Angela Merkel will build a new Germany Yesterday the Bundestag voted to appoint Angela Merkel as German Chancellor. The chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) will be the first woman to hold this position. She will lead the second cabinet of ministers of a grand coalition in the post-war history of Germany. In 1966-1969, a similar “black-red” coalition government was headed by Kurt Kiesinger.

“Whether we join the WTO or not is the least of my worries,” Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said recently. He believes that the United States will inevitably begin to slow down his country's accession to the WTO for political reasons.

LUKOIL became the sole owner of SeverTEK LUKOIL announced yesterday that it had bought out a 50 percent share of Finnish Neste Oil - a subsidiary of the Finnish concern Fortum - in their joint venture SeverTEK and became the sole owner of the company. Neste Oil received $321.5 million for a 50% stake in SeverTEK; according to the Finnish corporation, its profit from the transaction amounted to almost $164 million.

Ukrainian authorities intend to achieve membership in the World Trade Organization at the December WTO session in Hong Kong. However, Prime Minister Yuri Yekhanurov, who visited the United States earlier this month, admitted that Ukraine will be able to join the WTO only after receiving the status of a market economy country from the American government, and this will be possible only at the beginning of 2006. At the same time, Mr.

Lord Brown discusses business projects and the future of Russia in Moscow The hour-long meeting between Gazprom Chairman of the Board Alexey Miller and BP Head Lord John Brown brought no surprises. Following its results, they “expressed satisfaction” only with the progress of cooperation in the field of liquefied natural gas supplies.

Russia needs to radically reconsider its approaches to determining the legality of tax optimization schemes. And the courts, when considering complaints from tax authorities about suspicious business transactions, must analyze not only their formal compliance with the law, but also the economic essence of the entrepreneur’s actions.

Ukrainian leaders remembered the ideals of the revolution Yesterday Ukraine celebrated the anniversary of the Orange Revolution, which was celebrated as Freedom Day by presidential decree. About a hundred thousand people gathered in the central square of Kyiv - Independence Square. These days, orange symbols are almost invisible in Kiev transport and on the streets. However, Maidan was full of orange ribbons and flags.

Arab leasing company wants to buy RRJ The first foreign order for the RRJ regional aircraft was received yesterday by the Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company (SCAC). Moreover, as the State Aircraft Agency announced, the cost of the order is approaching a billion dollars. True, this significant amount was promised to Russian aircraft manufacturers by a young and unknown Arab leasing company. The deal has not yet been formalized by a contract.

The deal between E.ON and Scottish Power fell through Yesterday at the headquarters of E.ON in Dusseldorf it was announced that negotiations between the German energy concern and the British Scottish Power about its possible takeover were terminated. E.ON Chairman Wulf Bernotat has repeatedly said in recent months that his company will once again make “major acquisitions” once the consolidation with Essen-based Ruhrgas and the British Powergen is completed.

Issuance of "maternity certificates" will begin in 2006 Next year, along with diapers, pregnant women will have to acquire so-called “maternity certificates.” Instead of carrying banknotes to the doctor in an envelope or in a sweaty fist, every Russian woman will receive from the state a means for non-cash payments to obstetricians. Recently, the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation completed the development of the mechanism for the operation of these certificates.

United Russia is proposed to replace the Union of Right Forces On Tuesday, members of the November 4 Political Action Club outlined their ideas about Russia’s “national course.” The new liberal-conservative platform will be presented in expanded form at the upcoming United Russia party congress in Krasnoyarsk on November 26 and, apparently, should lay claim to the ideology of the future right wing of the party in power.

Anniversary euphoria gripped the Georgian authorities The Georgian parliament marked the current second anniversary of the Rose Revolution yesterday with a unanimous decision to begin considering the issue of the country's withdrawal from the CIS. According to Parliament Speaker Nino Burjanadze, "this decision does not mean the beginning of the procedure for Georgia's withdrawal from the CIS, it only means the beginning of consideration of this issue." Ms.

Residents of Magadan waited for the president In Magadan, the Russian President was seen alive only once - in 1994, Boris Yeltsin visited here. The townspeople only learned that Vladimir Putin was coming to them yesterday, a couple of hours before the president, having made a four-hour detour from Japan, landed at Magadan airport.

Kenyan people reject constitutional amendments The majority of Kenyans did not support the draft new constitution put to a referendum. 58% of citizens of the former British colony, which gained independence in 1963, voted on Monday and rejected the innovations. On the ballot papers, people put more marks next to the picture of an orange, which meant “no” to the illiterate population.

CLUBS David Goloshchekin (flugelhorn, violin). One of the veterans of Soviet jazz will perform today at Le Club , 20.30. Yoki, Lyudmila Kikina, White Owl, Compatriotes (Zaire - Venezuela - Russia), “Strawberry Glade”, “Falconry”, “Kawabata”, “Green Mile”, “Beginning of the Century”. Slavic and Celtic folk music. "B2" , 19.00. CONCERTS Moscow festival-offering “Many Years” , dedicated to Maya Plisetskaya and Rodion Shchedrin.