Zenit's blond defensive midfielder Alexander GORSHKOV can easily be called one of the key figures of the St. Petersburg club. At 35 years old, he constantly takes to the field in the first team, in no way inferior to his young partners. Gorshkov's role in Zenit is difficult to overestimate. The leadership of St. Petersburg also admits this.

Last week, two scandals broke out in Russian sports, in which representatives of the Dynamo society became participants. The entire apparatus of the Russian Mini-Football League refused to work with the head of the league, the president of the Dynamo mini-football club and senator from the Voronezh region, Konstantin Eremenko.

Boris Berezovsky advised to stay away from Latvia The Latvian authorities decided that new visits by Boris Berezovsky to the country would be undesirable. On Friday, President Vaira Vike-Freiberga said that law enforcement agencies should consider including Boris Berezovsky on the blacklist of persons who are prohibited from entering Latvian territory.

CLUBS Marino Pliakas (guitar; Switzerland), Michael Wertmüller (drums; Germany) and KKNull (electronics; Japan). After playing at the Long Arms festival, the group decided to give another concert in Moscow. The composition of the trio is truly stellar for avant-garde connoisseurs. Pliakas has already visited Russia at Sergei Kuryokhin's SKIF-6 festival, showing the versatility of his playing - he masterfully performs everything from academic “new music” to free jazz and rock.

Yesterday in the capital of Saxony, Dresden, with a very high voter turnout, early elections to the lower house of the German federal parliament - the Bundestag - finally ended. Dresden residents did not vote with other Germans on September 18 because the candidate for electoral district No. 160 from the far-right National Democratic Party died suddenly there just before the elections.

Yulia Tymoshenko officially assumed the position of mother-in-law Former Prime Minister of the Ukrainian government and mother of last year’s “Orange Revolution” Yulia Tymoshenko has changed her status. Starting Sunday, she can rightfully call herself the most famous mother-in-law in Ukraine. The only daughter and heiress of the Kyiv Iron Lady Evgeniya was legally married over the weekend to a simple British troubadour - the leader of the rock band Death Valley Screamers, Sean Carr.

The director of the aircraft plant cleared the way for the Il-96 The first victim of the instructions given by Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov at a government meeting on the aviation industry on September 22 was “Change people!” -- became the General Director of the Voronezh Joint-Stock Aircraft Manufacturing Company (VASO) Vyacheslav Salikov, who has headed the company for the last seven years. Last Friday, the VASO board of directors dismissed him. Mr.

Six matches of the Russian championship ended in goalless draws The capital's Lokomotiv and CSKA and St. Petersburg's Zenit decided to sharpen the intrigue in the championship to the limit. The leaders, as if by agreement and deliberately slowed down, allowed one competitor closer to them. And now Spartak, which they were quick to write off, is once again vying for medals.

The notorious promoter Don King in the world of professional boxing filed a lawsuit against his own client, boxer Hasim Rahman. King is demanding half of his purse from Rahman for his fight with Vitali Klitschko on November 12. At one time, King fought to get all the rights to organize this fight, but his competitors were ahead of him.

Moscow and Kyiv will manage without gas shock The intrigue of Friday's quick visit to Moscow of the new Prime Minister of Ukraine Yuri Yekhanurov was professionally twisted. At least from the Russian side. The secret stay of Ukrainian ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in the Russian capital a week before her successor appeared in Moscow and significant leaks about her meetings with Kremlin officials fueled interest in Mr. Yekhanurov's visit.

Business unions promise to protect the interests of Russian business abroad The attitude towards Russian entrepreneurs abroad can hardly be called friendly. There are many reasons for this - from the negative attitude that has persisted since the early 90s of the last century, when domestic business was associated, and sometimes unfoundedly, with crime, to fear of competition.

Forecast for the coming days At the beginning of October, the weather continues to pamper residents of the European territory of Russia with warmth and sun. The temperature almost everywhere is 2-4 degrees higher than usual, only in the south of European territory it is within normal limits and slightly lower. On Monday, dry and warm weather will remain in the middle zone, +18...+20оС.

Nikolai Valuev got a chance to become the first Russian heavyweight champion Russian boxer Nikolai Valuev took the last step towards fighting for the world heavyweight title. Having defeated American Larry Donald on points on Saturday, Valuev became the official contender for the fight for the WBA championship belt, which now belongs to John Ruiz. The fight with Ruiz could take place as early as December 17 in Berlin.

Taxes in Russia will not be reduced before the presidential elections Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov became afraid. And for reducing VAT, and for spending the stabilization fund. And mainly for 2008 - the year of the presidential elections. Ready at the beginning of this year to reduce VAT from 18 to 13% and use the stabilization fund for investments, today the prime minister is extremely cautious. Chairing the next meeting of the Council on Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship, Mr.

Personnel changes in the leadership of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, and most importantly, the activities of this union after the changes are of serious importance for the fate of Russia. Although the majority of members of the RSPP are “terribly far from the people” - perhaps even further than the Decembrists.