The Don state apparatus will be brought up to standard The authorities of the Rostov region intend to radically change the principles of financing the state apparatus.

Yukos is gaining a place in the US oil market The first direct deal to supply Russian oil to America will be completed in the coming days. The Greek large-capacity tanker Astro Lupus yesterday evening delivered to the port of Galveston (Houston) 240 thousand tons of oil, which YUKOS, together with ExxonMobil, sent to the United States on June 12 - Russian Independence Day. The tanker will begin unloading on America's Independence Day.

The Prime Minister ordered tariffs not to change Mikhail Kasyanov overturned the decision of the Federal Energy Commission to increase tariffs for rail freight transportation by 14% from January 20, 2002. According to him, in the very near future a final decision will be made on the timing of indexation of tariffs for the services of natural monopolies, including railway transport services.

Khazret Sovman, the new president of the Republic of Adygea, is settling his affairs in Krasnoyarsk before taking office. The president of the Polyus company intends to resign as head of Russia's largest gold mining enterprise. The board of directors will choose his successor, but the last word belongs to the owner of the company, Mr. Sovman.

TNK offers Gazprom a form of participation in the Kovykta project The issue of Gazprom's participation in the project to develop the Kovyktinskoye gas condensate field in the Irkutsk region has become increasingly discussed.

The ski federation is mired in legal proceedings Many news agencies have already reported that the hearing of the case of Russian skiers Larisa Lazutina and Olga Danilova at the Lausanne Sports Court of Appeal may be postponed indefinitely. At the same time, many circumstances of the case, as well as the situation developing within the Russian Ski Federation, remained behind the scenes.

The Russian peacekeeping forces were headed by General Evnevich The Kremlin has found an elegant solution to the puzzling personnel problem - replacing the leadership of the peacekeeping forces. From the moment on December 1, by presidential decree, these functions were finally taken away from the Airborne Forces and transferred to the ground forces (ground forces), the position of “chief peacekeeper” remained vacant.

Chairman of the Board of Vneshtorgbank Yuri PONOMAREV, who is participating in the Russia-Poland economic forum in Warsaw, answered questions from Andrei DENISOV, a correspondent for the Vremya Novostei newspaper. -- How do you assess the situation around VTB? -- The Prime Minister expresses hope that the issue of a joint vision between the government and the Central Bank of the problem of the Central Bank's withdrawal from the capital of Vneshtorgbank will be resolved.

Mikhail Kasyanov expects to find a compromise with Viktor Gerashchenko on the issue of the Bank of Russia withdrawing from the capital of Vneshtorgbank and its privatization. “The issue of the Central Bank withdrawing from VTB capital remains,” Mr. Kasyanov said yesterday, while “the possibility of attracting investment (in this bank) is supported by the government.” In the coming days, Mr. Kasyanov plans to meet with Mr. Gerashchenko and discuss with him the future fate of VTB.

Yesterday, the journalistic team of the TV-6 channel submitted an application to the Ministry of Press to register a limited liability company under the name “TV-6”. Journalists intend to “take over” the channel from the Moscow Independent Broadcasting Corporation, the decision to liquidate which was recently made by the Supreme Arbitration Court of Russia.

The Vremya Novostey newspaper managed to talk with the wife of Andrei Ageev, one of those arrested in the Los Angeles case. According to her, the expected “favorable” court decision will so far change little in the fate of her husband, and, as the US authorities promise, he will remain in prison at least until the fall.

The return of refugees to Chechnya will not be forced Twice over the past two days, high-ranking foreign delegations visited the camps of internally displaced persons in Ingushetia: first the group of the PACE chief rapporteur on refugees and internally displaced persons Tadeusz Iwiński, then the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers himself. Both international dignitaries, to the delight of the authorities, spoke in favor of the speedy return of refugees to Chechnya.

The upper house of parliament met yesterday for the first time in its new composition. So far, the new senators have not yet developed a taste for discussing bills. None of the issues included on the agenda, perhaps with the exception of the bill “On Leasing,” aroused either heated discussion or special interest. But issues related to the new work order and their own financial support were discussed with pleasure by the new senators. A new regulation was adopted as a basis.

The government wants to stop rising drug prices The Russian government is urgently going to find the culprit for the increase in drug prices that began after the new year. The problem, the inevitability of which pharmacists, chief physicians and heads of regional health authorities have repeatedly warned over the past six months, was discussed at yesterday's cabinet meeting.

The verdict in the sensational case of the head of the Russian Video television company Dmitry Rozhdestvensky was handed down yesterday by a St. Petersburg court. It was from this investigation that another investigation was formed - in relation to the Media-Most holding and its leader Vladimir Gusinsky. However, the disgraced oligarch was not even mentioned at the trial. And Mr. Rozhdestvensky was given three years with confiscation and was immediately given amnesty.