NRB became a co-owner of the airline The National Reserve Bank (NRB) and Millhouse Capital announced yesterday the completion of a transaction for the purchase and sale of a blocking stake in Aeroflot. The amount for which NRB acquired “more than 26% of the shares” of the airline from Millhouse has not been officially disclosed.

The champion of Russia in handball among men's teams, the Chekhov Bears club near Moscow, led by the national team coach Vladimir Maximov, signed a contract with the goalkeeper of the Argentine national team Christian Canzoniero. This is the first foreign player from far abroad in the history of Russian handball. He was officially presented to the capital's public during the last Super League match with the participation of the Chekhov's Bears.

UAZ opened an assembly plant for its cars in Vietnam. This year it is planned to produce 1,200 cars there; the first 48 UAZs, assembled in Hanoi at the Than Xuan plant, have already been handed over to customers. The Ulyanovsk plant provided the Vietnamese side with a license to assemble its cars for a period of five years. The licensing agreement provides for the assembly of 3,500 vehicles. It is expected that these cars will be sold not only in Vietnam, but also in neighboring Laos.

Five members of one of the Vladivostok criminal gangs were detained the other day while trying to sell the skin of the rarest inhabitant of the Ussuri taiga - the Far Eastern leopard. Zoological researchers are convinced that no more than 35 of these wild cats remain in nature. The poachers were caught by employees of the border service and the Department of Internal Affairs of the Primorsky Territory.

Benefits for seafarers expected this year The Ministry of Transport expects to introduce a preferential regime for registering sea vessels this year. The corresponding bill will be submitted to the government in the coming weeks, and by the end of 2003 officials hope to pass it through the State Duma. Deputy Minister of Transport, State Secretary Maxim Prokhorov told the Vremya Novostei newspaper yesterday.

French public opinion is very painfully experiencing the start of the war in Iraq, declared by Washington against the will of the world community. The recent victory of French diplomacy, which managed to win over the majority of UN Security Council member countries, turned out to be Pyrrhic. The Americans forced the whole world to play by their rules and smashed into pieces the Gaullist concept of a multipolar world, dear to the hearts of the French.

The super tournament in Miami brought together all the elite Yesterday, the main draw singles matches of a major tennis tournament began in Miami, bringing together almost all the elite. Men are holding the second Masters Series competition this season with a prize fund of $3.25 million; for the fairer sex, the total amount of bonuses is slightly less - $2.6 million. Accordingly, the upcoming payments for the winners vary - 500 and 393 thousands.

A bill on compulsory housing insurance will be submitted to the State Duma by the beginning of 2004, Gosstroy Chairman Nikolai Koshman announced yesterday. He noted: “I think that the bill on compulsory home insurance will be considered by the new State Duma.

At the beginning of February, a presidential decree came into force on the liberalization of trade in rough and polished diamonds, which was supposed to facilitate the export of precious stones. The general director of the ALROSA Diamonds structural division of the diamond mining company ALROSA, Alexander NOVOSELOV, told Vremya Novostey correspondent Vladislav DOLGOV why this did not happen.

On March 25, the Gazprom Board of Directors will discuss a new procedure for selling gas within the country. The initiators of this discussion were state representatives in the council - Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko and Minister of Economic Development German Gref, who at the meeting on February 4 criticized the actions of Gazprom management. At the end of last year, Alexey Miller signed order No.

To exclude them later Yesterday, a two-day meeting of the leaders of United Russia with representatives of the regional branches of the party responsible for agitation and propaganda work opened at the Cosmos Hotel. The meeting was held behind closed doors, but a correspondent for the Vremya Novostei newspaper managed to find out some details from its participants.

Up to 50 thousand Israelis intend to find refuge in Eilat, the country's southernmost city, located on the shores of the Red Sea. They consider Eilat the safest place in Israel. According to some, Iraqi missiles will not reach it. Others are confident that Iraq will not launch a strike because of the proximity of the Jordanian port of Aqaba, an important point for Iraqi trade.

Polish authorities sent their special forces to the front Tomorrow, soldiers of the 4th Chemical Regiment stationed in Brodnica will fly to the Persian Gulf region. Yesterday, after a meeting with the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Aleksander Kwasniewski, they said goodbye to their families, receiving a prayer book in Polish and English for the trip from the regimental chaplain.

Prosecutors uncovered violations during preparations for the referendum Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation in the Southern Federal District Sergei Fridinsky said yesterday that the December terrorist attack in Grozny, which destroyed part of the Chechen government buildings, was carried out on the initiative of the famous field commander Shamil Basayev. The four citizens detained in this case have admitted their guilt and are testifying, so that if caught, Mr.

Gas reform must be ready by May Day Mikhail Kasyanov had to gather his subordinates and the management of Gazprom at one table for three months. At the end of December, as is known, the discussion of gas reform at a government meeting had to be canceled: the head of Gazprom, Alexey Miller, wrote to Vladimir Putin that he categorically disagreed with the proposals of the concept developer, the Ministry of Economic Development.