Around Russia Mythical world price November 29, 2006 Maxim Blunt The anniversary, 15th CIS summit, passing in Minsk, risks becoming the last: it is difficult to imagine a more empty event. Everyone is aware of this, including direct participants.

Going out the other day from a meeting of the working group of the All -Russian Civil Congress (the next, third already, Congress should take place in Moscow on December 12), our famous human rights activist Lev Ponomarev laid a hand on my shoulder and penetratedly said: “Do you really understand that all these nationalists, all these national bonds, will they then certainly throw you? They use and throw ...

The NATO summit in Riga ended on an uncertain note. The Western press made a fuss about Putin's possible visit to Chirac's birthday. As a result, they reported that the President of Latvia gave the birthday cake to the birthday boy, but Putin did not come. The very painful issue of introducing additional troops into Afghanistan has also not been resolved: they say that agreement on this issue has been reached, but there is no talk of signing documents.

Of the 4,000 hospital staff, about 160 will be tested for polonium-210 contamination, the UK Health Protection Agency said. Italian reporter Mario Scaramella, who in the first days of the investigation the press “listed” as the main suspect, also underwent examination. No traces of polonium-210 were found in his body. In general, there was a slight panic in London in connection with polonium.

In Voronezh, the leader of the local Young Guard, Konstantin Kvasov, invited the leader of the People's Democratic Union, Mikhail Kasyanov, to join United Russia. To which Kasyanov made him a counter-offer. Noting that United Russia has good slogans, he said: “In reality, everything is exactly the opposite: where is the free media? where is the independent parliament? All this is profanation!

Anatoly Chubais stated that he believes that the poisoning of Yegor Gaidar, the “suspicious death” of Litvinenko and the murder of Anna Politkovskaya are links in the same chain. “The deadly Politkovskaya-Litvinenko-Gaidar construction, which miraculously did not end, would be extremely attractive to supporters of unconstitutional forceful options for changing power in Russia,” he told RIA Novosti.

Alisher Usmanov, CEO of Gazprominvestholding, is negotiating the purchase of Russian News Service 107.0 FM. In order not to bore you with fabrications, let us recall that on August 30, Usmanov bought Kommersant. And here is what he is going to buy: the 7tv channel, the online publication Gazeta.Ru, and at the same time the entire publishing house Sekret Firmy, now radio. Well, and one more thing... Does everyone remember about the upcoming elections of 2007, and then 2008?

The draft law on the formation and use of endowment capital of NPOs contains the principles of financing the Nobel Prize. The new order will allow long-term projects to be implemented. At the same time, deputies intend to adopt amendments to the Tax Code. Donations of funds for the formation of target capital will not be subject to VAT and income tax. Income from endowment capital will also be exempt from income tax.

Arriving in Turkey, the pope hastened to declare that he supported the country's entry into the European Union. “We must act together,” the pontiff said after a meeting with the head of the religious department in the Turkish government, Ali Bardakoglu. However, Turkey's entry into the European Union faces serious not only political but also psychological obstacles.

A scandal broke out at the CIS summit - journalists, as always, are to blame for everything. Correspondents of Kommersant and Moskovsky Komsomolets, who, mind you, were accredited in advance, were not allowed into the summit. Because their publications, as explained by the security service, “systematically insult” Alexander Lukashenko personally and the entire country of Belarus (apparently, in his person). Lukashenko later said that what had happened was a “technical” misunderstanding.

Yegor Gaidar was hospitalized with severe poisoning, reports the Financial Times. On November 24, Gaidar was at the conference “Ireland and Russia: history, the letter of the law and the changing world system” in Dublin, where he suddenly became ill. They also report that the disease occurs with symptoms of poisoning and that Gaidar became ill after breakfast at the hotel.