The Turkish Ramenka, the operator of one of the largest Moscow retail chains, Ramstore, has rented space in four stores of the Global USA chain. The new Ramstore supermarkets, which will open in March, will be the first element of the Turkish chain's 2002 development program, Ramenka press secretary Saba Karabey told Vedomosti. According to her, the company plans to open 10 new super- and hypermarkets this year (including these four).

Yesterday, the summons to the Prosecutor General's Office of the heads of the customs department continued. Following the Chairman of the State Customs Committee Mikhail Vanin, who was questioned by the investigator on Tuesday, his deputy Boris Gutin gave testimony in the case of the furniture centers "Grand" and "Tri Kita". He was supposed to tell how the furniture removed from these centers was damaged. The head of "Grand" and "Tri Kita" blames the customs officers for this.

MOSCOW. Vneshtorgbank has not yet acquired 9% of the shares of London's Moscow Narodny Bank, a source close to VTB reported. The Bank of Russia was expected to sell VTB 9% of the shares of Moscow Narodny Bank before the end of 2001. "It is currently unknown what will happen to Vneshtorgbank itself, who will own it and what their plans will be," the source said. To purchase shares of Russian foreign banks, VTB's authorized capital was increased by 20 billion rubles to 42 billion rubles.

The Polish government may soon decide to purchase 23 MiG-29 fighters from Germany, which it inherited from the former GDR. The choice of Poland was caused by the desire to save money, but it will become epochal for the Russian aircraft manufacturing company RAC MiG. After all, in this case Poland, whose Air Force already has 22 aircraft of this type, will become the second foreign operator after India of one of the most popular Russian fighters.

This year, Russian municipalities and utilities will begin implementing World Bank loans totaling $207.5 million, said Anvar Shamuzafarov, Chairman of the Russian State Construction Committee. He said that in January, the government approved World Bank investment projects for two loans. The first, $122.5 million, is allocated to 14 Russian cities to reform municipal heat supply. The second loan, $85 million, is allocated to nine cities with the best-established housing and utilities sector.

This year, the oil company LUKOIL will have to conduct difficult negotiations about money with its own top managers, government officials and the heads of other oil and gas companies. Otherwise, LUKOIL will not be able to become the owner of 100% of the shares of OAO RITEK, a small but very effective oil company. RITEK operates primarily in Western Siberia, Tatarstan, and Yamal, and controls fields with total recoverable reserves of about 60 million tons of oil.

Last year, Russian airlines carried a total of 25 million passengers (an increase of 12.6% compared to 2000). At the same time, 28 of the 30 leading carriers improved their figures on domestic routes and 29 on international routes. As before, these thirty account for about 90% of all transportation in the country. And almost half of all air transportation in the country was accounted for by the first five companies, each of which carried a million or more people.

LONDON. Standard & PoorX's has affirmed the credit ratings of the International Industrial Bank and its deposit certificates (long-term CCC+, short-term C) and changed their outlook from "negative" to "stable," the agency said in a statement. The ratings of the International Industrial Bank are at the level of the best currently assigned to Russian banks, the bank's press service said in a statement.

TOKYO - Japan's Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (MMC), 37 percent owned by DaimlerChrysler, is once again at the center of a safety scandal involving its trucks. The scandal involves three recent accidents, one of which claimed a life. To resolve the situation, MMC has offered to inspect about 300,000 trucks in Japan at its own expense. It is possible that such inspections will expand beyond Japan in the future.

The conflict between the Federal Securities Commission and the management company Pallada Asset Management, which had died down, received an unexpected continuation. Yesterday, the Federal Securities Commission cancelled the issue of Pallada, placed back in 1998. This became possible thanks to a clever combination using a method tried and tested in Russia - a claim by an individual.

TV-6 news will be broadcast on the radio station "Echo of Moscow" until the return of Yevgeny Kiselyov's team to television airwaves. This was reported yesterday by the editor-in-chief of "Echo" Alexey Venediktov. Presumably, TV-6's cooperation with the friendly radio station will last until March 27, when a competition will be held to obtain a broadcasting license on Channel Six.

MOSCOW. The State Duma has adopted in the second reading the draft law "On Amending and Supplementing the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in Terms of Strengthening Criminal Liability for Crimes in the Securities Market".

The price decline continued throughout the previous week, and quotes stabilized only on Friday. As a result, from January 15 to 22, the price of two-month oil futures on the London International Petroleum Exchange fell by 5.2% to $18.75 per barrel (in the first two weeks of the year, the price decline was 5.8%); the price on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by 3% to $18.34 per barrel (in two weeks, prices fell by 10%).

As Dmitry Zheglov, press secretary of the Pipe Metallurgical Company, which is part of MDM, told Vedomosti, on January 21, the Moscow Arbitration Court initiated bankruptcy proceedings against OOO Nuventa, affiliated with the former management of Kuznetsk Ferroalloys. The court appointed Igor Zaitsev as temporary manager of Nuventa. The group declined to comment in more detail.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday began accepting requests for crude oil to replenish the federal Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPPR). "We are committed to moving quickly to implement President Bush's directive to strengthen the nation's strategic energy reserve and ensure our nation's energy security," Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said in a statement.