The newspaper Vremya Novostei asked politicians, political scientists, and economists to comment on the consequences of the verdict in the Khodorkovsky-Lebedev-Krainov case for Russia. Alexander SHOKHIN, head of the supervisory board of Renaissance Capital: - This is not a final verdict. There will probably still be protests from lawyers, cassation, and appeals. And the final verdict could theoretically differ from this. Although it is unlikely that it will be dramatic.

Georgia celebrates the birth of new relations with Russia Yesterday, Tbilisi newspapers came out with solemn headlines like “Historic Event” and “Russian Military Leave!” The new Georgian authorities achieved what they wanted. After signing an agreement with Russia in Moscow on Monday on the withdrawal of military bases from Batumi and Akhalkalaki, the Russian military must finally leave Georgia in 2008 - that is, the year of parliamentary elections.

The first foreign assessments began to arrive immediately after the verdict in the Khodorkovsky-Lebedev-Krainov case. Here are some of those responses. George W. Bush, US President: - It will be interesting to see whether he (Khodorkovsky - Ed. ) will file an appeal or not. We think he will appeal and we wonder how the appeal will be handled. We are monitoring the ongoing case.

Anatoly Iksanov remains general director of the Bolshoi Theater For the next five years, the Bolshoi Theater will move on the same course - this is the result of yesterday's meeting of the board of the Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography.

For exactly a year, the goalkeeper of the capital's Lokomotiv, Sergei OVCHINNIKOV, was not called up to the Russian national team, after he was sent off from the field in a match with the Portuguese national team at the European Championships. At first, he was hampered by an injury, then by a conflict with the former head coach of the national team, Georgy Yartsev, and later Ovchinnikov himself stated that playing for the club was more important to him.

Gazprom found “new” lost assets Obtaining a 51% stake in Northgas, as it turned out, is not the last project of Gazprom management as part of the campaign to return lost assets. “About the return of assets. I can say that they (assets that need to be returned. - Ed. ) exist. We are working on this now. What belonged to Gazprom must be returned.

First there was the word The formal reason for launching an investigation by the Prosecutor General's Office against YUKOS, as far as we know, was a request made on June 6, 1993 by State Duma deputy Vladimir Yudin about the legality of the privatization of the Apatit mining and processing plant in 1994.

The mayor of Moscow asks for a couple of years of stability The Moscow authorities, who have been discussing the need for long-term financial planning for several years now, have finally taken the first step on the path from the annual cycle of the budget process to a three-year one. True, the capital’s attempt to outline at least rough guidelines in the near future seems to have ended in failure.

The prosecutor's office promises Khodorkovsky and Lebedev new sentences The Moscow petty bourgeois court yesterday, unexpectedly for everyone, was relieved of the burden of the seemingly endless announcement of the verdict of the ex-head of YUKOS Mikhail Khodorkovsky and the head of the Menatep MFO Platon Lebedev. Both were found guilty of all the crimes charged by the Prosecutor General's Office and sentenced to nine years in a general regime colony each.

Robert Plant Mighty Rearranger (Sanctuary) Former Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant successfully built a solo career in the 80s, and in the 90s, after the release of a very strong album Fate Of Nations, he gave up this type of creative activity for some time. He was then mainly involved in quasi-ethnic projects - together with his recent colleague, guitarist Jimmy Page.

CLUBS Minsker Kapelye (Minsk). Traditional Jewish music klezmer. "Home" , 19.30. Safety Magic. Psychedelic ethno-jazz, collected from folk music motifs from all over the world. “Chinese pilot Zhao Da” , 23.00. Skip Parente (violin; USA) and Alexander Vinitsky (guitar). Jazz. Cool Train , 21.00. "Adventures of Electronics", "Lumens". Charity concert. "Vermel" , 21.00. "Cinephantom". Today the parallel cinema club presents a retrospective of films by director and screenwriter Oleg Khaibullin .

The company challenges the sale of Yuganskneftegaz Less than two hours after the verdict was announced against Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, YUKOS issued an official statement that it had challenged the results of the auction for the sale of Yuganskneftegaz in the Moscow Arbitration Court. In addition, the company demands compensation for losses incurred in connection with the deprivation of its subsidiary in the amount of 324 billion rubles. ($11.5 billion).

President Putin will definitely come to Japan before the end of the year “President Putin’s visit to Japan will definitely take place before the end of this year,” Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura announced yesterday in Tokyo after difficult negotiations with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. As expected, the territorial dispute over the Kuril ridge has not moved one step.

The National Hockey League plans to test the new rules at a special training camp in Toronto with young players before introducing the new rules. Changes in the rules are aimed at increasing the effectiveness of hockey matches and provide, among other things, for reducing the size of goalkeeper equipment and increasing the size of the goal. A small skating rink in Toronto was chosen as a testing ground.

The Arctic has come to the attention of the authorities The Russian authorities have finally turned their attention to the resource-rich Arctic territory. Recently, the Cabinet of Ministers reviewed the state concept for the development of the country’s continental shelf, including the Arctic. Representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resources proposed providing investors developing northern mineral resources with a number of fiscal benefits.