They want to turn the Ministry of Economic Development into a prosecutor's office To make government procurement effective, Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov suggested that the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade better study the Criminal Code. Yesterday at a government meeting, cabinet members spent an hour and a half discussing how they spend money and how it should be spent correctly.

Former President of Ecuador, 58-year-old Lucio Gutierrez, who fled to Brazil in April after the coup d'etat, said these days that he intends to return to the country. In Quito, this announcement caused concern. After all, immediately after the coup, the vice president, and now acting.

The creative elite depicted grief at the request of their superiors The head of the Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography, Mikhail Shvydkoy, decided to make his “Cultural Revolution” in the format of a reality show and only for VIPs of Russian art. On Monday, the first issue dedicated to the upcoming Moscow Biennale took place.

General Director of the petrochemical company Sinopec Mou SHULIN answered questions from Vremya Novostey and the PRIME-TASS agency. —What are you negotiating with Gazprom about and what is the content of the memorandum signed with Rosneft? — We are currently at the stage of cooperation intentions with Gazprom. We signed a memorandum of understanding with Rosneft on the joint development of four oil fields. - Which ones? — These are deposits in China and Russia, I don’t remember the names.

The arrest of Evgeniy Adamov was declared illegal The Swiss Federal Criminal Court in Bern yesterday upheld the complaint filed by the lawyers of the former ex-head of the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy Evgeny Adamov against his illegal arrest by the Swiss authorities at the request of the United States “due to violations of international and Swiss law.” But despite this, Mr. Adamov remains in custody.

Tomorrow the 21st European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships will start at the capital's Olimpiyskiy sports complex. Over the course of three days in the Russian capital, medals will be played out in the team championship and in individual all-around events. Applications for participation were submitted by 181 athletes from 31 countries of the Old World. As the host of the championship, Russia, unlike other federations represented by two athletes, has the right to nominate three participants.

Japanese performances at the Chekhov Festival The Nogakuza company, specializing in performances of the ancient Japanese Noh theater, already came to us two years ago. Then, on the stage of the Maly Theater, they acted out “Kagekiye,” the story of a daughter’s journey to her military leader father, who lost the battle and retired into the forests. The small performance became a test for the Moscow festival (that is, enlightened, curious, ready for the unexpected) public.

Yesterday, President George W. Bush was forced to respond to demands from human rights activists to close the prison at the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where suspected al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban terrorists are being held.

The cause of the hepatitis A outbreak in Rzhev is still unknown The chief sanitary doctor of Russia, Gennady Onishchenko, yesterday denied data that the outbreak of hepatitis A that broke out in the Tver region had reached Moscow.

The cost of renting a cottage in the Moscow region has long been higher than the cost of renting many apartments in Spain or Cyprus. It’s no wonder that more and more of our compatriots prefer holidays abroad. At a comparable price, the level of service of foreign resorts is much higher. Moreover, the catalog of offers for renting inexpensive villas and apartments has been replenished with Turkey and Croatia. There are a lot of us here Let's start with Spain.

Fernando Alonso plans to strengthen his leadership overseas Two North American stages, which will take place a week apart, will draw a line under the first half of the Formula 1 season. Needless to say, this championship is not inferior to the best examples of past years in terms of the daring twisted plots in each individual race. The denouement of the race at the Nürburgring, where Kimi Raikkonen received only a hole in the tire instead of victory, will be remembered by fans for a long time.

The updated Kinotavr has reached its zenith The competition program of the Open Russian Festival has passed the halfway point, and there is very little time left before summing up the results.

Watch from January 20 on Moscow screens “House of Flying Daggers” (China, 2004, Zhang Yimou). After his undoubtedly brilliant “Hero,” Zhang Yimou decided not to stray from the path of philosophical martial arts and staged a historical melodrama with martial arts from the Tang Dynasty. The ruling dynasty sends its spy into the rebel group, but instead of serving his masters, he falls in love with a beautiful rebel.

Russia may spend 100 million rubles on an inadequate Chechen parliament In just over five months, a full-fledged parliament will appear in Chechnya after a long break. The Republican Election Commission has already announced the approximate amount that the last stage of building post-war Chechen democracy will cost: it is more than what was spent on the presidential elections in 2003 and 2004 and amounts to about 100 million rubles.

Teacher found guilty of vote rigging in Vladivostok mayoral elections The mayor of Vladivostok, Vladimir Nikolaev, recently received a not very pleasant gift for the first anniversary of his tenure. The court of the Pervorechensky district of the Primorye capital indirectly admitted that the second round of elections for the mayor of Vladivostok was, to put it mildly, not entirely fair. The chairman of precinct election commission No.