The presidential elections in Yakutia, scheduled for December 23, are turning from a simple election campaign into a conflict between the center and the republic. Yesterday the Electoral Commission of Yakutia registered the head of the republic, Mikhail Nikolaev, as a presidential candidate. The decision was taken contrary to the republican constitution and the strong position of the Central Election Commission, which insists that Mr. Nikolaev is not eligible to be elected a third time.

And it scares us with the disappearance of the Moldovan state President of Moldova Vladimir Voronin yesterday accused his own government of sabotage. According to the head of state, the cabinet of ministers ignores his orders, as well as, what is much worse, the decisions of the communist majority in parliament. The latter is a direct violation of the constitution, according to which Moldova is a parliamentary republic.

Moscow has started lending for the purchase of apartments during construction The main problem when applying for a mortgage loan in Moscow today is finding an apartment against which the bank will provide it. In the secondary market, sellers do not like to deal with deferred payment schemes, but in the primary market, apartments are bought up before the house is delivered.

President Lukashenko does not need extra witnesses The trial in the case of the disappearance of ORT cameraman Dmitry Zavadsky a year ago began yesterday in Minsk. The investigation is attracting particular attention as missing persons are at the center of Belarusian political strife. President Lukashenko promised to tell the whole truth about the “Zavadsky case” after the September elections; this, however, did not happen.

The TSUM trading house will begin reconstruction of the territory adjacent to the building from the Petrovka side by the end of the year. Now it is occupied by the Kalita shopping complex, owned by Slavyansky Ryad. In two years, the place of one-story glass pavilions (total area 1.3 thousand sq. m) will be taken by the second five-story building of the Central Department Store, which will be connected to the main building at the third floor level by a glass passage.

Ukrainian TV viewers will be able to watch NTV programs on completely legal grounds. They will be broadcast by NTV-Ukraine, which was founded by NTV Television Company and the Ukrainian company Media International Group (MIG). The president of the latter, Vadim Rabinovich, is a local media tycoon, one of the founders of the popular television company Studio 1+1.

90 years since the birth of Arkady Raikin Arkady Isaakovich Raikin has been many things in his life. Laboratory assistant at the Okhtinsky Chemical Plant, graduate of the Leningrad Theater College, actor at the local TRAM, laureate of the 1st All-Union Variety Artists Competition, film actor, entertainer, artistic director of the miniature theater... And on stage he, a master of instant transformation, probably changed hundreds of images.

All day yesterday, the access railway tracks to most of the cargo areas of the Big Port of St. Petersburg were blocked due to an accident that happened in the morning in the Kirovsky district of the city. On the branch leading to the fishing port, two railway tanks with fuel oil derailed and overturned. More than 40 tons of fuel spilled onto the ground. The area of ​​contamination was about 200 square meters.

All their assets will be managed from a single offshore center The oil company Sibneft announced yesterday a new initiative for its shareholders. They transferred all their assets in a number of industries, including 88% of the shares of Sibneft itself and 50% of the shares of Russian Aluminum, to the management of the offshore company Millhouse Capital. Sibneft President Evgeny Shvidler became the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Millhouse Capital.

"Cafe Don's Plum" is released in Moscow In 1995, Leonardo DiCaprio, not yet a star, but already a promising twenty-year-old actor, got the idea to help his less famous friends and got involved with them in a project called Don's Plum Cafe, directed by 23-year-old R.D. Robb (who hasn't shown himself since then). When the film grew from an initially planned short film to a full-length film, DiCaprio and his friend and co-star Tobey Maguire did not recognize the child.

Kutaisi governor promises state support to partisans The Commissioner of the President of Georgia in the Imereti region, Temur Shashiashvili, called on his fellow governors to create partisan detachments of 100-150 people in their fiefdoms for the war for the return of Abkhazia. This is the first time that support for the partisan movement has been discussed at such a high level.

The center and Chechen separatists are ready to discuss the possibility of dialogue in Moscow In the coming days, Presidential Envoy to the Southern District Viktor Kazantsev will meet with Chechen field commander Akhmed Zakayev. According to the plenipotentiary, “Zakayev called him yesterday morning and asked for a meeting in Moscow to discuss the issues that President Vladimir Putin recently spoke about.” The discussion, according to Mr.

Customs is not going to surrender to Gref's department without a fight Chairman of the State Customs Committee (SCC) of Russia Mikhail Vanin yesterday broke his vow of silence regarding the new edition of the Customs Code, which has already passed the first reading in the Duma and whose further consideration is postponed due to disagreements with the Ministry of Economic Development.

The Russian long-distance monopolist Rostelecom is trying to win market share from the alternative operators that are squeezing it out. Together with Guta Bank, he will announce today the project to issue the Rostelecom VISA Electron card, which started a week ago. In addition to the traditional range of banking services, the card allows you to make long-distance and international calls from any phone with a 10 percent discount. Analysts welcome Rostelecom's new initiative.

Only UEFA Cup vacancies left A round before the end of the first stage of the Champions League, only one team has not been determined in four groups, which will continue to fight in the second stage. The situation is unclear in Group E, where Porto, Celtic and Rosenborg are vying for second place. And Juventus, Sparta, Bayern, Bayer, Barcelona, ​​Manchester United and Deportivo have already guaranteed themselves participation in the second group tournament.