Vladimir Putin asks to explain what corruption is Only 30% of Russians saw changes for the better in the fight against corruption during Vladimir Putin's presidency. Over 40% believe that everything remains as it was under Yeltsin, and 20% even said that the situation with corruption has become worse. These data from the VTsIOM survey were published yesterday just at the moment when the head of state held the first meeting of the newly created Anti-Corruption Council.

Mark Rozovsky celebrated the 30th anniversary of his masterpiece The other day, an unusual celebration took place at the Theater Center on Strastnoy Boulevard: Mark Rozovsky and the Nikitsky Gate Theater solemnly celebrated the anniversary of the play “Poor Liza.” The first performance staged by Rozovsky on the professional stage (Small Stage of the Bolshoi Drama Theater, 1973) still remains, perhaps, his best work.

A scandal broke out between auditors and the Central Bank. One of these days, the extraordinary council on auditing under the Ministry of Finance will discuss new recommendations of the Central Bank on the selection of an audit company for auditing statements according to international financial reporting standards (IFRS).

The President of the International Criminal Court arrived in Moscow The President of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Philip Kirsch, arrived in Moscow yesterday. His focus is on the problem of Russia's ratification of the ICC statute (Russia signed the statute on September 13, 2000, but is in no hurry to ratify). Mr. Kirsch will take part in the international conference “Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: implementation at the regional level” opening today in Moscow.

Yukos and Sibneft finally agreed on a divorce Mikhail Khodorkovsky continues to be the person making the main decisions at YUKOS and, apparently, only he is capable of leading this company. Yesterday it became known that the former owner of Sibneft, Millhouse Capital (representing the interests of Roman Abramovich and his partners), signed a protocol with Group MENATEP (uniting the assets of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his partners) on a reverse transaction to separate Yukos and Sibneft.

Gennady Raikov submitted an application to United Russia Chairman of the People's Party Gennady Raikov submitted an application yesterday to join the United Russia faction. A merger with the faction in power was inevitable both for the remnants of the “People’s Deputy” group, which was led by Raikov, and for the leader himself. There were only 20 deputies who entered the Duma on the lists of the People’s Party, and to form a group according to the rules of the Duma, at least 35 are needed.

CLUBS "The Triumph of Jazz". Opening of the most stellar Russian jazz festival. Today Joe Locke (vibraphone) will play - a musician who is one of the five best vibraphonists in the world. He will perform in the trio 4 Walls of Freedom along with Gary Novak (drums) and David Fink (bass) with the participation of one of the best Russian saxophonists Igor Butman . Read more on page 10. Le Club , 20.00. "Zone Postopus Posth".

The capital's deputies were presented with a candidate for chief of the Moscow Prosecutor's Office It seems that tomorrow a full-fledged head of the city prosecutor's office will appear in Moscow. As predicted by the newspaper Vremya Novostei , it will be Anatoly Zuev. Immediately after the New Year, his candidacy was approved by the mayor of the capital, Yuri Luzhkov, and yesterday the official procedure for introducing Mr. Zuev to the Moscow City Duma took place.

Yesterday the UN called on Russia to assist it in Iraq. Help will be needed if UN inspectors are again mandated to resume the search for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the country. Negotiations in Moscow on this matter took place between Deputy Head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Yuri Fedotov and the acting Chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission in Iraq (UNMOVIC) Demetrius Perricos.

Georgian Minister of Transport, Communications and Communications Merab Adeishvili was taken into custody on Tuesday evening. Events developed like in a detective story. An unknown person called the minister, introduced himself as an employee of the state chancellery and invited him to come to the meeting. Here, masked special forces were waiting for the minister.

Sometimes, despite the presence of insurance, it is more profitable to pay yourself On European roads, the place where a car accident occurs immediately becomes the target of a kind of racing competition for at least three “savior angels” - ambulance, fire brigade and traffic police. However, this trio does not always rush to the victims.

In Taganrog they will not forget the secretary of the city committee of the CPSU and the gypsy baron The Taganrog City Duma supported the initiative of local gypsies to name one of the outskirts of the city after the gypsy baron Fatori Kola. Provincial deputies believe that they were the first in Russia to take such a step. However, Taganrog traditionally lays claim to some exclusivity in terms of renaming streets.

The Black South came to the primary elections Yesterday in the United States the primary elections of the Democratic Party took place in seven states at once - Arizona, Delaware, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, New Mexico and North Dakota. “Super 7” is what they call yesterday Tuesday in the USA. Seven competitors competed for the right to oppose Bush in the presidential election on November 2 this year. One person claimed victory in most states: Senator John Kerry.

The Prosecutor General's Office sent the first batch of MKAD builders to court The first criminal case of large-scale theft during the construction of the Moscow Ring Road, against the head of the SU-802 company Oleg Khomenko, as the newspaper Vremya Novostei learned, was recently approved and transferred to the court of the city of Reutov by the Prosecutor General's Office. Together with him, SU-802 foreman Sergei Popovich and Khomenko’s son-in-law Mikhail Karasev will be in the dock.

Vladimir Putin demands to punish directors who delay salaries A little over a month before the presidential elections, Vladimir Putin decided to remind his compatriots that he is not only an abstract guarantor of the Constitution, but also a very concrete defender of the disadvantaged sections of the Russian population.