The correspondent of the Vremya Novostei newspaper in Baku, Arif USEINOV, talks about the gas prospects of the Caspian Sea with Rashid JEVANSHIR, president of BP Exploration (Shakh-deniz) Ltd, operator of the development of the Shah Deniz field. --What are the total reserves of Shah Deniz? -- The estimated limit, identified as a result of drilling two appraisal wells in the eastern part of the field, is 700 billion cubic meters of natural gas and about 300 million tons of condensate.

From August 30 to September 2, the Mayor's Cup and the stages of the World Cup in show jumping and dressage will be held for the fourth time in a row in the Moscow Luzhniki Stadium and in the arena of the New Century equestrian complex. Despite the fact that Moscow is new to the list of cities hosting representative equestrian tournaments, world-class stars consider it an honor to compete in the capital of Russia.

Ural motorcycles can change owners A change of ownership is expected at the Irbit Motorcycle Plant (IMZ), which produces Ural heavy motorcycles. Yesterday, reports appeared in the Yekaterinburg media that the head of the United Machine-Building Plants holding company (Uralmash-Izhora group), Kakha Bendukidze, had found a new owner and investor for the motorcycle plant.

At the conference against racism, Russians will talk about Chechnya The UN Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination and Xenophobia opens today in South Africa. This is the third “anti-racism conference” organized by the UN, but it is already clear that it is unlike any previous one. Four thousand delegates from all over the world gathered in Durban - even from countries that in the public consciousness have never been associated with the colonial past.

The next World Chess Championship will be held in Moscow. This was stated by FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. According to him, a record number of contenders will take part in the fight for the chess crown: 128 chess players and 64 female chess players. They will compete for a prize fund of 3 million 500 thousand US dollars. Moreover, three million dollars are allocated for men, and only half a million for women.

Another “air” emergency occurred on Wednesday evening at the capital’s Sheremetyevo-2 airport. At 20.45, the crew of the Il-96 airbus, returning to Moscow from Nice, contacted dispatchers. The pilots reported that one of the plane's engines had failed and requested an emergency landing. All operational services of Sheremetyevo-2 were put on alert. Fortunately, the landing took place safely, and none of the 274 passengers on the plane and eight crew members were injured. Alexey MIKHAILOV

September 2 marks the 75th anniversary of the birth of Evgeny Leonov There is probably not a person among Russian comedians about whom they would not often talk during his lifetime and almost always after his death: but he was capable of serious roles. Popularity is, of course, a good thing, but it still hasn’t been fully realized. I didn’t play Hamlet, I didn’t play King Lear, I didn’t get around to playing Chekhov’s plays, etc.

The government will rewrite school textbooks The government of Mikhail Kasyanov made its first purely ideological decision. The cabinet decided to invest money in history. As one of the ministers told the Vremya Novostei newspaper, the prize fund for the competition to develop new textbooks on Russian history could amount to at least $100,000. The competition will be announced soon. New history textbooks should appear by the next academic year.

In the village of Kurchaloy, Kurchaloyevsky district of Chechnya, militants attacked a police column. As a result, two people were killed and 13 were injured. The republic's law enforcement agencies suggest that the terrorist attack was organized by irreconcilable Wahhabis from the detachment of the field commander Rabbani. According to the Chechen Internal Affairs Directorate under the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, on Wednesday at about 5 p.m.

Everyone needs the keys to it The International Gas Union predicts that after 2005, due to a decline in production in Central and Western Europe, the Old World will be almost completely dependent on external sources of gas. According to experts, by 2030 almost 70% of the EU's needs will be covered by imports. Demand for gas will also grow in rapidly developing Southeast Asia, most of all in China and Japan.

Polish voters will vote for Russian gas The coming month will be decisive for the fate of major gas projects associated with Poland. At the end of September, parliamentary elections will be held in the country, in which the coalition “Union of Democratic Left Forces - Union of Labor”, supporters of President Alexander Kwasniewski, is predicted to win confidently.

Its energy will help Europe preserve the environment European countries are searching for environmentally friendly fuels in several directions - in addition to the already used natural gas, hydrogen, sun and wind are considered energy carriers of the future. If the technology for producing “energy” hydrogen is at the initial stage of development, and the sun does not yet provide the required efficiency, then the potential of wind is being realized now.

The criminal case of the former head of the Krasnoyarsk aluminum plant, Anatoly Bykov, accused of organizing preparations for the murder of Krasnoyarsk businessman Pavel Struganov, was sent to the Tushino intermunicipal court of the capital. Bykov's lawyer Genrikh Padva announced this yesterday.

The government adjusts export duties The Government Commission on Protective Measures in Foreign Trade will consider a number of issues related to changes in customs duty rates in mid-September. According to the head of the tariff regulation department of the Ministry of Economic Development, Andrei Kushnirenko, at a working group meeting held this week, it was decided to adjust the rates of export duties on various types of goods.

Caspian oil may flow east The Caspian “game”, which unfolded almost immediately after the appearance of new independent states on the world map, has been developing in one direction throughout the past decade - to the southwest, towards Ankara. The closest US ally in the region, Turkey was supposed to become both a major consumer of Caspian energy and a transshipment point for its further transportation towards Europe.