Yesterday a visiting session of the Russian Nuclear Society took place in Rostov-on-Don. Representatives of the Rosenergoatom concern and invited nuclear scientists agreed that nuclear energy in the country is now on the rise. The number of operating reactors and their total capacity will grow so much in the coming years that it is time for domestic nuclear power plants to think about export projects.

The head of the FSB Directorate for the North Caucasus Regional Directorate of the Federal Border Service of Russia, Major General Yuri Samsonkin, died in an accident last weekend. The general was on a business trip to Kabardino-Balkaria. Together with two accompanying people, he crossed a mountain river by boat. When the officers had already sailed far enough from the shore, the boat capsized for an as yet unknown reason. Finding himself in the icy water, the general felt unwell.

Former Bosnian commander did not wait for extradition One of the founders and commanders of the Bosnian Muslim army in the civil war of 1992-1995, General Sefer Halilovic, yesterday voluntarily went to The Hague. The general will become the seventh Bosnian to be charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

Russia declares readiness to reduce oil exports Russian Energy Minister Igor Yusufov arrived in Vienna yesterday to participate in the OPEC summit opening today, where oil exporters will decide how to deal with falling commodity prices. And he immediately declared that Russia would act in line with the cartel’s policies, without infringing on its interests. True, all of Mr. Yusufov’s predecessors said so, then exporting oil to the maximum.

Svyazinvest persuaded Amur telecom operators The last obstacle to the merger of the Far Eastern local telephone network companies into an enlarged subsidiary of Svyazinvest was removed yesterday. Shareholders of Amursvyaz supported the restructuring program of the Svyazinvest holding, which they rejected in June. The holding hopes that the fluctuations of Amursvyaz shareholders will not disrupt the schedule for the merger of Svyazinvest’s Far Eastern subsidiaries.

Chairman of the Duma Defense Committee Andrei Nikolaev is not too pleased with the military aspects of the draft 2002 budget. Mr. NIKOLAEV presented his arguments to Yuri GOLOTYUK, a columnist for the Vremya Novostei newspaper. Under the “National Defense” section, the budget allocated 281.97 billion rubles. In absolute numbers, an increase of more than 30% compared to 2001.

Bashkir President Murtaza Rakhimov is categorically against the abolition of federal treaties - the main, according to the Kremlin, obstacle to the establishment of a single legal space in Russia. Last summer, the president created a special commission, which within a year should untangle the Gordian knot of relationships between all levels of government (municipal, regional and federal). Next summer, the next reform project will land on Vladimir Putin’s desk.

German Muslims are confident that the war will create many enemies of America At one o'clock in the afternoon, the voice of a mullah calling for prayer is added to the city noise on Berlin's Wienerstrasse (Vienna Street). In the quiet courtyard of house No. 12 there is a Turkish mosque. Muslims come here from all over the Kreuzberg region, which has long been more reminiscent of a quarter of Istanbul or Trabzon, to worship.

Yesterday, the Berlin correspondent of the Vremya Novostei newspaper Yuri ShPAKOV asked the chief economist of the largest German bank Deutsche Bank, Professor Norbert WALTER, to comment on the prospects for cooperation between Germany and Russia: — Today, during meetings in Dusseldorf, President Putin will once again call on German business to sharply increase investment in the Russian economy. Why are German business circles still so afraid of Russia?

Land tax almost caused a quarrel between deputies and the government The budget will be adopted in the first reading. This is a foregone conclusion, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said yesterday, leaving the Duma Committee on Budget and Taxes. By this time, the committee had already decided by an overwhelming majority of votes that on Friday it would propose to deputies to approve the updated draft in the first reading.

Novgorod governor Mikhail Prusak now has his own party. Democratic. Yesterday, delegates to the XV Congress of the Democratic Party of Russia elected Mr. Prusak as their leader. The candidacy was supported by 153 delegates, 10 were against. Mr.

Vitaly Khrebtiy, head of the licensing department of the Krasnoyarsk mayor's office, was sentenced to four years in prison in a maximum security colony. He was found guilty of accepting a bribe for assistance in acquiring a permit to sell alcoholic beverages. Vitaly Khrebtiya did not have the right to sign - the head of the licensing department is just preparing documents. However, he demanded 6 thousand rubles “to speed up” this process.

The US is again trying to freeze terrorist funds President Bush ordered the frozen accounts of 27 organizations and individuals, accusing them of involvement in terrorism. In addition to Bin Laden's Al Qaeda, the published list includes, for example, the doctor Ayman al-Zawahri, who in the past headed the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and is now the right hand of Osama Bin Laden and is believed to be in Afghanistan.

One of these days “His airiness” will announce its third coming Michael Jordan's return was expected on Tuesday night. They didn't wait. However, millions of fans of his talent should not worry - Jordan can announce his decision to continue his career as a basketball player at any time. And he will probably do this before next week, when training camps open in the National Basketball Association. Michael has already taken steps indicating the seriousness of his intentions.

LUKOIL and TNK appealed to the presidential administration with a request to cancel or reduce export customs duties on oil supplies to Ukrainian refineries owned by Russian oil companies. In addition, the leaders of LUKOIL and TNK propose to include in the balance of supplies of crude oil to Russia as a separate line the volumes of oil necessary to load the Ukrainian refineries they own.