December 28, 2016, 11:57 pm / Business Exclusively by subscription Oil prices have reached a local peak Thanks to the agreement on freezing production, raw materials have doubled in price since the beginning of the year, but further growth should not be expected Galina Starinskaya Alena Makhneva Mikhail Overchenko Oil producers were so frightened by the fall in the cost of raw materials below $30 per barrel that they managed the impossible - agree to reduce production / Jonathan Drake /

Former head of PJSC VimpelCom Mikhail Slobodin was replaced on the company's board of directors by Christopher Schlaffer, a former Deutsche Telekom executive who was appointed to the new position of director of the digital division of VimpelCom Ltd., the parent company of VimpelCom, in January of this year, according to company materials.

A mine fired on Thursday afternoon from a militant-controlled area in the suburbs of Damascus hit the territory of the Russian embassy near the entrance to the consular section. "Its explosion caused minor material damage. There were no casualties," said a comment by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, posted on the website of the foreign policy department.

December 29, 2016, 11:05 / Business Rospotrebnadzor rules out shortage of “quality cosmetics” Vedomosti Alcohol-containing cosmetics that have an aerosol package that secures the lid with a roller applicator, or a consistency that does not allow the contents to be used as an alcohol substitute, are not subject to a 30-day ban on the sale of alcohol-containing liquids, Rospotrebnadzor said in a statement. “These categories of goods will not be seized if found on sale.

German prosecutors have released a Tunisian man suspected of helping to organise the Berlin attack, Reuters reported on Thursday. The suspect was detained the day before and his name was not released. "The investigation showed that the detainee could not have been a contact of [the perpetrator of the attack] Anis Amri, so he was released," said prosecutor's office spokeswoman Frauke Keller.

The man in black is not what he seems. Jon Snow is risen! Is a Pope like Pius XIII possible? This is what excited audiences in 2016. Of course, they went to see the new Star Wars, the new Star Trek, and the new Jason Bourne, but now these are, as they would say in the South Park series, memories. Of course, those who follow art cinema did not miss the Cannes sensation “Toni Erdmann”, “The Neon Demon”, the new picture by designer Tom Ford and the fantastic beauty “Arrival”.

In Syria, an agreement has been reached on a ceasefire and readiness to begin peace negotiations. According to Interfax, President Vladimir Putin announced this at a meeting with the ministers of defense and foreign affairs. He added that he “agrees with the proposal of the Ministry of Defense to reduce our military presence in the Syrian Republic,” quotes TASS . However, he called the truce agreements reached fragile.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed an order approving a new list of vital and essential drugs. The Prime Minister noted that the order is aimed at controlling prices, eliminating speculation and, of course, ensuring that these drugs remain accessible to people. As the Prime Minister stated, the list of such drugs has recently been formed more openly and with the participation of the professional community.

Vodka production and budget revenues from it have begun to grow / Depositphotos / PhotoXPress 2016 was a landmark year for the alcohol industry. Legal vodka production increased for the first time in three years – to 71.3 million dal, or by 15%, according to estimates by the Union of Alcohol Producers (SPAP).

December 28, 2016, 11:39 pm / Finance Exclusively by subscription The pension business is getting too expensive Not all players are ready to work on it alone and continue to join forces Ilya Usov The Central Bank will have to clean up the market for pension reserves / Evgeniy Razumny / Vedomosti In 2016, almost a third of private pension funds (NPFs) left the market. Their number decreased from 102 to 74. Funds mainly lost licenses due to violations (18 licenses were revoked).

In a year of its existence, the Russian software registry has been replenished with 2,590 products / Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti A year ago, on December 31, on New Year's Eve, officials from the Ministry of Communications approved documents for the register of domestic software (SW). The regulatory framework for IT import substitution appeared a little earlier - in November, when the government approved a ban on free purchases of foreign software by government agencies (see inset).

In 2016, the general directors of large mobile operators changed, the president of AvtoVAZ was re-elected, the top management of Bashneft was dismissed within 24 hours, and managers of retail chains and banks were actively replaced. In the past year, Vedomosti counted about 30 high-profile resignations and appointments.

On December 29, the North-West Department of Rostekhnadzor issued a conclusion on the compliance of the football stadium on Krestovsky Island with the project and technical regulations. Fontanka.ru and TASS reported this with reference to the press release of the department.

The Republic of Korea has taken first place in the world in the proportion of people who work more than 49 hours a week. As TASS reports with reference to the KBS TV channel, this was calculated by a Japanese government organization studying labor policy. "As of 2014, at least 32.4% of workers in South Korea worked at least 49 hours a week. This is first place in the world," TASS quotes. Korea is followed by Hong Kong with a rate of 30.8%, Japan (21.3%) and the United States (16.6%).

The Azerbaijani Armed Forces intercepted an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the Armenian Armed Forces on Thursday, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry claims.