MOSCOW. The Budget Committee recommended that the Senate approve the chapter of the Tax Code on small business taxation. The day before yesterday, the committee voted to reject this law - senators believed that it was not beneficial to either entrepreneurs or regions. But yesterday, the committee revised its decision without discussion. The new chapter of the Tax Code introduces two taxation systems for small businesses.

The first oil exchange in Russia may open in Khanty-Mansiysk in the near future. This was announced yesterday by the Governor of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, Aleksandr Filippenko. The Ministry of Energy supported this idea. Oil companies verbally supported it too, although they are in no hurry to become participants in the exchange.

NRB unexpectedly helped Avtobank negotiate with Credit Agricole Indosuez (CAI). As is known, Avtobank is CAI's debtor under forward contracts for the supply of $27 million. The bank, although it does not refuse to pay the French, prefers not to create reserves for forwards in order not to recognize a certain amount of debt to CAI until the negotiations are completed. And Avtobank recently had very good reasons for this.

Russian politics consists not only and not so much of verified and reliable information. Rumors are an integral part of political life. In this column, and only in this column, Vedomosti prints these rumors as they are. We ask readers to treat them with the same degree of skepticism as we do ourselves. When the chickens crow, the muses are silent. Rumor has it that a black cat, or rather a black hen, has run between Russian and American trade officials again.

LONDON. The EBRD expects to acquire a stake in Vneshtorgbank by the end of this year, said David Hexter, deputy vice president of the bank. The European bank is interested in buying the stake and is ready to pay "good money" for it, he stressed, without specifying further details of the planned deal. "Mr. Kasyanov and I have a common understanding of how VTB should be privatized," Hexter said. Initially, the EBRD intended to acquire 20% of VTB shares for $300 million. (PRIME-TASS)

The initiative of Russian oilmen, who offered to hire a foreign coach for the national football team at their own expense, did not find support among sports functionaries. Valery Gazzaev was appointed head coach of the Russian national team on Monday. That's in football. But in business, heads of Russian companies very often invite foreigners to management positions. Are they worth the money they are paid?

MOSCOW. YUKOS shareholders continue to sell their shares: on Monday, Morgan Stanley acquired an option to buy 0.1% of the company's shares. According to Alan Sipols, a representative of the MENATEP group, which owns 61% of YUKOS shares, sales will continue, and Morgan Stanley will increase its stake. The market price of 0.1% of YUKOS shares at the time of the deal was $20 million. These shares can be sold within at least a year. (INTERFAX-ANI)

The wave of corporate scandals in the US and the sharp decline in trust in business in general (see chart) forced US President George Bush to devote a separate speech to the fate of business. The President called for increasing the maximum penalties for "white collar" crimes and strengthening oversight of the implementation of existing laws. Bush emphasized the need to prosecute violations such as document destruction and other forms of obstruction of justice.

WASHINGTON - Alan Greenspan, the man who rules the money supply in the world's largest economy, has to think about his own small personal fortune. He has a tough job because his job as chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve leaves him with few options. Because of those restrictions and his own monetary policies, Greenspan lost millions of dollars last year. Unfortunately, it is impossible to find out the exact amount of investments of the head of the American central bank.

The 226th theatrical season of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia, which ended in Moscow on June 30, has moved on to the touring season, the theater's general director Anatoly Iksanov told Interfax on Tuesday. On July 2 and 3, the theater showed Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov at the walls of the Svyatogorsk Monastery. On July 2, the theater's ballet troupe and part of the opera troupe began a tour in Slovenia.

Recently, the Washington-based Cato Institute published its latest ranking of economic freedom. The purpose of this annual study is to measure economic freedom, which is considered as an independent value.

MOSCOW. Lufthansa Cargo is set to sell its entire 25 percent stake in the world's leading express delivery company DHL Interbnational, DHL said in a statement yesterday. The buyer will be Germany's Deutsche Post, which will pay 610 million euros ($579.5 million) for the shares. Once the deal is completed, Deutsche Post will own more than 75 percent of DHL. Like any major merger, the deal must be approved by the European Union. Getting that approval will not be easy.

MOSCOW. The Ministry of Economic Development will develop a concept for introducing a property tax on a regional scale by the end of 2002, Deputy Minister of Economic Development Arkady Dvorkovich reported. The official said that the bulk of the tax should go to the local budget and only a small portion to the regional budget. According to Dvorkovich, if the government manages to get started with this tax this year, it will come into effect in 2004. (AK&M)

On Sunday mornings, you can see more than just devout churchgoers or joggers on the streets of American cities. A businesslike person heading out on a day off could very well be a client of Commerce Bancorp. There are no days off at this bank. On Sundays, there are sometimes lines at local Commerce branches.

Vladimir Gusinsky has ended his career as a minority shareholder in the media companies he created. Gazprom is buying his shares, which had been under arrest for several months. Together with the debts of these companies to the Media-Most holding. Observers believe that there is no point in delaying the sale of media assets to the gas monopoly any longer. The parties to the deal agreed to complete non-disclosure of the details: even the list of assets sold is officially unknown.