The State Duma in the first reading adopted the presidential bill regulating the detention of suspects and accused of economic crimes. Corresponding amendments will be made to the Criminal and Criminal Procedure Codes, as well as to the law on the procedure for leaving and entering the country. The head of state's office proposes to expand the list of crimes for which those accused or suspected cannot be taken into custody.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian officials have given state holding Svyazinvest frequencies for fourth-generation (4G) mobile communications in 39 regions home to 42 million people, or almost a third of Russia's population.

Turkish authorities announced the recall of the ambassador from Stockholm after the Swedish parliament, the Riksdag, approved a resolution classifying the mass murder of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War as genocide, the BBC reports. In addition, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan canceled an official visit to Sweden scheduled for next week.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Russia has allowed 11 U.S. meat processing plants to resume pork supplies, the U.S. Meat Export Federation told Reuters on Thursday. In the future, the number of factories that are allowed to resume exports may increase. Last week, the United States agreed that meat supplied to the Russian Federation will not contain an antibiotic from the Rospotrebnadzor blacklist. (Bob Burgdorfer. Translated by Alexander Gelogaev)

The number of operating Russian banks dropped to 997 by March 1, according to the Central Bank’s materials posted on the regulator’s website. The number of credit institutions has been consistently decreasing since the mid-90s of the last century. At the beginning of 1997, there were 2007 operating banks in the country. Over the next 13 years, this figure decreased by half, Interfax recalls . Banking statistics declined most rapidly in the late 90s.

The deal to increase the share of Daimler and the EBRD in KamAZ has been completed, said the head of Russian Technologies, Sergei Chemezov, who heads the board of directors of the Russian enterprise. “The deal has been completed to increase Daimler’s share. Daimler increased its share by 1%, the EBRD - 4%, together - 5%,” RIA Novosti quotes Chemezov as saying .

Former head of the Moscow City Internal Affairs Directorate Vladimir Pronin has been appointed advisor to the first deputy mayor of Moscow - head of the construction complex Vladimir Resin, told RIA Novosti a source in the city administration . Resin himself signed the corresponding order.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama plans to name San Francisco Federal Reserve President Janet Yellen as vice president of the U.S. Federal Reserve, a source familiar with the matter said. Yellen will replace Donald Cohn, who announced in early March that he would leave his post on June 23. The appointment to a four-year term as the second-in-command of the US Central Bank will require Senate approval. Yellen is considered one of the most peaceful Fed officials.

How and why the representation of Russian business in the rankings of the world's richest people changed For the first time, Russian entrepreneurs appeared on Forbes magazine's list of the world's richest people in 1997. The top five looked like this: Boris Berezovsky - $3 billion; Mikhail Khodorkovsky - $2.4 billion; Vagit Alekperov - $1.4 billion; Rem Vyakhirev - $1.4 billion; Vladimir Potanin - $700 million; Vladimir Gusinsky - $400 million.

The start of development of the Udokan deposit, one of the world's largest in terms of copper reserves, is planned for 2011, said the head of Russian Technologies, Sergei Chemezov. “Development is planned for next year,” confirmed the head of the state corporation. Russian Technologies are developing Udokan in partnership with Alisher Usmanov’s Metalloinvest holding, recalls RIA Novosti . Previously, the company estimated investments in the development of the field at no less than $1 billion.

In 2009, NOVATEK increased its net profit under IFRS by 13.7% to 26.043 billion rubles, the company said in a statement. The revenue of the largest Russian independent gas producer increased by 13.5% and amounted to 89.954 billion rubles. Revenue from oil and gas sales also increased by 14%. It amounted to 86.9 billion rubles.

The new visa code, which comes into force on April 5, should harmonize the system for issuing Schengen visas, told RIA Novosti press attaché of the European Union Delegation to Russia Denis Daniilidis . According to him, this is not about complicating the procedure, but about unifying the rules for issuing Schengen visas around the world.

ALMAATA (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's second-largest oil producer Exploration Production Kazmunaigas (KMG EP) said its oil production fell by 800 tons per day due to a workers' strike. Last week, mass absenteeism of personnel began in the oil production division of KMG EP. The reason for the strike was the introduction of a new wage system.

The Moscow Arbitration Court approved a settlement agreement in the case brought by Renova-StroyGroup CJSC and Megastroy LLC (also part of the Renova group) against BFM.RU LLC, which owns the business news web portal, and the publication’s journalist Olga Karaulova on the protection of business reputation, RIA Novosti reports .

The international rating agency Moody's decided to withdraw the ratings of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine, UNIAN reports . According to the report, the agency withdrew the company's corporate rating of "Caa2" and the probability of default rating of "Ca/LD". The message noted that this step was made “for business reasons.” According to Moody's classification, debt obligations rated "C" mean there is a high probability of default by the borrower.