The European Central Bank supported the dollar The beginning of the year at foreign exchange trading was marked by a sharp drop in the dollar exchange rate against the ruble. Yesterday, the official quotes of the Central Bank decreased by 0.3% - from 28.48 to 28.39 rubles, falling to the level of September last year. In total, over three trading days in January, the US currency fell by 1.3%.

Trading in shares of the gas monopolist on the RTS begins today The liberalization of the Gazprom share market is taking on very specific shape. Today, trading in Gazprom shares will begin on the classic RTS market, the exchange's press service reported yesterday.

"Krivorozhstal" was renamed to "Mittal Steel - Krivoy Rog" Indian metallurgical magnate Lakshmi Mittal, whose largest empire, Mittal Steel, bought a 93% stake in Krivorozhstal last October for $4.8 billion, decided to rename the Ukrainian enterprise. It will now also bear the name of its new owner - “Mittal Steel - Krivoy Rog”. The decision on this was made at an extraordinary meeting of shareholders held at the plant yesterday.

The American corporation Johnson & Johnson will soon become a world leader in the production of drugs for the cardiovascular system. Yesterday, the company's management announced that it had reached a final agreement to purchase the pharmaceutical company Guidant Corp. for $23.2 billion. Johnson & Johnson Chairman William Weldon said yesterday: "We firmly believe that our alliance with Guidant can deliver long-term benefits to shareholders of both companies." Guidant was founded in 1994.

Oil prices rise due to fears of reduced supplies from Iran The problems surrounding the Iranian nuclear program have affected oil prices - they are again approaching the $65 per barrel mark. Although they are still far from reaching the maximum values ​​​​set at the end of September, when quotations surpassed $70 per barrel, the tense situation around Iran is constantly pushing up the cost of raw materials.

Chisinau fails to reach an agreement with Gazprom Moldova continues to defend itself against Gazprom’s attack on raising gas prices. Yesterday, Prime Minister Valery Tarlev officially confirmed that consumers in his country receive gas only from Ukraine. “Since January 1, we have been buying gas from Ukraine, which has allowed us to avoid interruptions in supplying industrial and household consumers,” he said.

Dmitry Medvedev would like to change the composition of RosUkrEnergo shareholders Ten days after the conclusion of the Russian-Ukrainian gas peace, the head of the board of directors of Gazprom and First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev decided to make a special statement for news agencies on this topic. The reason for the statement was the new milestone of Gazprom's capitalization on the Russian market - $200 billion.

RUSAL launched the world's most powerful electrolysis bath RUSAL, Russia's largest aluminum producer (produces about 75% of the total Russian volume), yesterday announced the launch into commercial operation at the Sayanogorsk aluminum smelter of the world's most powerful electrolyser with a current of 400 kA (PA-400), developed by the company itself. The total investment in the project amounted to $11.3 million.