Kola enterprises come under the direct control of MMC Norilsk Nickel The mining and metallurgical company (MMC) Norilsk Nickel continues to consolidate industrial assets that previously belonged to its ex-parent company, RAO Norilsk Nickel. Yesterday it became known that the holding's enterprises located on the Kola Peninsula - the Kola Mining and Metallurgical Company, Severonickel and Pechenganikel - came under the control of MMC.

The government joined in amending the law on the Central Bank It seems they will continue to polish the law on the Bank of Russia forever: yesterday the State Duma received another batch of amendments. The Ministry of Finance sent ten pages of its proposals to the law “On Amendments and Additions to the Law “On the Central Bank of the Russian Federation”, adopted in the first reading in the summer of 2000.

“Ivan the Fool” on Moscow screens In the press release, the content of the film “Ivan the Fool” by Alexander Dulerain and Sergei Koryagin is conveyed with delightful brevity: “Ivan the Fool saves a girl from the evil genius Doctor Ostrich.” That's all, and that's enough. The rest, perhaps, is really nothing more than nuances.

The Kremlin and the White House are unhappy with the price behavior The authorities are alarmed by their own actions. A noticeable increase in prices and tariffs for several “socially significant” items at once (medicines, transport, energy) caused a chain reaction of very harsh statements and steps in the Kremlin and the White House.

For those who consider themselves advanced, the Fine Art gallery (B. Sadovaya, 3, building 10) is showing “Nightmares of Lukomorye” from Farid Bogdalov . “The Great Provocateur” (as he is called in the press release), Bogdalov cut fairy tales into puzzles, mixed them and then invited viewers to assemble the pictures themselves. “And I can do this” is the main idea of ​​Bogdalov’s new project. A kind of intellectual mass kitsch pop.

The election campaign in North Ossetia, it seems, will not fit into one round, which is scheduled for January 27. According to the Vremya Novostey newspaper, in the republic, unexpectedly even for local observers, the rating of presidential candidate Khazbi Bogov increased (from 5 to almost 30%). What the former State Duma deputy deserved such a surge of popular love could not be explained yesterday even by his election headquarters.

The draw for the 2004 European Championship qualifying tournament will take place today in the Portuguese city of Santa Maria da Feira. Qualifying games will begin at the end of this year, and the 15 qualifying teams will be determined by the end of 2003. “The draw procedure is very simple,” said UEFA Director General Gerhard Aigner, who was present at the opening of the Commonwealth Cup.

Gazprombank in search of itself The basis of Gazprombank's development strategy for the coming years is the diversification of its clientele and the building of a modern risk management system. This was stated yesterday by Yuri Lvov, who was appointed head of the bank last September by the new management of Gazprom. “Our main task is to become as competitive as possible on the eve of Russia’s entry into the WTO,” said Mr. Lvov.

For the first time in the post-Soviet history of Ukraine, victory in the parliamentary elections coming in two months is predicted not by communists, but by right-wing reformers. The bloc of ex-Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko “Our Ukraine” is ready to support 20-25% of voters. The core of the bloc consists of national democratic parties that advocate limiting the powers of the president, speedy integration into the EU, an independent foreign policy and intensified market reforms.

The Moscow Registration Chamber registered yesterday as a legal entity TV-6 LLC, whose general director is Evgeny Kiselev and which includes 50 MNVK managers and journalists. LLC "TV-6" plans to take part in the tender for the right to broadcast on the "6th button" in Moscow and the Moscow region, as well as in a number of regions of Russia.

The Moscow House of Photography awarded “Silver Cameras” The Moscow House of Photography exhibits works from the “Silver Camera 2001” competition of photo reports about Moscow. Prizes were awarded in three categories: “Architecture”, “Events and Everyday Life”, “Persons”. Over two thousand works were submitted to the competition (last year there were about 800), and this made it possible to create a high-quality exhibition. However, this raises questions about the distribution of bonuses.

He didn’t convince Georgia UN Secretary General Kofi Annan took up the problems of the Russian military in Abkhazia, who have been outlawed there since January 1, the moment the peacekeeping mandate expired. He called on Georgia to withdraw troops as soon as possible from the Kodori Gorge of Abkhazia, the only region of the self-proclaimed republic not controlled by Sukhumi, and to urgently decide to extend the mandate of Russian peacekeepers.

“Sickle-Hammers” will be canceled early The government decided to rush Russians to exchange Soviet “red-skinned books” for Russian passports. Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov recently signed a decree reducing the validity period of old passports. Citizens who are not yet concerned about this problem are strongly recommended to complete all formalities by December 31, 2003 (previously, the results of the all-Russian campaign were planned to be summed up at the end of 2005).

Russian clubs are rushing to the cup heights The volleyball players of the capital's MSTU-Luzhniki once again proved that nothing is impossible in modern sport. Firstly, two years ago no one would have believed that a full Sports Palace could gather in Moscow for volleyball. And secondly, in front of this grateful audience, the Luzhniki team beat the recent inhabitants of heaven - the three-time European club champion Italian Sisley.

The Central District Court of Omsk began the trial of Nikolai Moiseev, accused of committing a scam right in the building of the administration of the Omsk region. In 2000, one Omsk entrepreneur received a call from a man with a respectable voice and, introducing himself as Oleg Mikhailovich, the manager of the administration, offered to buy powdered milk from the state reserve at frankly bargain prices for a total of 922 thousand rubles with the condition of immediate payment.