CSKA lost to Khimki in a scandalous ending Russian Basketball Championship Yesterday, the intrigue in the final series of the Russian Basketball Championship was revived. “Khimki,” which lost to CSKA in the first two matches and was one step away from defeat, managed to “soak” the score. On their home court they won 67:66 - a match with a very dramatic and very scandalous ending.

Binnopharm is discussing a merger with the pharmaceutical plant named after. N. A. Semashko As Kommersant has learned, the Federal Property Management Agency is ready to transfer 100% of the oldest Russian pharmaceutical enterprise to JSFC Sistema - OJSC Moscow Chemical and Pharmaceutical Association named after N. A. Semashko (MSPP) in exchange for a share in its ZAO Binnopharm.

The industry is being transferred to a single tax Enterprises in the housing and communal services sector (HCS), created by local authorities, will be able to switch to a simplified taxation system. According to Saturday's government decision, they must pay no more than 200 UAH per month. But tax breaks will not solve the problems of the housing stock - only free competition will help the industry, experts are sure.

Conjuncture The consolidated revenue of the MTS group in the first quarter of 2009 decreased by 24% compared to the same period last year, to $1.8 billion, due to the devaluation of national currencies and seasonal factors, MTS said in a statement. The operator’s revenue, denominated in national currencies, increased: for example, in Russia - by 7.5%, to 46.86 billion rubles.

British BP nominated a native of Interros, ex-head of Polyus Gold, Pavel Skitovich, to the position of chief managing director of the Russian-British TN-BP. “BP has nominated Pavel Skitovich for the post of head of TNK-BP,” Russian BP representative Vladimir Buyanov told RIA Novosti on May 25. According to the TNK-BP shareholders agreement, BP nominates a candidate for the post of general director, after which it must be approved by all shareholders.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton intends to discuss with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov the situation surrounding the nuclear test conducted by the DPRK, the American Foreign Ministry reported. North Korea announced on May 25 that it would conduct underground nuclear tests. In addition, according to some reports, it also test-launched a surface-to-air anti-aircraft missile with a range of about 80 km.

This year, the Russian stock market is radically different from the American one: since the beginning of the year, the price of Russian shares has increased greatly, while American shares have fallen. Vlast columnist Sergei Minaev reveals the ideological reasons for this phenomenon. Last year, the Russian RTS index fell by 72.4%, becoming one of the leaders in the global decline in shares. Russian stocks underperformed the aggregate MSCI Emerging Market Index by almost 40%.

On the evening of May 24, near the village of Bamut in the Achkhoy-Martan region of Chechnya, a battle between police and a gang took place. “The militants were discovered by employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Chechnya and Ingushetia, who carried out operational search activities. When trying to arrest the militants, they offered armed resistance and fled,” a source in the republic’s law enforcement agencies told RIA Novosti.

Today in Naberezhnye Chelny, at the KAMAZ automobile plant, the first of 40 facilities for organizing hot meals was transferred to the management of the outsourcing company Sodexo, reports the public relations department of KAMAZ OJSC. As a result of the tender, more than 40 catering facilities, including over 20 canteens, were taken over by Sodexo.

White nights are the peak of the season for St. Petersburg captains. Our correspondents spent the day with them Natalya Shergina Photo by Alexey Kudenko This Nevsky is stuck in traffic jams, and traffic along the river is the most violent. But there are also traffic jams on the canals - until twenty-three in the evening. Pleasure boats, motor boats, kayaks, boats are almost pushed by their sides. St. Petersburg captains have such a service - skating under raised bridges.

The only Russian patient infected with A/H1N1 is recovering Rospotrebnadzor yesterday denied information about the appearance of another patient with swine flu A/H1N1 in Russia. The man, who complained of a cold, flew to Moscow from the United States on Delta airlines on May 23, was taken to the hospital, but was released yesterday. Rospotrebnadzor reported that ten people arriving in Russia were examined with suspected swine flu in May, but only one case of the disease remains confirmed.

Gazprom assesses the situation with Ukraine’s payment for gas supplies from Russia in May as very difficult. This was stated on May 25 by the chairman of the board of the Russian gas monopoly, Alexey Miller. “We assess the situation with payment for gas supplies in May as very, very difficult. If there is a failure to pay for supplies for May, Gazprom has every reason to switch to 100% prepayment,” Mr. Miller said.

FROM THE EDITOR 232 1 min. ... This year, Ogonyok will present the traditional Lev Yashin prize to the best goalkeeper of the season for the 49th time. Voting will take place in several stages. Throughout the season, readers will be able to vote for their favorite goalkeeper on the magazine's website.

25 1 min. ... Today, May 25, it became known that the Cabinet of Ministers has instructed the National Green Investment Agency to negotiate with Dighton Carbon (Switzerland) and Tawhaki (New Zealand) on the sale of 150 million units of the established amount of greenhouse gas emissions.

The refereeing department of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) determined on May 25 the ten best chief referees of the past season. According to the official KHL website, the list included: Alexey Gorsky, Sergey Gusev, Rafael Kadyrov, Sergey Karabanov, Konstantin Olenin, Alexey Ravodin and Sergey Semenov, as well as Vyacheslav Bulanov, Anatoly Zakharov and Sergey Kulakov, who refereed the decisive final match of the Gagarin Cup on April 12 .