grain market Thanks to grain interventions in 2009, it was possible to stabilize prices for third-grade wheat, head of the Ministry of Agriculture Elena Skrynnik said yesterday, speaking about state support for the agricultural industry and the department’s plans for 2010. In it, the Ministry of Agriculture plans to expand the range of state support measures through mortgage purchases of grain, but will also continue the practice of purchasing interventions, Ms. Skrynnik said.

Former Norilsk Nickel CEO Denis Morozov will be appointed president of Uralkali OJSC, Dow Jones reports. Mr. Morozov will replace Mikhail Antonov, who has served as acting president of the company since July 2009. Nadezhda Emelyanova

Its head is suspected of embezzlement Yesterday it became known that a criminal case had been opened against the chairman of the regional election commission, Yulia Kulikova. Mrs. Kulikova is suspected of misappropriation and embezzlement of budget funds, as well as official forgery. A criminal case was initiated on the grounds of crimes provided for in Part 4 of Art. 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (misappropriation or embezzlement) and Art.

As reported by the press service of Sverdlovsk Railways, in November of this year, 8.9 million tons of cargo were transported on the road, which is 16.5% higher than in November last year. At the end of the month, a record level of liquid cargo loading was recorded in the entire history of the road - 76.6 thousand tons per day (previously, the maximum level was recorded in November 2006 - 72.8 thousand tons per day).

Competitors The latest top 200 universities in the world included only two Russian universities - Moscow State University and St. Petersburg State University, but their positions are far beyond the top hundred. The fact that higher education diplomas and academic degrees obtained at home are not recognized abroad is often explained by the insufficiently high authority of our universities.

According to data provided by the World Meteorological Organization, the last decade will be the warmest since recorded, and 2009 could be among the top five hottest, thus displacing 2003. These data, according to participants in the UN climate summit currently taking place in Copenhagen, clearly indicate the threat of global warming.

Anastasia Volochkova exposed Nerve ballet show At the Kremlin Palace, Anastasia Volochkova presented a solo program called Nerve. TATYANA KUZNETSOVA observed the ballerina’s nerve endings. The Nerve program was announced as a premiere, but of the nine numbers presented in it by Anastasia Volochkova, only the first was unfamiliar to the Kommersant correspondent - to the music of Cavaradosi's aria from the opera Tosca.

Tatneft, in accordance with the corporate program for the utilization of associated petroleum gas (APG), designed for 2009-2013, has begun implementing the most effective projects at the company's facilities, the company reports. Currently, OAO TATNEFT effectively uses 738.4 million cubic meters of APG per year, which is 94.6% of the total volume of gas produced by the company, the company reports.

The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources expects that the state corporation Rosgeology will be created in early 2010. “We plan to create Rosgeologia at the beginning of 2010. All projects are sent for approval to the federal executive authorities,” said the head of the ministry, Yuri Trutnev, at a briefing on December 8.

Deputies of the Yekaterinburg City Duma at a meeting on Tuesday decided to appeal to the Minister of Internal Affairs Rashid Nurgaliev and the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Ural Federal District Nikolai Vinnichenko with a request to draw attention to the conflict between the Yekaterinburg mayor's office and the Central Internal Affairs Directorate of the Sverdlovsk Region.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade is ready to transfer the assessment of company loyalty to private hands The Ministry of Industry and Trade proposes to transfer to private companies an actual assessment of the compliance of company policies with government priorities.

Yesterday, the session of the State Assembly - El Kurultai of the Altai Republic adopted the republic's budget for 2010 and the planning period 2011-2012. The volume of income for the next year is projected at 8.4 billion rubles, including own income - 1.63 billion rubles. In the structure of own income for 2010, tax revenues predominate (83.8%). Expenses are envisaged in the amount of 8.54 billion rubles. "News of Gorny Altai"

Today, December 8, it became known that the winner of Eurovision 2009, a Norwegian with Russian roots, Alexander Rybak, will perform on December 11 at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, which was won this year by US President Barack Obama, writes the website www.esctoday.com . At the ceremony, which will take place in Oslo's main concert hall, the Spectrum, Mr. Rybak will perform Fairytale, which brought him fame, accompanied by the Norwegian Television Symphony Orchestra.

TermRussian rubleEuro*English pound*Japanese yenSwiss FrancIndian RupeeUkrainian hryvnia Overnight 29.8945 1.4857 1.6469 89,431 1.0173 46.5036 7,992 Tomorrow 29.8945 1.4857 1.6469 89.43 1.0173 46.5033 7.9957 1 week 29.9248 1.4857 1.6468 89,428 1.0173 46.525 8,076 1 month 30.1095 1.4856 1.6466 89.41 1.0171 46.60 9.195 2 months 30.2495 1.4854 1.6462 89,396 1.0169 46.6875 10,691 3 months 30.4071 1.4852 1.6459 89,382 1.0167 46,775 12,382 6 months 30.8831 1.4844 1.6449 89,303 1.0159 47.1275 17,856 1

Bashkir "Soda" entered into a fight with the Belgians for BSZ Another contender for the Berezniki Soda Plant (BSZ, Perm Territory) was the Bashkir Soda, which has operated a chemical plant in the Kama region since 2008. Soda shareholders approved the proposal of the board of directors to purchase BSZ shares from Valery Zakoptelov’s Sodium Group Investments Limited. Earlier, Mr.