All three opposition factions in the State Duma intend to leave the meeting hall on Friday, protesting against the United Russia bill submitted for the first reading on a multiple increase in fines for organizers of mass protests. According to RIA Novosti , Deputy Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Vladimir Kashin told reporters on Thursday.

The MICEX index, one of the main Russian stock indicators, fell below 1,300 points on Thursday afternoon against the backdrop of a fall in global markets due to negative news from Greece. By 14:19 Moscow time, the MICEX index fell to 1299.67 points (-2.7%) - the minimum since October 5, 2011. The RTS index fell to 1335.3 points (-2.8%) - the minimum since October 7. Ruble prices of “chips” on the MICEX-RTS exchange fell by about 5%, Interfax notes .

More than half of Russians want President Vladimir Putin to change the way he governs the country. This is evidenced by the data of a survey conducted in May by the Public Opinion Foundation. According to the poll, 53% of Russians want Putin to change the style and methods of governing the country, while 29% want him to maintain the style of his work in past years.

photo Legion-media.ru Two of the largest Russian publishing houses with a combined turnover of 12 billion rubles are negotiating a merger. The deal could take place against the backdrop of billions in tax claims against AST Two giants of the Russian book publishing business - Eksmo and AST - are negotiating a merger, two market sources told Forbes.

photo by Max Novikov for Forbes In the case of Sergei Mavrodi, an interdepartmental group has been created that is developing measures to combat the pyramid In a month, the founder of the MMM 2011 financial pyramid, Sergei Mavrodi, may end up behind bars.

Intergeo MMC Ltd, which consolidates the mining assets of Mikhail Prokhorov's Onexim group, has published a preliminary prospectus for the initial public offering of its shares in Canada. Morgan Stanley Canada Limited and BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. were appointed as the organizers of the IPO. The exact volume and price of the placement will be determined later, the document says.

The next generation of Apple's iPhone will undergo significant changes in appearance: the device may be equipped with a larger display - with a diagonal of at least 4 inches versus 3.5 inches for the iPhone 4S. According to sources in The Wall Street Journal , the American company has already placed orders for the production of new screens from its Asian suppliers LG Display, Sharp and Japan Display. Production of displays, according to the publication’s interlocutors, will begin in June.

The opposition made an attempt to legalize street activity, at least the opposition camp near the Barrikadnaya metro station. On Thursday, several opposition deputies of the municipal assembly of the Moscow Presnensky district tried to implement these plans.

The “visual” social network Pinterest, as part of its next round of investment, attracted $100 million in investments and was valued at $1.5 billion, informed sources told The Wall Street Journal . One of the fastest growing startups this time received funding from a pool of investors led by the Japanese Internet company Rakuten Inc. Well-known venture funds Andreessen Horowitz, FirstMark Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners also invested in Pinterest.

The head of the Department of Transport and Development of Road Transport Infrastructure in Moscow, Maxim Liksutov (No. 184 in the ranking of the 200 richest businessmen in Russia according to Forbes, fortune - $500 million) sold his stake in CJSC Transmashholding (TMH) to his partners - Iskander Makhmudov, Andrey Bokarev and several more managers who owned 50% minus 1 share. This information was confirmed to Interfax by a source familiar with the activities of the company’s beneficiaries.

Photo by Fotobank/Getty Images Greece is in crisis: banks stoically count on help from the European Union, and residents feverishly withdraw euros from their accounts As soon as she enters a bank in Athens, an elderly woman begins to speak excitedly and in a raised tone: “I have €150,000, how can I transfer it to Britain?!” In recent days, the topic of Greece's exit from the eurozone from high offices in Brussels or Berlin, warning about the possibility of such an option, has moved into everyday

Two top managers of JSC ANK Bashneft left the company due to an accident that occurred at the Trebs oil field in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, RIA Novosti cites the words of the company’s president, Alexander Korsik, told to journalists on the sidelines of the second international forum “Big Chemistry”. The accident at the Trebs field, which is being developed by Bashneft-Polyus LLC, occurred on April 20 during the reactivation of well No. 11.

photo ITAR-TASS The current state of the judicial system is the result of a long and purposeful activity of the Soviet government Some time ago, the Institute of Law Enforcement Problems conducted a sociological study of the judicial community in Russia. It was based on two dozen focused expert interviews with judges and a survey in five regions of five federal districts (759 questionnaires in total).

Russia is satisfied with the current level of world oil prices, presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich told reporters. Moscow is ready to make coordinated decisions with its foreign partners to ensure the stability of oil prices, he said, answering a question about the upcoming energy topic at the G8 summit. “We are absolutely satisfied with the current price level, plus or minus 5-10% - this is not so important,” RIA Novosti quotes Dvorkovich .

The acting head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), Igor Artemyev, told reporters that he will most likely remain as head of the FAS in the new government because President Vladimir Putin is satisfied with his work. He recalled that even before the presidential elections, when Putin served as chairman of the government, he said that the FAS was working normally. “Therefore, it seems to me that even then everything was decided,” RIA Novosti quotes Artemyev.