Gazprom is ready to export Kovykta gas A top manager of Gazprom for the first time announced the need to sell gas from the Kovyktinskoye field on the foreign market. As Alexander Medvedev, deputy chairman of the board of the concern, said yesterday at the “Gas of Russia-2005” forum, it “cannot be fully developed without selling gas for export.” This is a real breakthrough for TNK-BP, which controls the license for the development of Kovykta.

The Oryol region was caught in the construction of an alcohol border On Wednesday, a specific feature of Russian federalism was revealed in all its glory: the protectionist concerns of regional authorities about their producers appeared under the guise of concern for people’s health. Messages appeared on agency feeds that the Oryol region banned the import of vodka and wines with an alcohol content of more than 15% into its territory.

MDM and Alfa place Eurobonds Two large Russian banks are placing their Eurobonds this week. Yesterday, MDM Bank raised $250 million to refinance its previous obligations, and Alfa Bank should complete a deal to issue subordinated Eurobonds in the amount of $200 million by Friday. The newspaper’s interlocutors assess these placements quite positively and believe that borrowing volumes will increase next year of Russian credit institutions in foreign markets will increase significantly.

The new Russian ambassador to Belarus may begin work before the end of this year, said the head of the Belarusian embassy in Moscow, Vladimir Grigoriev. “All formalities for the candidacy of the ambassador have already been agreed upon. All that remains is to wait for the decree of the Russian President,” said Mr. Grigoriev. According to him, the new ambassador of the Russian Federation will be a famous person who completed an internship at the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Presenting himself with intergalactic chic, Andrei Bartenev is a famous performance artist, like-minded person of the outstanding American director Robert Wilson. Bartenev loves to organize grandiose shows in different parts of the world, which involve all genres and types of art, from choreography to dance. Now Bartenev made his debut as a drama theater actor. The NET festival ended with a performance with his participation by Shlem.com based on the novel “Helmet of Horror” by Victor Pelevin.

Russian Railways selects leasing companies To provide JSC Russian Railways (RZD) with rolling stock in the amount of 12 billion rubles. On December 29, an open competition will be held among leasing companies. Vice-President of Russian Railways Galina Kraft announced this yesterday at a conference dedicated to the problems of leasing railway equipment.

Citizens of Georgia planning to spend the New Year holidays in Russia will be able to do so only in exceptional cases. Russian diplomats in Tbilisi will resume issuing visas no earlier than early next week. It takes at least three weeks to obtain a visa. Yesterday, the Russian Embassy in Georgia reported that the issuance of visas had been “temporarily reduced” due to technical reasons.

Some November CDs Rolling Stones. A Bigger Bang (Virgin) Comparing the Stones' creations in the 90s with their masterpieces of the 60s and 70s is not only incorrect, but simply useless: the people are not the same, the times are not the same and the listeners are not the same. Everything changes, and why the hell, one might ask, should a group spend its entire life recording, composing and recomposing the same Satisfaction or Angie, with all the boundless respect for the said creations?

This could cost her dearly. Yesterday, four initiative groups to hold a referendum on the country's accession to NATO were registered in Ukraine. The opposition Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) made such a request to the CEC. At the same time, she wants to find out the people’s opinion regarding Ukraine’s membership in the Common Economic Space along with Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus.

The Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation has survived the first five-year plan On December 1, 2000, the current model of the system of military-technical cooperation (MTC) was founded: organizations trading in Russian weapons and military equipment were merged, and on their basis a single state intermediary was formed - the federal state unitary enterprise Rosoboronexport.

Russia celebrates AIDS Day with increased spending on medicine The unprecedented amount allocated in 2006 for the fight against AIDS within the framework of the national project “Health” may not be effective enough in the absence of a structured state strategy to counter the “plague of the 20th century.” This was stated on the eve of the 17th World AIDS Day celebrated today by one of the leading Russian experts on the human immunodeficiency virus, Professor Vadim Pokrovsky.

The VII International Fair of Intellectual Books non/fiction has opened What happened Any self-respecting event should have an opening, that is, it is not entirely clear for whom a meeting is organized, at which officials and/or persons somewhat pleasant to the organizers make appropriate speeches. The VII International Non/Fiction Intellectual Book Fair is no exception.

The famous show will come to Russia in January Starting today, ticket sales begin for the show “Peter Pan on Ice,” another project of Stage Entertainment, the same company that has been presenting the musical Cats for a year now. As with "Cats", the company begins promoting its project from afar - "Peter Pan" in Moscow (at the Luzhniki Stadium) will take place from January 17 to 22, in St.

Another head of a village administration was killed in Chechnya In Chechnya yesterday, a special operation continued all day to search for the bandits who shot the head of the administration of the village of Avtury, Ibragim Umpashayev, and his son Isa. The bandits attacked the official right in his house and safely disappeared, despite the attempt of the police who arrived at the scene of the emergency to detain them. At the same time, two operatives were wounded in the shootout.

The US administration will fulfill the wishes of military leaders in Iraq Yesterday, US President George W. Bush spoke at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. In his own words, it was a “strategic” speech. “We will be in Iraq as long as necessary to complete the mission. If our military leaders in Iraq say that they need more troops, I will send them,” the president emphasized. There are currently 160 thousand American soldiers in Iraq.