Saturday's appointment of a new head of the Ministry of Energy threatens the final disorganization of the “related” energy department - Minatom. Both ministries have been in a fever for a long time, since there are persistent rumors on the sidelines of the government about a possible merger of Minatom and the Ministry of Energy.

Legislators and the Federal Securities Commission are improving corporate governance Work on the quality of management in Russian companies is in full swing. As the head of the Federal Securities Commission (FCSM), Igor Kostikov (pictured) , promised yesterday at the annual investor conference, next week the next section of the code of corporate conduct being developed by his department will be prepared. The work on it will be fully completed in September.

Chechnya fell into the capable hands of Bislan Gantamirov The authorities are beginning the political development of Chechnya. The primary responsibility of the new chief federal inspector for Chechnya, Bislan Gantamirov, introduced yesterday to the office of Viktor Kazantsev, will be the development of a republican constitution and the holding of elections, first of the local parliament, and then of the head of the republic. Mr.

On June 15, an auction was held for the sale of 4.94% shares of the Mikhailovsky GOK owned by the Russian Federal Property Fund. Interfin Trade CJSC, formed in March of this year, was recognized as the winner. This company paid $3.01 million for the company's shares, with a starting price of $3 million. Observers believe that the buyer is the Interfin company controlled by Alisher Usmanov, which is a major shareholder of the Lebedinsky GOK and the Oskol Electrometallurgical Plant.

The main thing in “The New World” (No. 5) is a selection of stories by Boris Ekimov . The first one seems to be the best - “Gift”, but the other three are also very good. It is useless to retell Ekimov: the utmost precision of the word, the strict concentration of feeling, today's life (you can clarify - in the Don villages) in all its semantic volume.

Diamant Bank died quietly The cleansing of the Russian banking system from “dead souls” continues: the Central Bank announced yesterday the revocation of the general license from Diamant Bank. On the eve of the financial crisis of 1998, Diamant threatened to rise to the top of the domestic banking Olympus in the footsteps of ONEXIM Bank. And although the ascent did not work out, “Diamant” achieved something: albeit not for long, but it survived ONEXIM Bank.

The Supreme Court proposes changes to the draft Code of Criminal Procedure The draft of the new Criminal Procedure Code, which is being prepared for the second reading, is becoming the subject of criticism from representatives of the judicial community. Previously, the servants of Themis fought over changes concerning their own status, but now it’s the turn of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Mikhail Kasyanov is now responsible for energy reform Today, the Ministry of Economic Development will submit to the government a revised version of the “Main Directions for Reforming the Electric Power Industry.” As the head of the ministry, German Gref, said yesterday, the project takes into account more than 80% of the proposals of members of the State Council working group, which developed an alternative version of the reforms.

32-year-old Dmitry Sanakoev, the former defense minister of South Ossetia, became prime minister of the unrecognized republic. South Ossetian President Ludvig Chibirov, who plans to retain his post for another five years in the November elections, chose to replace the “soft” Merab Chigoev (he became prosecutor general) with the “dedicated and progressive” Dmitry Sanakoev.

Gazprom is expecting personnel changes The Board of Directors of Gazprom will decide personnel issues today for the second time in a month. The last meeting ended with a sensation - the head of the concern, Rem Vyakhirev, was replaced by a little-known St. Petersburg resident, Alexei Miller. The new chief gas worker immediately said that there would be no personnel revolutions, and the issue of extending contracts with a number of top managers was postponed.

Our volleyball players will play in the final tournament of the World League The worries of Russian volleyball fans are over - the country's national men's team completed the World League qualifying tournament in first place in the group. Now Shipulin’s team awaits the final tournament, which will be held in Katowice, Poland, from June 25 to 30. The national teams of Poland, Italy, Holland, France, Brazil, Cuba and Yugoslavia will also play in it.

Seven of the eight gold medals were won by Russian athletes at the European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships that ended in Geneva. On the last day of the competition, Alina Kabaeva, bronze medalist of the 2000 Olympics, achieved double success. She brilliantly performed exercises with a ball and clubs, receiving gold medals in these types of programs. Kabaeva's teammate Irina Chashchina (pictured) was unable to compete with her.

Deputy Head of the West Siberian Department of Internal Affairs for Transport Vasily Bezhinar was arrested in Novosibirsk on suspicion of corruption. Police Colonel Bezhinar was detained as a result of a joint operation by officers of the FSB and the West Siberian Regional Directorate for Organized Crime Control, with the assistance of the leadership of the transport police.

President Kuchma turned the page Leonid Kuchma, whose resignation seemed inevitable six months ago, not only survived the “cassette scandal” provoked by the release of recordings of his private conversations, but also successfully eliminated its consequences.

The Lithuanian cabinet again became a victim of Russia Another government crisis has erupted in Lithuania, again due to Russian energy interests. As the speaker of parliament, leader of the social-liberal New Union party Arturas Paulauskas said yesterday, it will not be possible to maintain the ruling coalition of liberals and social liberals.