The proposed draft legislation will make Russia’s transfer pricing rules consistent with the OECD standard.

The OECD is not known for releasing statements on individual jurisdictions and the move to publicly welcome Russia's progress, so far, could be a result of the ongoing discussions between the OECD and Russia's Ministry of Finance on drafting the transfer pricing legislation.

There has been a certain amount of opposition to the introduction of transfer pricing legislation in Russia. Businesses set up purely to avoid tax, of which there are many, do not want to see transfer pricing rules enacted. The political environment in Russia is therefore a different concept for the OECD to deal with.

"Often we will issue statements welcoming developments that take a country nearer to the OECD standards. This has been a long debate between the OECD and Russia so naturally we are pleased at these latest developments," said Jeffrey Owens, director of the centre for tax policy and administration at the OECD.