BRUSSELS. The European Union has approved a deal in which U.S. aluminum giant Alcoa will buy Fairchild Fastener Business, which makes aluminum bolts and other similar parts for the aviation industry, for $657 million. Fairchild Fastener Business is a subsidiary of the U.S. corporation Fairchild, the world's largest manufacturer of aluminum products. (INTERFAX-AFI)

MOSCOW. The Central Bank of Russia intends to hold two currency auctions for non-residents with funds in type "C" accounts by the end of the year, said First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Oleg Vyugin. According to him, the auctions will be held in November and December. "I think that in November we will put $50 million up for sale, and in December this amount may be higher," said the First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank.

The efforts of rescuers trying to get to the first Karmadon tunnel have so far been in vain. Earlier, the employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the republic managed to break through the thickness of the ice and descend to a depth of 80 m thanks to targeted explosions, however, as it turned out, the rescuers were unable to accurately determine the location of the tunnel. This was reported to RIA Novosti by the office of the President of North Ossetia.

With a tenacity worthy of a better cause, the Central Bank continues to hold currency auctions for non-residents whose money was frozen on the government securities market back in 1998. "I think that in November we will put $50 million up for sale, and in December this amount may be even higher," Oleg Vyugin, First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank, told Interfax yesterday.

Gazprom seems to have once again fallen victim to politics and its own ambitions. This spring, Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov decided that Belarus should become "Russia's second most important trade and economic partner after Germany." As a result, gas prices in Belarus have dropped to the level of domestic Russian prices since May. Gazprom, which annually supplies more than 10 billion cubic meters of gas out of 16 billion cubic meters to Belarus, stoically endured.

PETERSBURG - A customs post is opening at a Russian car plant for the first time. Yesterday, the State Customs Committee announced the opening of a free customs warehouse and a "Car Plant" post on the territory of a Ford plant in the Leningrad Region. Analysts say that without customs benefits, Ford production in Russia would not make sense - it is due to the benefits that the company saves about $700 on each car it assembles. The Ford Motor Co.

The past week has once again confirmed how weather-sensitive coffee futures markets are. The main driver of price growth was forecasts of a prolonged period of hot and dry weather in Brazil, where the new 2003/04 coffee crop is currently in bloom. Arabica for December 2002 delivery has risen in price in New York by 8.7%, while November futures in London have risen by 6.5%.

"Renaissance Capital" - "Mosenergo". Renaissance Capital lowered the fair price of Mosenergo shares from $0.062 to $0.032, maintaining the "hold" recommendation. Renaissance analyst Hartmud Jacob explains this by the promise of German Gref and RAO UES Chairman of the Board Anatoly Chubais to Yuri Luzhkov of control over Mosenergo assets in exchange for the OVR faction's support for the package of energy laws.

The result exceeded the wildest expectations. The chickens grew into two-kilogram broilers in 38 days, whereas before, even after three months of fattening, the weight of the birds did not exceed 1.5 kg. And the management abandoned the original idea of ​​using the Petelinskaya poultry farm as a supplier of raw materials for meat products. And decided to sell chilled broilers at retail.

Birth rates in Russia are growing, but remain insufficient for normal reproduction of the population, Deputy Health Minister Olga Sharapova reported at a board meeting on Tuesday. "In recent years, Russia has seen an increase in birth rates - from 8.3 people per 1,000 population in 1991 to 9.1 in 2001," but the birth rate needed to normalize the demographic situation in the Russian Federation should be 2.15, while today it is only 1.2, Sharapova said. (INTERFAX)

Today, the Russian premiere of Andrei Konchalovsky's film "House of Fools" will take place in St. Petersburg. For now, it will only be shown at "Aurora": the decision to urgently release it was made after the film's success at the Venice festival, but no other cinema changed its repertoire plans for the sake of "House of Fools". It is important for the film to appear on the screen right now. Otherwise, it cannot be considered as an Oscar candidate.

MOSCOW. Sibneft will receive 8.6% of the shares of the offshore company TNK International in exchange for its 38% of the shares of Orenburgneft, the main production subsidiary of NK ONAKO. Sibneft will also receive one seat on the board of directors, an option to sell its stake in TNK International to current TNK shareholders, and a guaranteed level of dividends.

Almost half of international companies have been forced to abandon investments in other countries in the last five years because their competitors have stolen their business through bribes, according to researchers from the consulting firm Control Risks Group. The authors of the report, Facing Corruption, spent five years researching bribery as a competitive tactic.

The Bali attacks have sent a chill through Asian currency markets as investors try to assess the extent of the damage to the region's economies, with the Indonesian rupiah, Singapore dollar, Philippine peso and Thai baht all falling to their lowest levels in months on Monday and Tuesday. The Indonesian rupiah fell to its lowest in five months on Monday. On Tuesday, the rupiah continued to fall, hitting a six-month low.

Since January 2003, the price of gasoline may jump sharply due to a 45% increase in excise tax on petroleum products. The state is going to collect excise tax on each resale of fuel, returning the money to all participants in the chain except for gas stations. Companies suspect that this scheme is unworkable and prices will rise sharply. It will definitely go up in price by 10-12%, maximum by 15% - closer to the end of January.