Today, the Coordination Council of Young Lawyers of the AYuR will appeal to become a guarantor of the fairness of the elections, its chairman Denis Panshin told Vedomosti. Now, in addition to the party ones, there are many public resources for observation, but, according to Panshin, they represent the conflicting parties and only the presence of independent observers at the polling stations will help to avoid rigging the results and a split in society.

China's sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corporation (CIC), said on Friday it had bought 8.68% of Kemble Water, the holding company that owns Thames Water, which supplies water to Londoners. The company, which manages $410 billion, did not disclose details of the deal. In 2006, Germany's RWE sold Thames Water for £8 billion ($12.4 billion at current rates) to a consortium of investors led by Australia's Macquarie.

VTB , the second largest Russian bank by assets, reduced its net profit (according to RAS) in 2011 by 2.3 times compared to 2010 to 21.061 billion rubles, according to VTB's financial statements on the Central Bank's website. In 2010, the bank earned 47.6 billion rubles in net profit. According to the results of the first three quarters of last year, VTB's profit amounted to 20.75 billion rubles, thus, in the fourth quarter, the state bank earned only 0.31 billion rubles.

January 23, 2012, 00:39 / Auto Agreements on industrial assembly in Russia were signed by 38 manufacturers of auto parts Thirty-eight auto component manufacturers signed industrial assembly agreements with the Ministry of Economic Development. Most of them already have production facilities in Russia; among the major newcomers, the Japanese Denso Corporation may come to the country.

The Federal Migration Service is preparing proposals to toughen penalties for violating migration laws, the head of the agency, Konstantin Romodanovsky, said on Monday. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had previously expressed the opinion that it was necessary to toughen penalties for violating registration rules, possibly even to the point of criminal liability.

Alfa-Bank lowered the forecast price of X5 Retail Group GDR from $36.8 to $31.3, the “hold” recommendation remained unchanged.

The future of the famous Westminster Palace building, which currently houses the country's parliament, is being discussed in the UK, writes the Daily Telegraph. The building is gradually sliding into the water, and the Big Ben clock tower has already deviated from the vertical by 45.7 cm. Among the proposals is the sale of the building to foreign development companies. Investors from China and Russia are named among potential buyers.

M. Stulov The working group for accepting documents from candidates for the presidency of Russia has completed checking the signatures they have collected. This was announced today by the Secretary of the Central Election Commission Nikolai Konkin. According to him, candidate Mikhail Prokhorov had 4.38% of signatures rejected, while Yabloko candidate Grigory Yavlinsky had more than 23%.

Since the middle of last week, Naftogaz Ukrainy has more than doubled the withdrawal of imported gas compared to the level of the first half of January. A source in the Ukrainian government told the agency about this. He specified that the growth of imports began on January 18, and on January 21 it reached 115 million cubic meters. From January 5 to 17, Ukraine withdrew a little more than 50 million cubic meters per day.

In November-December 2011, the new service was tested on four trains running between Moscow and Murmansk, Yekaterinburg, Adler, and Klimov – satellite access worked on 80% of this route, the total length of which is about 16,000 km, according to a statement from FPC. MTS , the satellite communications operator Stack.com (the equipment for organizing 3G communications on the train was provided by VimpelCom ), a representative of FPC says.

The US Navy aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln passed through the Strait of Hormuz last Sunday, Fox News reports. A statement from the Central Command of the Navy said it was a "regular routine" maneuver and that it took place without incident. The aircraft carrier was accompanied by the guided missile cruiser Cape St. George and two destroyers. The squadron was also joined by a French ship and a frigate of the Royal Navy.

Presidential candidate Vladimir Putin showed rare concern for Muscovites. He proposed abandoning development on the banks of the Moskva River and the area where the demolished Rossiya Hotel used to be. According to Putin (whose opinion was immediately supported by the capital's mayor Sergei Sobyanin), it would be better to create a park near the Kremlin. Officials promised to ask city residents for their opinion on this matter, but it is clear that this idea will win their hearts.

Oilfield services company Halliburton Co.'s fourth-quarter profit beat analysts' estimates, thanks to increased activity in North America. Earnings excluding one-time items were $1 per share, compared with $0.67 in the fourth quarter of 2010, while analysts had forecast $0.99 per share. Revenue rose 38% to $7.1 billion. The world's largest oilfield services company Schlumberger reported better-than-expected profit on Friday but gave no clear outlook for this year.

Russian elections have a very short history, and Russian political science has none at all. Modern models and methods of data analysis are not systematically taught at any university, by and large. All Russian political scientists together publish a dozen articles a year in international scientific journals, and one or two in leading journals.

The spring session of the new State Duma began with a meeting on Friday, January 13. Sergei Naryshkin, the new speaker of the Duma, announced that the first priority of the spring session would be to pass laws simplifying election procedures. This is exactly what the entire political community wants. But are the hands that give the desired gift indifferent? At least in this case, they are not indifferent at all.