The chairman of the board of directors of the French media conglomerate Vivendi Universal, Jean-Marie Messier, irritates everyone - shareholders, politicians, cultural figures. And it depends on them whether he keeps his post. Last year, Monsieur fired the popular head of one of the company's money-losing divisions, a move that earned him criticism from French cultural figures and virtually everyone in the presidential race.

OSLO - As is well known, Norway is a country that holds traditions sacred. But they also love to explore uncharted territories and make discoveries. Amundsen was the first to reach the South Pole, and Thor Heyerdahl, proving the correctness of his hypothesis, simply crossed the Pacific Ocean - on a raft of nine balsa logs. And America, if you think about it, was discovered by the Vikings.

MOSCOW. Since the beginning of the year, the Russian Pension Fund has invested about 10 billion rubles in GKOs and OFZs, Deputy Finance Minister Bella Zlatkis reported yesterday. (PRIME-TASS)

PETERSBURG - The Belgian company Glaverbel, which owns a large block of shares in the Bor Glass Factory (Nizhny Novgorod Region), is expanding its presence on the Russian market. Yesterday, the Belgians announced plans to build a new glass factory in the Moscow Region worth about 130 million euros. The Belgian company Glaverbel is the second largest manufacturer of architectural, automotive and mirror glass in Europe.

The Ministry of Antimonopoly Policy has put forward the idea of ​​creating a state control monopoly. This structure, called the "Federal Inspectorate," would unite all non-tax control bodies, of which there are no fewer than 35 in Russia, not counting regional ones. The list of these structures, as well as the officials who have the right to "consider cases of administrative offenses," can be found in Chapter 23 of the new Administrative Code, which will come into force on July 1.

Basic Element, Nafta-Moscow and Millhouse Capital have begun dividing the assets they purchased on a parity basis. As Vedomosti has learned, Basic Element has received full control over Ingosstrakh, and two of its partners will soon leave the insurer's shareholders. According to Vedomosti, Basic Element representatives currently hold six out of nine seats on Ingosstrakh's board of directors.

The MFB's claim was satisfied on April 1. The Supreme Court found the Central Bank's instruction on the mandatory sale of export proceeds to be in conflict with the laws on currency regulation, on the protection of competition in the financial services market, and the Civil Code. And yesterday the Central Bank suffered a final defeat: the Supreme Court's cassation panel upheld the previous decision. Mamontov calls it a victory for the entire country.

UFA. Today, the Ordzhonikidzevsky Court of Ufa considered the complaint of the shareholder of OAO NK Slavneft Miniyaz Mingaliyev and declared invalid the decision of the extraordinary meeting of shareholders of Slavneft of May 13 to terminate the powers of the company's president Mikhail Gutseriev and appoint Yuri Sukhanov to his position. As RBC was informed by the court, the decisions of the board of directors of OAO NK Slavneft of April 8 and 19, 2002 were also declared invalid. (RBC)

Buying cold beer in Moscow this summer will no longer be a problem. Three brewing companies will jointly install more than 3,500 branded beer refrigerators in the capital's stores and trade pavilions. The brewers' concern is not unselfish: once beer is cooled to 15 degrees, its sales increase by at least 40%.

The World Cup, which starts today, is important not only for the army of fans, but also for economists. A review by investment bank Goldman Sachs claims that the pace of economic growth in countries depends on the results of national teams at World Cups. But other experts believe that Goldman Sachs has confused cause and effect. "Our understanding of the global economy is that it is growing with football," write analysts at Goldman Sachs.

Kyiv. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on Wednesday decided to sell 42.86% of Ukrtelecom OJSC at a tender, Deputy Prime Minister Vasyl Rogovoy told reporters. It is planned that communications companies with an annual income of at least $1 billion over the past three years will be able to participate in the tender.

Today, Avtobank's annual balance sheet will be published. As Vedomosti learned, the auditor, ZAO Arthur Andersen, refused to certify it. This will not cause the bank any material losses, but will undermine confidence in it.

SAN JOSE — Intel Corp. on Wednesday formally announced the results of tests of its new Itanium 2 microprocessor, which has been in development for about eight years. The tests confirmed Intel's initial assessment that Itanium 2-based computers should be 1.5 to 2 times faster than machines using current versions of Intel's Itanium processor.

VILNIUS. Representatives of the Lithuanian government, the American company Williams, which manages the Lithuanian oil complex, and the oil company YUKOS yesterday initialed agreements on investments in Mazeikiu Nafta. The draft agreements have been submitted to the Seimas for review. YUKOS will buy 26.85% of Mazeikiu Nafta shares for $75 million and provide a loan for the same amount. YUKOS also undertakes to supply 4.8 million tons of oil annually to the Mazeikiu Oil Refinery for 10 years.

Yesterday, the Minister of Economy of the Moscow Region Vyacheslav Krymov made threats against several large shopping centers located in the region at the round table "Foreign Investments in the Moscow Region". Krymov stated that it is not profitable for the region to promote the development of shopping centers whose owners are not operators in them, but only rent out space.