The Russian Defense Ministry does not agree with the statement by the commander of the operation against the Islamic State (banned in Russia, ISIS), American Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, that the weapons and air defense systems captured by militants in Palmyra pose a threat to the international coalition.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in the Japanese city of Ube in Yamaguchi Prefecture on Thursday as part of his visit to Japan. The Russian president's two-day visit will begin with a visit to Nagato, the hometown of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Here, the leaders of Russia and Japan will hold their first talks.

The Ministry of Economic Development proposed reducing excise tax rates and minimum retail prices for alcoholic products, as well as lifting restrictions on its retail sales that had been introduced since 2012. This is written by Kommersant with reference to the list of institutional measures to support the economy in 2017. The department thus expects to reduce illegal alcohol market and reduce the excessive administrative burden on the industry, which hinders competition.

At the EU summit on Ukraine, guarantees were selected that are now provided to the Netherlands for ratification of the association agreement with the European Union. This is stated in the corresponding final statement. According to the document, despite previously reached agreements, Ukraine will not be granted candidate status for EU membership.

On Wednesday, two largest banks presented their forecasts for the next year or two. Sberbank In 2017, expects corporate and retail lending in the banking sector to grow by 5–7%, and corporate and household deposits by 6–8 and 7–9%, respectively. He expects to increase the corporate loan portfolio, as well as household deposits and savings at the same level. At the same time, the bank will increase retail lending a little more.

The bridge near Serny Island should be built by 2018 / Evgeny Egorov / Vedomosti Of the 156 billion rubles planned for state purchases in 2016, 93% had been fulfilled by December 1, and another 11 billion rubles still need to be spent in a month, says a representative of the state procurement committee. In 2015, state purchases worth 135 billion rubles were made over 11 months, which is 15% less than this year, and the level of fulfillment was 94%.

The leaks of internal documents of the US Democratic Party, published on the WikiLeaks portal during the presidential election campaign, were made possible by sources within the party itself. They were authored by insiders, not hackers, the Daily Mail quotes former British ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray, who works for WikiLeaks. "None of the leaks came from the Russians. The source had legal access to the information.

The Kandinsky Prize celebrated its anniversary - the tenth presentation - more modestly than before, although last year it seemed that it could no longer be more modest. But the very existence of this prize in the field of contemporary art is a gratifying and inspiring fact. The long-term rival of the private Kandinsky Prize, the state Innovation Prize, is unknown whether it is still alive.

Waymo Plans to Build and Sell Self-Driving Cars in Partnership with Traditional Automakers / Waymo John Krafcik, head of Alphabet's self-driving car division, announced at a conference in San Francisco that it was being spun off into a separate company, Waymo, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and the Financial Times (FT) write. Waymo's technology is expected to find applications in car rental services, freight transportation, logistics schemes, and public transportation.

There are no winners in the capture of Aleppo / Hassan Ammar / AP Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed hope on Wednesday that the remnants of armed gangs in Syria's Aleppo would cease resistance within two or three days.

In order to perform as Juliet in Kenneth MacMillan's ballet, Osipova flew to Perm for rehearsals two weeks before the performance. This distinguishes her approach from the “chess” of most ballet stars, who sometimes integrate even into an unfamiliar performance in one rehearsal: she not only reproduces the text of the part, but each time builds all relationships with partners anew.

Gazprombank will help Glencore and the Qatar Investment Fund buy a 19.5% stake in Rosneft, RBC reported citing sources and was confirmed to Vedomosti by an acquaintance of the top manager of both companies (Rosneft and Gazprombank) and a person close to Gazprombank. Another bank taking part in the deal is RRDB, a subsidiary of Rosneft, says a person with knowledge of the matter from a senior official.

The Russian Ministry of Justice has stated that it doubts the possibility of implementing the decision of the European Court of Human Rights on the Yukos lawsuit against Russia. This was reported at a session of the Constitutional Court on Thursday in St. Petersburg by Russia's plenipotentiary representative to the ECHR Georgy Matyushkin.

The owner of Interros, Vladimir Potanin, is selling half of Rambler & Co to his partner in this Internet holding, Alexander Mamut, sources close to both businessmen told Vedomosti. According to them, the parties have agreed in principle, the deal should be concluded by the end of the year, its details are now being discussed. Potanin is exercising the option he received from Mamut when creating Rambler & Co. Representatives of Interros and Mamut declined to comment on the deal.

December 15, 2016, 19:57 / Economy / News The high growth of industrial production in Russia over 11 months and in November is associated with a new calculation methodology undefined Vedomosti Rosstat in November and for 11 months calculated the index of industrial production using a new formula, and therefore the growth for January-November was higher than the monthly dynamics for 11 months indicated, a source in the financial and economic block of the government familiar with Rosstat’s