Tomorrow in the Alexander Hall of the Great Kremlin Palace, state awards of varying degrees will be awarded. In particular, the stars of the heroes of Russia will receive generals Viktor Kazantsev, Vladimir Shamanov and Gennady Troshev. In addition, the orders for merits to the Fatherland of different degrees will be awarded to Alexander Pakhmutova, Evgeny Svetlanov, Vladimir Spivakov, Alexander Bovin and Henry Borovik. Boris Yeltsin will take part in the award ceremony.

Yuri Skuratov, suspended from the post of Prosecutor General, sued the ORT TV channel and the host of the Time program Pavel Sheremet. Skuratov intends to challenge the statements of Sheremet that the former Prosecutor General belongs to the mansion in the suburbs. Skuratov requires moral and material compensation. As for the latter, then, according to Skuratov himself, this is a “solid amount of hundreds of thousands of rubles”. The first meeting on the claim should be held on January 25, 2000.

The press secretary of the “unity” Mikhail Margelov said that at the tomorrow's congress , which will be held at the Moscow Cinema-Concert Hall “Pushkinsky”, the pre-election block can be transformed into a socio-political movement in order to become Putin’s election support in the presidential election.

All -Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) 103064, Moscow, Kazakova St., 16 tel. Reception 261-04-14 Press Service 261-05-04 and 267-06-78 E-mail: [email protected] On December 17 - 20, 1999, the VTsIOM conducted a traditional New Year's survey of 1600 Russians. The answers are given as a percentage of the number of respondents. Statistical error 4%. What is this year for the country compared to the past?

Skuratov believes that he still retains the chances of returning to the position of general prosecutor; "Izvestia" write that Berezovsky is squeezing Gusinsky in the media business; The newspaper "Today" believes that Vladimir Yakovlev is being prepared for the role of the destroyer of the party in power; "Profile" represents the rating of "lucky" and "losers" of the political week; Kiriyenko is sure that the communist will not become the speaker of the new State Duma; According to Novaya

Ruslan Aushev turned to Putin and Sergeyev with a request to monitor the investigation of the murder of two inhabitants of the Dzherakh district. The charred corpses of two men with firearms were found in the head in early December.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, opening a meeting of the Government Commission on Scientific and Innovation Policy, said that for Russia, where only 5% of enterprises pursue an “offensive scientific and innovative policy”, this area is fundamentally important, and if priorities are not in the near future, inevitably a lag ”.

The MRS information policy department has distributed an application in which the tax authorities promise in 2000 to actively fight with hidden forms of paying salaries, the size of which reaches 30% of the total volume or 11.9% of the GDP. The MNS recalls that the “salary schemes” deprive employees of the well -deserved pension provision and hopes that the reduction in the maximum income tax rate from 45 to 30% will prompt citizens to act strictly under the legislation.

Corsicans do not want to fight anymore, and the Irish leave the prison on vacation; The Chinese work when everyone is striking, and Clinton is trying to atone for "shameful episodes in the history of the United States" - a foreigner . Yes, by the way, the wine from the blue glass is drunk in a completely different way than from green ...

The ultimatum of the terrorists who captured the Indian airliner expired and now demand the release of their accomplices from Indian prisons (recall, the terrorists promised to kill one hostage at an hour, starting from 11:00 Moscow time, until their requirements were fulfilled). So far, there have been no new messages about the fate of hostages. At Kandahar airport, the Taliban combat units surrounded the captured plane, their intentions are still unknown, Reuters reports.

President of Turkmenistan Saparmurad Niyazov refused to preserve the People’s Council to preserve the post for life. On Monday, a meeting of the People’s Council was opened in Ashgabat, at which calls were heard for the preservation of lifelong powers behind Niyazov. The head of the republic, however, said that the country will be held in the country in 2002, noting, however, that if he is entrusted with the right to head the state, then he is ready to justify this trust.

The detachments of the Chechen police under the command of Buslane Gantamirov established control of the Staropromyslovsky district of Grozny and continue to advance to the city center. According to Gantamirov, the police are currently moving in two directions. "One group goes from the side of the Staropromyslovsky district, the second group is from the state farm" Rodina "through the village of Staraya Sunzha. As the resistance of the militants "takes on a fierce character,".

According to the press service of the Ministry of Emergencies, to date, more than 69 thousand people returned to Chechnya, and 5,349 have left the Grozny through the humanitarian corridors. Seven towns for refugees are currently deployed in Ingushetia, in which 25,519 people are located.

In the first hours of the New Year, 5 "hot lines" intended to prevent possible nuclear weapons due to failure in computer systems will operate at once. Thus, Washington and Moscow hope to ensure stability and prevent random launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles, ITAR-TASS reports.

After a few minutes, the term of the ultimatum set by terrorists who captured the Indian aircraft expires. They promised that, starting from 11:00 Moscow time, they would kill one hostage at an hour if the Indian authorities do not fulfill their conditions - the release of terrorists from prisons, including a relative of the main hijacker. This was announced after contacts with terrorists, UN official Eric Mul, official representative of the UN.