The Asia-Pacific region, where oil consumption is constantly growing, continues to attract commodity exporters. At the end of last year, Russia announced the start of construction of an oil pipeline from Eastern Siberia to the Pacific coast, and now Venezuela has announced its intention to become a serious player in the region.

The Krasnodar governor is being sold even in neighboring regions In the office furniture section of the “From A to Z” shopping center in Rostov-on-Don, along with tables, cabinets and armchairs, a portrait of the Governor of the Krasnodar Territory Alexander Tkachev is now sold. The version that the store employees simply decided to increase the political literacy of Rostovites by presenting them with a gallery of gubernatorial portraits does not stand up to criticism.

The Myrrh-Bearing Wives and Clara Zetkin are invited to switch places The Russian Orthodox Church is systematically trying to replace the “ideologically outdated” communist holidays with religious ones. Chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, speaking yesterday to journalists at the exhibition “Orthodox Rus'”, proposed abandoning the usual Women’s Day on March 8th.

Russia will soon cease to be considered a debtor to the International Monetary Fund. Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, as the government press service reported yesterday, signed an order on the early repayment of funds borrowed from the IMF and subject to repayment in 2005-2008. The amount of loans repaid ahead of schedule is about $3.33 billion. In October 2001, Russia already made early payments to the IMF. Then, having paid $2.7 billion, the Central Bank fully repaid its debt to the Fund.

Roman Kozak directed Andrei Platonov’s story “Dzhan” The performance is performed on the stage of the branch of the Theater named after. Pushkin, there are only three performers. Alexander Matrosov plays the hero of the story, Nazar Chagataev, who in the theater became simply Nazar. A surname is something superfluous and annoyingly specific. Kozak staged “Dzhan” as a parable, and living people had to give way to certain generalized figures.

Capital does not survive in Russia The Russian economy remains unattractive for investment. According to the Central Bank, in 2004, the net outflow of private capital (the difference between inflow and outflow) amounted to $7.8 billion. Moreover, this figure could have been more impressive if not for the “saving” fourth quarter, when 10 more people came into the country.

Intelligence agencies deciphered the personal archive of the new “al-Qaeda man” in Chechnya Russian special services have solved the mystery of one of the most dangerous international terrorists - the Arab mercenary Abu Haws, who, according to them, is now an emissary of Al-Qaeda in Chechnya. In principle, operatives knew about the existence of this person and his influence on the situation in the North Caucasus for quite a long time.

CLUBS Alina Vitukhnovskaya . Presentation of the book “The Black Icon of Russian Literature” by the publishing house “Ultra. Culture". Vitukhnovskaya is a cult figure, one of the most radical characters in Moscow artistic life. As part of the presentation, there will be a concert by the groups Altera Forma and Inquistorium , and Vladimir Epifanetsev will read poems by Alina Vitukhnovskaya and present a video film Noir-Theatre. "B2" , 20.00. Felix Lahouti (violin) and Funky Land. Funk.

Yesterday, Croatia unexpectedly came under pressure from the West for insufficient interaction with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Until now, Croatia was considered the most loyal state from the former Yugoslavia towards the Hague Tribunal. Now Zagreb has been threatened that negotiations on Croatia's membership in the European Union scheduled for March 17 will be postponed unless war criminal and Croatian general Ante Gotovina is extradited to The Hague.

For the first time, more than half of Russians disapprove of the government's actions Mass protests related to the monetization of benefits did not benefit the ratings of the government and the president. Sociologists from the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion came to this conclusion after conducting a survey of Russians in one hundred settlements in 39 regions of Russia on January 22-23, 2005.

On Sunday, the winter land-art festival “Art-Klyazma-2005” opened on the territory of the Klyazma Reservoir boarding house as part of the Moscow Biennale. Snow, frost and sun turned out to be the main components of the ideal exposure. As one of the eminent guests of Art-Klyazma, Georgy Puzenkov, said, “throw a glove on the snow - and the exhibition is ready!” The festival was a success not only due to weather conditions.

No one else will answer for the murder of Deputy Skorochkin Today the ten-year statute of limitations for bringing to justice the people who killed State Duma deputy Sergei Skorochkin expires. According to investigators, the crime was committed by six people from the Moscow region and Nizhny Novgorod. The case against them has been going through courts of various levels since 1998.

The military's justification was considered absurd The Military Collegium of the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday overturned the acquittal of five military officers accused of a high-profile attempt on the life of a businessman.

Forecast for the coming days Over the territory of Russia there is a confrontation between heterogeneous atmospheric vortices. The Siberian anticyclone staunchly protects its territory from the invasion of cyclones; the front of the struggle between them runs from the European North through the central regions to the south of Russia. It is in this zone that the weather is unfavorable, with strong winds, snowstorms and snowfalls.

Sergei Semak made his debut in the French Championship The French Championship has now become closer and dearer to Russian fans. Already ex-CSKA captain Sergei Semak made his debut in the French championship for his new club Paris Saint-Germain.