Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko the supply of hydrocarbons to Belarus, the BelTA agency reports , citing a statement from Lukashenko's press service. The presidents instructed the governments of the two countries to conclude contracts for the supply of oil and gas in the coming days. If these contracts are not concluded by January 1, the governments must develop an interim version of the terms of supply, the article notes.

The Meshchansky Court of Moscow refused to consider in a special order (without examining the evidence) the criminal case of the former chief accountant of the Seventh Studio Nina Maslyaeva, since the court had doubts about her fulfillment of the terms of the plea bargain with the investigation, TASS reports .

December 30, 2019, 09:45 / Business Bloomberg named Potanin the richest Russian businessman in a year Vedomosti The CEO and largest shareholder of Norilsk Nickel, Vladimir Potanin, became richer than other Russian billionaires in 2019, writes Bloomberg. According to the agency’s estimates, over the year the businessman’s fortune increased by $8.5 billion – to $28.2 billion. In total, the five most successful businessmen and entrepreneurs earned $27 billion over the year.

Dmitry Klimishin became the new CEO of Rustitaninvest LLC, which owns 100% of the Russian Textbook corporation, on December 27, according to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. RBC drew attention to them. The main owner of Rustitaninvest, Alexey Kisin, confirmed Klimishin's appointment to Vedomosti: "There are few specialists of this level on the market.

The State Corporation VEB .RF and the National Engineering Corporation (NIK) have created a joint venture (JV), according to data from the SPARK-Interfax database. to them drew attention Forbes , and later RBC confirmed this information with reference to a joint message from the companies. The new company will create “high-tech turnkey facilities, introduce the best available technologies, and create high-tech Russian production facilities in foreign countries,” the statement says.

December 30, 2019, 02:38 / Economics Roaming between Russia and Belarus will be canceled from September undefined Vedomosti Roaming between Belarus and Russia will be canceled from September 2020. This was announced by the first Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Krutoy in an interview with the Belarus 1 TV channel. Such an agreement exists, Krutoy said.

In 2019, Viktor Ryzhakov received the Golden Mask in the Drama/Large-Scale Performance category for the play Optimistic Tragedy. Farewell Ball at the Alexandrinsky Theatre (St. Petersburg) / Vyacheslav Prokofiev / TASS The new artistic director of the Sovremennik Theatre will be theatre director and head of the Vsevolod Meyerhold Centre (CIM) Viktor Ryzhakov. This was reported to TASS by the press service of the Moscow Department of Culture. He will start working on January 4, 2020.

Sheremetyevo plans to return smoking rooms to its terminals in early 2020, the airport's press service told RIA Novosti. The exact date is still unknown. On December 27, President Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing smoking in airports in specially designated areas. This law lifts the ban on smoking in airports, which had been in effect for about six years and allowed smoking at a distance of at least 15 meters from the building. Many airports repeatedly opposed the ban.

The head of the GR Directorate, Vice President of Sberbank Andrey Sharov will leave his post, the bank’s press service reports. He will leave his position until the end of 2019. Sharov graduated from Krasnoyarsk State University and the Russian Academy of Public Administration. Since 2002, he worked at the Russian Ministry of Economic Development as head of the civil service department, then became director of the department of state regulation in the economy.

Yandex has filed a lawsuit in the court for intellectual property rights against Afisha Company LLC (part of Rambler Group, owns the Afisha trademark), according to data from the arbitration case file. The court registered the claim on December 27. Its content and the amount of the claims are not disclosed. Rospatent (the Federal Service for Intellectual Property) is the third party in the claim. Yandex and Rambler Group declined to comment.

The Chamber of Patent Disputes has rejected Rambler Group's claims against Yandex over the use of the Yandex.Afisha trademark, TASS reports , citing Rospatent. Earlier, on December 20, the Chamber of Patent Disputes refused to satisfy Rambler Group's claims against MTS in connection with the use of the trademark " MTS.Afisha ". The holding made similar claims against Yandex. The Yandex and MTS websites have sections with schedules of entertainment events – concerts, films, performances.

December 30, 2019, 11:56 am / Politics “Protests from unexpected quarters are possible.” Main political risks of 2020 Opinion of political scientists on expectations for next year Elena Mukhametshina Evgeny Razumny / Vedomosti This year has been difficult for the Russian authorities - elections to the Moscow City Duma, a large wave of protests, the “Moscow affair”. There don’t seem to be any major events planned for next year, but it could become no less simple.

December 30, 2019, 19:31 / Business The Ukrainian government allowed Naftogaz to sign an agreement with Gazprom undefined Vedomosti The Government of Ukraine gave its consent to Naftogaz of Ukraine to sign an agreement with the Russian Gazprom on the settlement of gas disputes, as well as an agreement on organizing gas transit for five years, follows from a document published on the Cabinet of Ministers website. It is assumed that the agreement will be valid until 2024 inclusive.

December 30, 2019, 14:06 / Finance / News The NKR Agency assigned its first credit rating undefined Vedomosti The rating agency National Credit Rating (NCR) announced that it assigned Sovcombank a credit rating of AA- (ru) with a stable outlook. This is the agency's first rating. This rating is due to the high assessment of the bank’s business profile, explains NKR. Sovcombank is in the top 15 in terms of assets and capital, as well as in terms of the volume of deposits of individuals.

A line of civil aircraft with a single name may appear in Russia. Such rebranding is connected with the formation of the Civil Aviation Division of the United Aircraft Corporation ( UAC ), its CEO Yuri Slyusar told RIA Novosti. According to him, the newly formed Civil Aviation Division included Irkut (the base company that is preparing to produce the MS-21), Sukhoi Civil Aircraft (which produces the SSJ100) and other assets.