Vincent James Zenga, an American businessman who took an active part in George W. Bush's election campaign, invited Pavel Borodin to the inauguration. What exactly connects Borodin with Zenga, probably only they themselves know. However, if it turns out that the head of the CIS executive committee and the American entrepreneur are long-time business partners, there will be little surprise here. Zenga, who lives in Florida, is a man of extremely broad business interests.

Vladimir BAKHTIN, deputy head of the non-tariff regulation department and executive secretary of the council, told Vremya Novostey correspondent Vasily VERBIN about the work of the Trade and Economic Council under the Ministry of Economic Development. --What caused the need to create the Trade and Economic Council? -- The Council was created in 1995 and until recently was called the Council of Manufacturers and Exporters. Apart from the name, the composition of our council has changed somewhat.

The city authorities still do not want to be friends with “not their own” police A new scandalous showdown began yesterday by the heads of the capital's mayor's office and the police. Acting The head of the GUVD, Lieutenant General Viktor Shvidkin, ordered the guards guarding the GUVD building at 38 Petrovka not to allow an official representative of the city authorities to attend the annual meeting.

Finally, the new type of passport has ceased to be a myth for Russian citizens, which they read about but never saw. For almost the past two years, those who have lost or damaged it have been able to obtain a new passport only out of urgent need. Now the main civil document has become available to anyone - there is no longer a shortage.

The ex-governor of the Ulyanovsk region Yuri Goryachev, according to rumors, almost committed suicide. Regional law enforcement agencies do not confirm the rumors, but do not refute them either. Mr. Goryachev, who led the region for 13 years, disappeared from the sight of his fellow countrymen after his defeat in the gubernatorial elections on December 24 last year.

Court hearings at which questions about the future fate of detainees are considered are held the same way, regardless of who appears before the American Themis - a petty offender, a terrorist or a foreign political figure. Usually such cases are heard in Manhattan Federal Court, a plush 25-story building on Pearl Street, but Borodin's case was moved yesterday to Brooklyn Federal Court.

Putin proposed the army to reform, but did not say how The traditional meeting of Vladimir Putin with the highest Russian generals, held on Thursday in the Kremlin, did not bring any sensations. However, this in itself is the main sensation: it was expected that during the meeting the president would finally publish his decree on the upcoming reform of the Russian Armed Forces.

A successful operation to seize a large batch of drugs was carried out on Wednesday by employees of the Northern and North-Western Regional Organized Crime Control Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB Directorate for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. Some time ago, investigators received information that a large shipment of heroin had arrived in St. Petersburg.

Colleagues again put the mantle on Sergei Pashin Yesterday's meeting of the High Qualification Board of Judges (HQJC) ended with yet another reinstatement of the famous lawyer Sergei Pashin, who worked in the Moscow City Court, to the judiciary. For the fourth time in the biography of Sergei Pashin, colleagues decided his fate. The first time this happened was almost three years ago.

The Swiss attributed 25 million Kremlin dollars to Pavel Borodin Observers in both Russia and Switzerland prefer to speak very carefully about the facts that formed the basis of the Mabetex case (which has long been nicknamed “Kremlingate” in the West). This whole story, including the circumstances of her birth, is shrouded in a thick political veil concerning the relationship not only between senior officials in Russia, but also in Switzerland itself and, partly, the United States.

The government writes new laws The Kremlin has long criticized the government through officials of various ranks for poor performance, economic sluggishness and lack of vigorous legislative activity. Today it turned out that the government has a rich legislative plan, not only for the near future, but even for three years in advance.

World Sprint All-Around Championships. Inzel (Germany). January 20-21. At one time, before the construction of indoor skating rinks, Inzel was considered one of the fastest ice arenas in the world. But after the opening of stadiums in Heerenveen, Calgary, Hamar, and Nagano, the skating rink in Germany ceased to be a place of pilgrimage for the world's strongest speed skaters. This year, most skating championships are held on open ice, and Incel is once again remembered.

"Itera - Commonwealth Champions Cup". Moscow. January 20--28. Tomorrow the international football tournament “Commonwealth Champions Cup” starts in Moscow. The champions of fifteen countries - former republics of the USSR, as well as the Russian youth team, competing outside the competition, will compete for a cup made in the USA, as well as for a prize fund of 100 thousand dollars in the Spartak arena and at the Olimpiysky sports complex.

Tomorrow Lord Judd will report to the political committee of the Council of Europe on the situation in Chechnya This time the PACE delegation spent two days in the Chechen Republic. She visited refugee camps, was in Grozny, met with employees of the republican prosecutor's office and judges of the newly created courts.

The arrest of the Secretary of State of the Union of Russia and Belarus Pavel Borodin caused an extremely nervous reaction in Minsk. Already in the morning the Belarusian president made a special statement.