Ukrainian police officers detained the head of the board of Naftogaz of Ukraine, Yevgeny Bakulin, Rada deputy Arsen Avakov, who headed the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs after the overthrow of Viktor Yanukovych, reported on his Facebook page on Friday. “As part of an investigation into corruption schemes in the gas industry, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs today detained the head of the board of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine, Evgeniy Bakulin,” Avakov said.

The Federation Council on Friday, March 21, ratified the treaty on the annexation of Crimea to Russia, signed on March 18. Ratification was supported by 155 senators, there were no opponents or abstentions, RIA Novosti reports . 155 senators also voted unanimously for the federal constitutional law on the procedure for the entry of Crimea and Sevastopol into Russia. The documents will be sent from the Federation Council to Russian President Vladimir Putin for signature.

The international payment systems Visa and Mastercard, without any notification, stopped providing services for conducting payment transactions for clients of Rossiya Bank, controlled by businessman Yuri Kovalchuk (No. 1210 in the global ranking of billionaires according to Forbes, fortune - $1.4 billion), reported the press . -bank service on Friday, March 21. The press service emphasized that the bank did not introduce restrictions on transactions using plastic cards.

Russia will provide assistance to citizens and companies affected by US sanctions, the Russian President's press secretary Dmitry Peskov promised on Friday. “Naturally, the state will stand behind the backs of these legal entities and individuals, they will be provided with the necessary assistance,” RIA Novosti quotes him as saying. Vladimir Putin's press secretary expressed regret that somewhere plans are being hatched for sanctions against sectors of the Russian economy.

Among the 1,645 participants in the Forbes rating were seven people of non-traditional sexual orientation. Who are they? In 2014, there were 172 women on the Forbes global list of billionaires (1,645 people), more than ever before. Of the 50 richest people on the planet, you can find at least one person on each continent, with the exception of Antarctica. But at the same time, only seven people, or 0.4%, from the entire list openly declare their non-traditional orientation.

The Visa and Mastercard payment systems have stopped servicing the operations of Sobinbank, owned by Rossiya Bank, which the United States imposed sanctions on on March 20, the Prime agency reports, citing the credit institution’s call center. Sobinbank clients are offered to withdraw cash from ATMs and branches of Sobinbank and ATMs of the United Settlement System. In the latter, a commission (0.06%) will be charged when withdrawing money.

photo Getty Images State Duma deputies intend to prohibit international payment systems from unilaterally refusing services and want to force them to build processing centers in Russia Russia’s response to the refusal of international payment systems to carry out transactions of four Russian banks was not long in coming. Chairman of the National Payment Council, State Duma deputy Vladislav Reznik prepared amendments to the law “On the National Payment System”.

The Russian market on Friday, March 21, opened with a fall. As of 10:03 Moscow time, the RTS index fell by 3.29% to 1112.77 points. By 10:04 Moscow time, the MICEX index fell by 2.63% to 1,285.77 points, according to data from the Moscow Exchange.

The Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), founded by oppositionist Alexei Navalny, sent requests to law enforcement agencies in Great Britain and Switzerland to conduct checks on alleged facts of corruption, in which, according to its data, Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin ( No. 9 in the ranking of 25) may be involved. the most expensive top managers in Russia according to Forbes, total compensation - $15 million) and members of his family.

The international rating agency Fitch has downgraded the outlook for Russia's long-term issuer default rating "ВВВ" from stable to negative, the agency said in a press release. The short-term rating "F3" and the ceiling on the country's ratings "BBB+" were confirmed. "The change in outlook to negative is due to the potential impact of sanctions on the economy and business environment in Russia. Growth slowed to 1.3% in 2013, investment is declining.

Employees of Russian companies began to spend more working time on social networks and news sites due to the situation in Ukraine and Crimea, experts from Group-IB, a company specializing in the investigation of cybercrimes, calculated. The average time was forty minutes per day, compared to twenty minutes per day at the height of the Olympic Games, the company report said.

photo by Fotobank/Getty Images Make conflicts bloodless? It's possible. No matter how hard people try, they cannot do without disputes. When faced with other people's opinions and trying them on our worldview, we get to know ourselves and develop our own point of view, learn to protect our personal boundaries from inconvenient interventions. Therefore, it is important to look at conflicts as a natural part of life and try to make them as bloodless as possible.

photo Reuters The family of Prince Robert Louis François Marie of Luxembourg has invested in the revival of Chateau Haut-Brion for generations. How did she manage to revive the legendary wine? Prince Robert Louis François Marie of Luxembourg likes to tell his friends the story of how one day the hotel where he was staying got confused about his name. First, he introduced himself, as expected, as Prince Robert of Luxembourg. This was not on the reservation list.

President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the Security Council that on Monday he will definitely open an account with Rossiya Bank, which the United States imposed sanctions on on Thursday, RIA Novosti reports . Putin noted that until now he did not have an account with this bank. “As for a financial institution, as far as I understand, this is such an average bank,” he said.

EU leaders, European leaders and Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk signed the political provisions of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement on Friday in Brussels, the BBC reports . The signing of the document shows that both sides attach great importance to bilateral relations and intend to promote them further, said the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, before signing the document.