Officially

President

Appointed Igor Shuvalov, assistant to the president, as representatives of the president on the National Banking Council ; Arkady Dvorkovich, head of the presidential expert department; Andrey Illarionov, presidential adviser.

Departments

By the European Union summit in November, “road maps” for the four spaces that are supposed to be formed between Russia and the EU should be presented. This was announced by the special representative of the Russian President for the development of relations with the EU, Sergei Yastrzhembsky. He emphasized that by November the “aggregate point of view of the Russian side, which will be presented in November at the EU summit,” should be ready. Sergei Yastrzhembsky named the second no less important direction for the current year in relations between Russia and the EU the ratification of the protocol to the agreement on partnership and cooperation between Russia and the EU, which was signed in April in Luxembourg.

State Duma

The State Duma Budget Committee recommended that the lower house of parliament adopt in the first reading the bill “On the savings and mortgage system of housing for military personnel.” The document proposes the creation of a new (savings-mortgage) housing system for military personnel who entered into their first contracts for military service before January 1, 2005 and, in some cases, in the previous several years. At the same time, each participant in the savings-mortgage system will open a personal savings account to which funds from the federal budget and income from investing these funds will be credited. A participant in this system, it is noted in the conclusion, can use funds from a personal savings account to purchase housing, obtain a targeted housing loan, and repay mortgage loan obligations.

“According to the new amendments to the Housing Code, the former spouse of the owner of the apartment will have the right to live in it only for a year after the divorce,” said Pavel Krasheninnikov, head of the State Duma Committee on Legislation. Thus, women who are not apartment owners may be completely deprived of housing in the event of a divorce, even if they have minor children. At the same time, children, having full right to their father’s living space, can stay with him. “This amendment has not yet been put into effect, and it is impossible to say exactly in whose favor the courts will decide such disputes,” noted Pavel Krasheninnikov.

Regions

Governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory Alexander Khloponin does not rule out that in the spring of 2005 a referendum may be held in the region on the issue of unifying the region, the Taimyr and Evenki Autonomous Okrugs. “At the moment, a working group has been created, which includes German Gref, Alexey Kudrin, and experts from the presidential administration. The working group should complete preliminary calculations by July 5,” said Alexander Khloponin. “By the end of summer, the calculations should be completed, and after all issues are agreed upon, a referendum on the issue of unification can be held in the spring of 2005,” he specified.

Based on materials from news agencies and our own information