now advertisement about free incoming calls will be true.”

Now let’s see, who’s been selling the contracts featuring free incoming phone calls, and advertising this great deal for the past 3 years? Megafon. I used to be a client of Megafon, a company that offers cheap cellular services, that other companies like BeeLine and MTS can’t afford to provide.

The answer to why this law now, in my opinion, is simple. Ludmila, wife of Vladimir, yes – Putin, is behind this cellular company. Ludmila’s role is invisible on the paper, just like Luzhkov’s wife’s involvement in Moscow construction market and entertainment parks. If other companies had to heavily invest to build their infrastructure from the very beginning, Ludmila Putina got it right – she used the resources of the former Soviet Ministry of Communications, staffing the company with former government officials.

Out of the blue, three years ago Megafon jumped into the market and created real competition for the other providers. Western-style companies reacted, and while offering better service and quality, they re-gained the market, though not as fully as they had it before the Megafon's entry. Sonet didn’t survive the Megafon invasion and fell apart, BeeLine was challenged by the Russian Tax Ministry and barely escaped the fate of YUKOS.

Russian oligarchs and politicians are used to fast and easy profits, and the people behind Megafon, mostly government officials and ‘relatives’ of Putin himself, have no tolerance for free market ideology. While BeeLine and MTS are trying to provide the best service to their clients, Russian bureaucrats feel like the income they are making is not enough. Now, try to compete with the Russian Parliament and President Putin himself in the Russian “free” market.