Presidents of Russia and Belarus Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko will continue talks in Moscow on December 29, press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said. “Tomorrow, by agreement of the two presidents, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko will arrive in Moscow, tomorrow Putin and Lukashenko will hold talks.

The MSK company, which served the New Year's reception in the Kremlin, may also be associated with businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, the BBC Russian Service found out. The authors of the publication, using the available email address "MSK", found out that he is associated with "Concord Catering" Evgeny Prigozhin.

Jean-Pierre Thomas was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of Rusal and will take office on January 1. Vedomosti notes that Thomas was previously the special representative of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy for the development of cooperation between Russia and France and was a member of the international advisory board of Rusal. On December 26, the company announced that Matthias Warnig was leaving the post of chairman of the board of directors.

Inflation could reach 5.5% as early as early 2019 due to an increase in VAT from 18% to 20%, according to the Central Bank of Russia. “In the second half of 2019, the growth rate of consumer prices will start to slow down and return to 4% in the first half of 2020. In the coming months, a further increase in inflationary expectations is likely due to the increase in VAT, ” Kommersant quotes the Central Bank document“ Inflationary Expectations and Consumer Sentiment of the Population ” .

Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin was sympathetic to the publication of the list of employees of the Moscow bureau of the BBC. “No, we are sympathetic.

A criminal case was opened against the acting head of colony No. 14 in Mordovia on abuse of power. According to the investigation , no later than October-December 2018, the suspect "illegally organized the involvement of convicts held in a correctional institution, without their voluntary consent, to perform overtime work in the clothing industry, including at night, which significantly violated their rights and legitimate interests , as well as the legitimate interests of society and the state.

Ukraine has lifted the ban on men from Russia entering the country, but Ukrainian border guards continue to check them in an enhanced regime, Oleg Slobodyan, spokesman for the State Border Service of Ukraine, said. “Martial law was not extended, which means that the threat of invasion by Russian troops has decreased. Nevertheless, the issue of security at the border is still relevant. Therefore, we continue to guard the border in an enhanced mode.

One of the important results of the year is the authorities' defeat in elections in a number of regions: the Kremlin is far from always in control of the situation.

Some kind of petty gopnichestvo: having smacked one of them in a neighboring yard, now we will catch someone from there and beat him in the face, and we won’t say that it’s us For some reason, the Times newspaper published a list of English-speaking employees of the Edinburgh bureau of the Russian agency Sputnik (part of RT). The Russian Foreign Ministry promised to think about countermeasures, and the next day, a list appeared on the pikabu website from a user created on the same day ...

Entrepreneur Dmitry Mikhalchenko received four years and seven months in prison on charges of smuggling elite alcohol under the guise of building sealant. Earlier, the businessman partially admitted his guilt, RBC reports . Mikhalchenko, who was considered to be connected with law enforcement agencies and was called one of the most influential businessmen in St. Petersburg, was detained in March 2016 on charges of smuggling alcoholic beverages by an organized group.

The FSB announced the completion of the construction of a 60-kilometer barrier on the border with Ukraine in Crimea. “The planned construction of the boundary of engineering structures and the setting up of a complex system of alarm sensors in the area of ​​the Perekop Isthmus has been completed,” the FSB quoted TASS as saying.

The Russian economy is drifting towards a new global crisis, and the authorities have neither the ability nor the desire to prepare for the storm, states economist Vladislav Inozemtsev Thinking about the past year, I tried (partly inspired by Alexander Morozov , who compared the Russian leadership to an airplane crew, capable of lifting a car into the air, but untrained to land it) to find some kind of allegory for the economic policies that the authorities pursued in 2018.

Moscow and London have reached an agreement in principle on the gradual restoration of diplomatic missions from January next year, Russian Ambassador to the UK Alexander Yakovenko said. “I’m not sure that this will be done for all employees, at least half of the embassy will be restored,” he said on the air of the Rossiya-24 TV channel, Interfax reports .

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a package of laws on the mitigation of punishment under the article on inciting hatred (282 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Now the criminal punishment for the first episode of violation under this article will be punished not according to the criminal, but according to the administrative code. The offender faces a fine of 10 to 20 thousand rubles. or compulsory work for up to 100 hours, or administrative arrest for up to 15 days.

The number of diplomats in London and Moscow, according to the British Foreign Office, will remain unchanged. The Foreign Ministry did not confirm the words of the Russian ambassador that the countries agreed to partially restore the number of employees of their diplomatic missions. No new agreements were reached, they said in London, Ekho Moskvy reports .