Alexey Miller told his subordinates about his correspondence with the president When the resonance caused by publications in connection with the letter regarding the development of the gas market, which Gazprom Chairman of the Board Alexey Miller wrote to Vladimir Putin at the end of last year, subsided, the concern's press service informed the public that Mr. Miller had held a working meeting on this issue.

Conscripts prefer to serve in the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the fire department and the GUIN Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov sent a letter to the Russian President in which he accused his fellow security officials, in particular the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Emergency Situations, of illegally recruiting young men of military age into the police and fire departments. Moreover, this outflow almost triples every year.

President Putin opened the Year of Russia in Kyiv Vladimir Putin arrived in Kyiv last night. The program of his working visit includes not only participation in an informal meeting of CIS leaders, but also the opening of the Year of Russia in Ukraine. The latter circumstance caused excitement among the opposition, which yesterday brought a thousand of its supporters to the Ukraine Palace, where the presidents of the two countries are today to officially mark the countdown of the “Russian” year.

The 27-year conflict between Nestle and one of the poorest countries in the world, Ethiopia, ended in favor of the former. Now the government of the African country will be forced to find funds to pay compensation of $1.5 million. The reason for the trial was the illegal nationalization of enterprises during the communist regime in 1975, when almost all foreign companies became state property.

Americans have come up with an original way to get rid of a bad habit The American tobacco company Vector Tobacco has invented a new paradoxical way to conquer the market. The main idea of ​​this company's active PR campaign is that the new brand of Quest cigarettes is not only “safer for health” than most tobacco products, but can also help those who are planning to quit smoking.

Yesterday, the head of the Komi Republic, Vladimir Torlopov, made it clear that the local authorities have not yet made a final decision on the sale of their stake in Bauxite Timan (the Komi Property Ministry owns 25.004% of the shares). Along with the option of selling the state stake to SUAL-Holding, which is the main shareholder of the company (63.97% of shares), the option of creating a management company, which will be given the right to manage the republican stake, is being considered.

The Mobile Telesystems and VimpelCom companies (Bee Line brand) are expanding their partnership with network suppliers of goods and services. As MTS press secretary Eva Prokofieva told the Vremya Novostei newspaper, MTS has signed a preliminary agreement with the United Processing Company (UCS) to accept cash payments for MTS services in a number of retail and service networks.

Church prepares to enter school Orthodoxy and secular school are becoming closer to each other every year. The largest annual theological conference of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Christmas Readings, which started on Sunday in the Kremlin, for the first time announced secular education as the main topic of discussion.

Lukashenko decided to reduce the number of private owners Less than a week after the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, dedicated to the prospects for Russian-Belarusian cooperation, the leader of the fraternal country began to build a state trade vertical. The number of private enterprises engaged in foreign trade operations with highly liquid goods in Belarus will soon decrease.

Russians are in for a whole lot of holidays in the coming months. This year the government has clearly accommodated the population, which likes to relax for several days in a row. As it became known on Monday, the holidays beloved by Russians will be extended with additional days off. The closest Defender of the Fatherland Day on the calendar will be preceded by a day off on Saturday and will last on Monday.

Part of the Russian state border is not guarded by anyone at all Following the Russian air defense command, which recently revealed that there is no continuous radar field along our air borders, the director of the Federal Border Service, Konstantin Totsky, admitted: some sections of the state border are far from “locked” or not controlled at all. In the Arctic, according to Mr. Totsky, this is not required today.

h The agro-industrial corporation Stoilenskaya Niva and the Soufflet Grain Rus company (a Russian subsidiary of the French Groupe Soufflet, which specializes in the primary processing of grains for the needs of its malting factories and flour mills) yesterday announced the conclusion of a contract for the sale of malting barley.

There may be more Chechens at the Hajj than Tatars Muslims are completing preparations for the so-called Great Hajj - a pilgrimage to the Arabian cities of Mecca and Medina, which every devout Muslim must make once in his life. In total, between one and a half million pilgrims from all over the world are expected in Saudi Arabia. The kingdom's authorities have allocated $100 million to host participants in the Great Hajj this year.

Another cyclone coming from China hit Primorye yesterday. Heavy snowfall was accompanied by stormy winds; in the southern and eastern regions of the region, by the end of the day two months' worth of precipitation fell. The region's rescue services have been placed on high alert. The Vladivostok municipality urged owners of personal cars not to go out onto the streets so as not to interfere with the work of snow removal machines.

People from the former USSR traditionally receive increased attention in Israel: a sixth of Israeli voters are Russian-speaking. Election slogans and videos in Russian are commonplace in Israel, and leaders of all parties learn and pronounce Russian phrases during the election race. There are “Russians” in all Israeli parties: religious and secular, right and left. The most famous today are three associations of Russian speakers.