"In General:

1. Interpretation of the Convention:

It is understood that provisions of the Convention which are drafted according to the corresponding provisions of the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital (hereinafter referred to as "the OECD Model") shall generally be expected to have the same meaning as expressed in the OECD Commentary thereon. The understanding in the preceding sentence will not apply with respect to the following:

a) any reservations or observations to the OECD Model or its Commentary by either Contracting State;

b) any contrary interpretations in the Convention and its Protocol;

c) any contrary interpretation in a published explanation by one of the Contracting States that has been provided to the competent authority of tnhe other Contracting State prior to the entry into force of the Convention;

d) any contrary interpretation agreed to by the competent authorities after the entry into force of the Convention.

The OECD Commentary - as it may be revised from time to time - constitutes a means of interpretation in the sense of the Vienna Convention of 23 May 1969 on the Law of Treaties.

2. Any information received under Article 26 "Exchange of Information" of this Convention or a certificate of residence or any other document issued by the competent authority of a Contracting State or its authorised representative shall not require a legalisation or an apostille for the purpose of application in the other Contracting State, including its use in the courts and administrative bodies.

Ad Article 1:

It is understood that the basic domestic rules set by domestic tax laws of the Contracting States for determining which facts give rise to a tax liability (anti-abuse rules) are not addressed in tax treaties and are therefore not affected by them.

Ad Article 3:

The term "political subdivision" in this Convention means, with respect to the Russian Federation, subjects of the Russian Federation, defined as such according to its legislation.

Ad Article 4:

It is understood that the place of effective management of a person other that an individual is situated where the key management and commercial decisions that are necessary for the conduct of the entity's business as a whole are in substance made. All relevant facts and circumstances must be examined to determine the place of effective management. An entity may have more than one place of management, but it can only have one place of effective management at any one time.

Ad Article 6:

The provisions of paragraphs 1 and 3 of Article 6 shall also apply to the income received through a real estate investment fund or a similar collective investment vehicle, which is organized primarily for investing in immovable property and in which the beneficial owner holds at least 10 per cent of the units or other rights.

Ad Article 25:

It is understood that to the event that pursuant to an agreement or convention for the avoidance of double taxation concluded with a third country after the date of signature of this Protocol, Russia agrees to include an arbitration provision in such agreement or convention, the competent authorities of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Austria will start negotiations, as soon as possible, in view of concluding an amending Protocol aiming at inserting an arbitration provision into this Convention.

Ad Article 26:

1. The competent authority of the applicant State shall provide the following information to the competent authority of the requested State when making a request for information under the Convention to demonstrate the foreseeable relevance of the information to the request:

a) the identity of the person under examination or investigation;

b) a statement of the information sought including its nature and the form in which the applicant State wishes to receive the information from the requested State;

c) the tax purpose for which the information is sought;

d) grounds for believing that the information requested is held in the requested State or is in the possession or control of a person within the jurisdiction of the requested State;

e) to the extent known, the name and address of any person believed to be in possession of the requested information;

f) a statement that the applicant State has pursued all means available in its own territory to obtain the information, except those that would give rise to disproportionate difficulties.

2. It is understood that the exchange of information provided in Article 26 does not include measures which constitute "fishing expeditions" or to request information that is unlikely to be relevant to the tax affairs of a given taxpayer.

3. It is understood that paragraph 5 of Article 26 does not require the Contracting States to exchange information on a spontaneous or automatic basis.

4. It is understood that - in addition to the above mentioned principles - for the interpretation of Article 26 the principles established in the OECD Commentary on the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital and also in the Commentary on the OECD Agreement on Exchange of Information on Tax Matters shall be considered as well."

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	Protocol Amending the Convention Between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Austria...