A referendum on declaring the region's independence from Spain will not be held in Catalonia, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said. According to him, not a single Spanish territory will gain independence while he is prime minister. He is supported by deputies of the Socialist Party, of which he is a member and which has an absolute majority in the Spanish Parliament. A referendum on the independence of Catalonia was planned for November 2014.

Direct speech Flun Gumerov, general director of the Krasnoselsky Jewelryprom jewelry factory, president of the Russian international jewelry chain Almaz-Holding: — We have 2.5 thousand employees, and, like any businessman, my task is to provide them with comfortable working conditions. After all, only a person who works in comfortable conditions can create and bring income to the company. This is the law of business: profitable, convenient, safe.

Experts on retail plans Russian retail chains are looking towards the stock market. A number of major players in the segment have announced their plans to enter an IPO, media write. Retailers have potential, but the unstable situation in the global economy reduces the chances of a successful placement, experts say. Photo: Alexander Kryazhev, Kommersant Retail is going for an IPO. In 2014, a record number of Russian retailers may decide to launch an initial public offering on the stock exchange.

The General Prosecutor's Office (GPU) has opened criminal proceedings into the shooting of rubber bullets by members of the Berkut special forces unit at journalists during clashes on Grushevskogo Street near the Lobanovsky Dynamo stadium, said Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Andrei Klyuev. “Now the Prosecutor General’s Office has opened criminal proceedings on this issue. Now it is she who is dealing with this case,” Mr. Klyuev said.

For the second year in a row, the ranking of the most stolen cars in the Ural Federal District is headed by Toyota cars (30.6% of all car thefts in the region). In first place based on the results of the past year is the Toyota Land Cruiser model (13%). In 2012, this position was occupied by Toyota Rav4 (15%). These are the conclusions of a study conducted by the AlfaStrakhovanie center based on data on thefts for 2012–2013.

Olga Moiseeva's anniversary at the Mariinsky Theater Anniversary ballet Previous photo Next photo 1 / 2 Photo: Kommersant / Valentin Baranovsky / buy photo Photo: Kommersant / Valentin Baranovsky / buy photo The Mariinsky Theater celebrated the anniversary of Olga Nikolaevna Moiseeva. Together with the audience, OLGA FEDORCHENKO applauded the ballerina and teacher-tutor.

On Tuesday, two more defendants in the $2 million extortion case were arrested; earlier, the court took four of their accomplices into custody, RIA Novosti reports, citing the press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Moscow. “Today the Tagansky District Court granted the investigator’s request and arrested two suspects of extorting $2 million for two months,” the agency’s interlocutor said.

Greek authorities are checking the plane carrying the Syrian delegation, after which it will be able to fly from Athens to Switzerland for the Geneva 2 conference, the Athens News Agency reports. “The Greek Foreign Ministry assured that the authorities are carrying out the verification procedure, which is applied in cases of international embargo, and after its completion the plane will be refueled and will be able to fly to its destination,” the agency’s interlocutor said.

Yesterday, the press service of the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Court announced a review of the sentence of two deputy directors of Burnakovskoye CJSC, Konstantin Semin and his daughter Natalya Gromova, who were accused of illegal banking activities (the man was also charged with illegal possession of a TOZ-1 small-caliber rifle, left over from a deceased relative).

A criminal case has been opened against the head of the administration of the Khabarovsk district of the Khabarovsk Territory, Vladimir Aleshko, on suspicion of fraud with specially protected lands. According to the investigation, using his official position, Mr. Aleshko made it possible to acquire recreational land for individual development.

Vitali Klitschko intends to meet with Viktor Yanukovych. The leader of the opposition UDAR party said he will meet with the Ukrainian president on Tuesday to discuss the unrest in the country. Journalist Pavel Sheremet discussed the situation with presenters Daria Polygaeva and Alexey Korneev. Photo: Gleb Garanich, Reuters “Yanukovych promised me to resolve the situation, but did not keep his word.

The FSIN published the first statistics: 2 thousand people were released A month after the announcement of the amnesty dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Constitution, almost 2 thousand people were released from institutions of the criminal correctional system. Such data was published today by the press service of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN).

Opponents of Bashar al-Assad are preparing suicide bombers to carry out terrorist attacks in Europe and the USA Radical Islamist groups fighting the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria are preparing potential suicide bombers to carry out terrorist attacks in the European Union and the United States. This came from a defector who fought in the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

He confidently won the Monte Carlo Rally World Rally Championship Photo: Lionel Cironneau, AP The first stage of the world rally championship that started last weekend - the famous race in the vicinity of Monte Carlo - brought success to the current champion, Frenchman Sebastien Ogier in a Volkswagen. In Monte Carlo, Sebastien Ogier won for the second time. He won his first here in 2009, and no one paid any attention to that victory.

As of 18.35, there were 10-point traffic jams on the roads of Kyiv, the Yandex.Traffic Internet service reported. Thus, according to the service’s information, the most difficult situation is in the city center, as well as on the main transport routes. In the area of ​​the government quarter, where protesters against the government's actions have erected barricades, traffic is completely blocked. It's snowing in Kyiv.