American Cisco has stepped up its work in Russia. In early April, the company announced a large-scale venture investment program, which began with the purchase of a stake in the Ozon online store. Cisco also doubled the number of warehouses in the regions and registered a legal entity in Russia – Cisco Systems LLC, Vladimir Rybakov, director of the Cisco Systems service department in Russia and the CIS, told Vedomosti.

Four thrillers with maniacs and murderers (plus a black comedy about bloodthirsty English provincials) have gathered in the top ten American box office hits. And two of them are at the top of the parade. Oddly enough, the simple “Paranoia” did not give up its positions over the week, retained 1st place and even slightly expanded its distribution (by 90 cinemas) – $13.46 million.

“ VTB will most likely list at the upper end of the range,” says Troika Dialog analyst Andrew Keeley. “International investors are very interested in the first Russian bank to list in London, and together with local investors they will provide huge demand.” “If VTB lists at the upper end of the price range, it will trade at 2.3 times year-end equity, or a 40% discount to year-end Sberbank,” wrote Aton analyst Rustam Botashev in a commentary yesterday.

The Russian market is hoping for a deal to be concluded. “These rumors were circulating two years ago, and no statements were made, but now it sounds quite plausible,” says Natalia Milchakova, head of the fundamental analysis department at the financial corporation Otkritie . Growth on Western European markets has slowed , but, for example, BBH is a promising asset.

Pamfilova is far from the only person close to the authorities who has condemned the actions of law enforcement agencies against the rebels from the Kasparov-Kasyanov team. Deputy Pavel Krasheninnikov was outraged yesterday, claiming that the authorities have no right to ban public events. And today the Public Chamber will analyze the rude behavior of the police with feeling and certainly not without hysteria.

The opening of the family shopping center "Mega" in Novosibirsk is planned for November 2007. Its total area is 130,000 sq. m (including the IKEA hypermarket with an area of ​​27,500 sq. m). The volume of IKEA investments in the project was $150 million. The manager of the shopping centers "Mega" in Russia Herman Gevert says that already now all 100% of the shopping center's area is leased. Among the tenants are more than 150 companies.

A differentiated excise tax rate on alcohol was in effect in Russia until 2007. SAN producers paid 83 rubles per liter of anhydrous alcohol. Everything changed on January 1, when all alcohol producers began paying a single rate of 162 rubles. As a result, retail prices for a standard 0.5-liter can rose by 30%, and SAN producers began reporting a record decline in sales. According to Rosstat, they fell by 57.1% to 1.89 million dal in March alone.

The passion to create idols for oneself and the passion to overthrow them, the passion to appoint those responsible for one’s own failures and to shout at them “Hell” – all these are bright and ordinary features of the political infancy of nations. Few people remember today that in 1991 Boris Yeltsin's rating was the same as Vladimir Putin's rating a little over 10 years later.

The Tenth Economic Forum cannot be called entirely Russian. Of the five speakers at the first plenary session, four spoke English. The near-boycott of the forum by Russian officials and the coldness with which it was treated by major businessmen left the organizers with no choice: the main Russian speaker was Tatarstan Prime Minister Rustam Minnikhanov. But the foreigners did not let us down.

The new management of AvtoVAZ, which came to the plant together with Rosoboronexport, had long been a supporter of the idea of ​​a national Russian car. Last year, AvtoVAZ rejected Renault's offer to buy a blocking stake in the plant. Renault was ready to create a joint venture with AvtoVAZ and produce models developed on the Logan platform under the Lada and Renault brands. Now AvtoVAZ management has changed its point of view.

The inspection of the technical condition of two sections of the Druzhba oil pipeline – Unecha-Polotsk-1 and Unecha-Polotsk-2 – was initiated in the summer, when oil spilled from a leaky pipe on one of them. After that, the Rosprirodnadzor commission issued an order to reduce the pressure in two branches of the pipe by five times. As a result, the pumping volume decreased by 12 million tons year-on-year. This is exactly the volume that Lithuania received.

An objective assessment of Boris Yeltsin's role will be made when Russia feels like a full-fledged, established power, and not a fragment of a disintegrated empire. Then, in the historical pantheon, he will take the place of the creator of the new Russian state, and not the destroyer of the old one. Over time, it will become clear that the first two Russian presidencies are not antitheses, but one period, an era of the country's difficult transition to a different quality.

The government already considered the first version of the three-year budget plan for 2008–2010 in March. Since then, the Ministry of Economic Development has increased its economic forecasts for GDP, industrial growth, household income, and other macroeconomic indicators. On the other hand, tax revenues, especially VAT and extraction tax, are lagging behind planned indicators in 2007.

On April 10, the Nizhny Novgorod port filed a claim with the arbitration court against the actions of the Ministry of Property Relations of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, which refused to conclude a new lease agreement for the land plot on which the port is located for 49 years. This was reported to Vedomosti by the press secretary of the deputy governor, Ksenia Vaulina. The hearing is tentatively scheduled for May 17.

The Moydodyr chain will not create electronics hypermarkets, but will concentrate on the niche of built-in appliances, says Vodovatov. By the end of the year, the chain intends to increase the share of built-in appliances in the assortment to 50%, the rest of the sales areas will be occupied by white household appliances (refrigerators, washing machines, kitchen stoves, etc.). In 2007, it is planned to increase turnover to 750-780 million rubles, and profit to 1.3-1.8 million rubles.