Domestic snack manufacturers sharply increased sales volumes Russian manufacturers of chips and other snacks are slowly but surely winning market share from foreign companies. The final data on this segment for the past year has not yet been compiled, but analysts are already noting not only significant (30-40% - 114 thousand tons or $700 million) market growth, but also the activity of our companies.

This time Israel voted more actively Polling stations opened yesterday in 11 cities in Israel and another in the Gaza Strip. 12 precincts are divided between three districts to which local voters are attached: 175th Novomoskovsky, 176th Tula and 177th Shchekinsky. As Charge d'Affaires of the Russian Federation in the State of Israel Andrei Demidov told the Vremya Novostey newspaper, the polling stations are located so that any Russian citizen living in Israel can easily get to the ballot box.

New Central Bank proposal on contributions to the deposit insurance fund The Central Bank came up with a new way to popularize the deposit insurance system among bankers, the attractiveness of which faded after Neglinnaya refused to lower the standard for contributions to the mandatory reserve fund (FRF). “It is possible to reduce the ratio of banks’ contributions to the insurance fund (from which compensation will be paid to depositors. - Ed.

The elections passed without major emergencies The leadership of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs yesterday evening reported on the successful completion of the task of ensuring complete security at polling stations. Throughout the country, the elections, said Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Alexander Chekalin, were not overshadowed by a single even remotely serious emergency.

Muscovites did not heed Chubais' warnings Just don’t try to pin all the blame on the president now. Of course, I didn’t run the state, but I took delivery of a Labrador all night, and this, I’ll tell you, was no big deal. In addition, the matter is not limited to the actual birth of puppies . I am afraid that the appearance of offspring from the presidential bitch may also affect the future presidential campaign.

Prison prisoners turned out to be the most conscientious voters Yesterday the Central Election Commission of Russia had a holiday - they welcomed guests here. About 1,200 journalists alone gathered at the Central Election Commission yesterday, of which about 500 represented foreign media from 33 countries.

3 thousand Russians voted in Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is perhaps the only foreign country where the progress of voting in the Russian Duma caused more than serious concern.

Forecast for the coming days The weather in most areas of European Russia continues to be controlled by a vast cyclonic vortex centered in the south of Novaya Zemlya. Tomorrow, along its western edge, a young wave cyclone will arrive in the central regions, which will cause snowfalls along its route to the central regions; a blizzard is possible if the wind increases.

Contemporary dance is dominated by women Should I say Women's Day? No, perhaps, that the Women's Year - never before has the festival of modern dance "Tseh" been given almost entirely to dance composers .

The prosecutor's office is checking the voluntariness of early voting in Yekaterinburg Yesterday's elections in Yekaterinburg were marked by the seizure of campaign materials and arrests. The most significant fact of the violation was the scattering of leaflets “The police are looking for them: the City Without Drugs Foundation” in the Zheleznodorozhny district of Yekaterinburg. Let us remind you that the president of the foundation, Evgeny Roizman, ran for the State Duma in this constituency.

Construction of the protective dam has been suspended again The change of power in the northern capital could not prevent new scandals related to the St. Petersburg “construction projects of the century” - the ring road (KAD) and the dam in the Gulf of Finland, which should protect the city from catastrophic floods. At the end of last week, their construction was suspended on the instructions of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's credit policy failed The California Legislature has persistently refused to accept a package of measures to save the state from ruin proposed by new Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. On Saturday, the Assembly's Democratic majority rejected his plan to reduce the state's debt through spending cuts and another round of borrowing.

Over the first 9 months of 2003, Russian insurance companies increased the collection of premiums by 1.5 times. The total amount of insurance premium collected by companies for all types of insurance for three quarters amounted to 340.2 billion rubles, which is 54% more than the figures for the same period in 2002. As the Ministry of Finance said in a statement, these data were obtained from 1,223 of 1,436 insurance organizations registered in Russia.

Revolution in Bashkiria postponed The revolution according to the Georgian scenario, which the Bashkir oppositionists proclaimed three days before the elections in Bashkiria, has not yet taken place. The republic has a chance to calmly elect its representatives to the lower house of the federal parliament, and permanent President Murtaza Rakhimov is preparing to add another, third, presidential term to his 13-year reign.

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