As the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov explained, the telephone conversation in the “Normandy format” (Russia, Ukraine, Germany, France) did not take place the day before due to inconsistencies in the leaders’ schedules; it will take place on February 19. “Yes, it will happen today,” RIA Novosti quotes Mr. Peskov as saying regarding the time of the conversation.

Academic institutions in Crimea are at risk of losing their independence The process of transferring Crimean scientific institutes under Russian jurisdiction has stalled: due to a disruption in the paperwork schedule, the Sevastopol Marine Hydrophysical Institute and the Institute of Biology of the South Seas found themselves without funding and are facing closure.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called the EU police mission the optimal format for international presence in the east of the country. He also suggested that the National Security and Defense Council consider the issue of sending peacekeepers to Ukraine. Columnist for the Kommersant newspaper Maxim Yusin thought about why peace agreements in Ukraine are not being respected. Photo: Dmitry Lekai, Kommersant / buy photo A time bomb was laid under the Minsk agreements from the very beginning.

Russian citizens held hostage in Sudan are alive, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said at a briefing in Moscow. “According to available information, Russian citizens are alive. Currently, the missions of the joint UN and African Union operation in Darfur, local authorities, and task forces are persistently searching for the whereabouts of the Russians.

Kommersant special correspondent Ilya Barabanov about those who fought near Debaltsevo 20-year-old Misha was born in Yekaterinburg, 21-year-old Lesha was born in Mozdok, Artem is 22 years old, he is from Slavyansk-on-Kuban, and Dima is 23, he is from Vladikavkaz. And also guys from Chita, Norilsk, Ulan-Ude. At first glance, nothing unites them all. But there is still something in common - city N, military unit *****, N separate motorized rifle brigade.

The Orenburg region needs more than 791 million rubles to pay for passenger transportation of the Sverdlovsk Suburban Passenger Company (SPC), while the budget includes only 260 million rubles for these purposes, the regional government reported on Thursday. Thus, the government lacks about 531 million rubles to pay off the SPPK.

The Leninsky District Court of Yekaterinburg satisfied the demands of the Sverdlovsk police to impose an administrative fine on two participants in the “I am Donbass” flash mob, who threw eggs at the building of the US Consulate General in Yekaterinburg. An administrative fine of 10 thousand rubles was imposed on each violator of public order. On January 31, a flash mob “I am Donbass” took place in Yekaterinburg in support of the cessation of hostilities in southeastern Ukraine.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev instructed to quickly recapitalize Rosagroleasing by 2 billion rubles, which will allow maintaining the preferential leasing program. “We are allocating an additional 2 billion rubles. to increase the authorized capital of Rosagroleasing. This will allow us to maintain the program of preferential leasing of agricultural machinery,” TASS reports Mr. Medvedev’s statement made at a government meeting.

The possibility of returning alcohol and tobacco advertising to the media requires additional study, said Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov. “On the one hand, economic feasibility in crisis conditions, and on the other hand, the moral and moral consequences of this (the return of advertising - Kommersant ), because statistics show that the exclusion of such advertising from the media leads to a reduction in consumption of alcoholic beverages , and tobacco.

The government of Bashkortostan has identified a list of priority areas of activity for NPOs that it intends to provide state support for this year. As follows from government documents published on its official legal portal, organizations specializing in providing social support to citizens, leading educational, scientific, cultural, patriotic projects, as well as NGOs promoting a healthy lifestyle and family values ​​have a chance to receive budget funding.

The former head of BTA Bank and the Minister of Finance of the Moscow Region may be extradited to Russia at the same time Yesterday it became known that on March 4, France may announce the extradition to Russia of the former owner of the Kazakh BTA Bank Mukhtar Ablyazov and the ex-Minister of Finance of the Moscow Region Alexei Kuznetsov, who are wanted for multibillion-dollar fraud.

Russian search engine complains to Google The competition between Yandex and Google for the Russian Internet search market is reaching a new level. Yandex asks the FAS to figure out why Google's Android mobile platform is imposing its services on smartphone and tablet manufacturers, including Explay, Fly and Prestigio. If the FAS agrees with these arguments, Google may face a fine of 1% to 15% of turnover in the operating systems market.

The head of the State Duma Economic Committee, Igor Rudensky, said that State Duma deputies and the head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service Igor Artemyev decided to create a working group to monitor and analyze prices for non-resource and raw materials products. The group will include representatives of the FAS.

Mikheil Saakashvili promised to return to power in Tbilisi from Kyiv Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili announced that he and his team will be able to return to power no later than 2016, when parliamentary elections will be held in the country. Although the experts interviewed by Kommersant do not particularly believe in Saakashvili’s return, they nevertheless do not completely rule out this possibility.

The department summed up its work for the beginning of 2015 Today Rosobrnadzor reported on the interim results of its work to deprive universities of their licenses. Since the beginning of 2015, the department has revoked the accreditation of 46 educational institutions. According to representatives of Rosobrnadzor, the reasons for deprivation of licenses were both court decisions and appeals from the founders of universities.