Yukos's business partner was recognized as his accomplice Moscow businessman, head of the Rosinkor group of companies Dmitry Velichko received five years in a general regime colony following a verdict handed down yesterday by the capital's Basmanny District Court. He was found guilty of helping Yukos managers hide taxes from the state, which caused the latter major damage in the amount of 228 million rubles.

New film by Luc Besson on Moscow screens The last time Luc Besson occupied the director's chair was six years ago, when he directed Joan of Arc. From that moment on, his name appeared in the credits of almost fifty films in which he took on the duties of a producer.

In the first match of the playoffs, CSKA was defeated by Severstal In three matches of the Russian Championship playoffs that started, the teams that took higher places at the end of the protracted Super League tournament failed to cope with opponents who had worse results after a long 51-match run. Of special note is the defeat of the capital's army team, fifth in the regular season, who lost to Severstal, which finished in 12th place, 0:5.

On March 26, elections of deputies to the Verkhovna Rada will be held in Ukraine. The head of the political council and the head of the election campaign of the presidential bloc “Our Ukraine” Roman BEZZMTERTNY, in a conversation with a Vremya Novostei correspondent, makes predictions regarding the outcome of the parliamentary elections. - Why is the intensity of election passions so high? A merciless “war of all against all” has begun in Ukrainian politics; even their comrades are not spared...

The ending of Vasily Aksenov’s novel “Moscow-kva-kva” (“October”, No. 2) is in no way inferior to its beginning (about it, see “Vremya Novostey” of February 14) .

Opposition - from early voting Early voting for the presidential election begins in Belarus today. The single opposition candidate Alexander Milinkevich calls on the country's citizens not to do this, since it is this form of voting that allegedly allows for falsification. On Sunday, Milinkevich held, according to his headquarters, the largest meeting in Minsk, in which about two thousand people took part. After it ended, more than 20 opposition activists were detained.

There will be no space for non-essential companies at the airport Sheremetyevo International Airport (SIA) will close one of its two runways for reconstruction in May. The airport administration claims that, despite this, the volume of regular traffic at SIA will remain at the same level. However, charter and cargo flights, as well as business aviation flights to SIA will be reduced. Non-scheduled carriers may have to consider moving their operations elsewhere for quite some time.

In the near future, negotiations on the nuclear issue will again take place between Moscow and Tehran at the suggestion of the Iranian side. This was stated yesterday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. At the same time, he criticized Iran's position regarding the settlement of the situation around its nuclear program. “We are disappointed with the way Tehran behaves in these negotiations, absolutely not helping those who want to help in the negotiation process,” the minister emphasized.

The last books that can qualify for the “Treasured Dream”, the National Award for the best literary work for children announced last year, have been signed for publication. More than a thousand manuscripts and books were submitted to the competition. Writers and publishers have done their part. Now it’s up to the experts (they are already reading the manuscripts) and the financiers.

Ukraine denies the presence of a CIA prison on the territory of the garrison Yesterday, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense denied information from the Rossiya TV channel that there is a secret CIA prison for prisoners from Afghanistan and Iraq on the territory of the Makarov-11 garrison in the Kyiv region. This is a “populist trick,” Andrei Lysenko, head of the Defense Ministry press service, said yesterday.

Riga stopped the SS march The Riga City Council yesterday rejected an application to hold events on March 16 at the Freedom Monument in the center of the capital in memory of the Latvian legionnaires who fought in the Second World War on the side of Nazi Germany as part of the Waffen SS. There are fewer and fewer gray-haired old people at such events. But there are more and more nationalist and radical youth earning political points.

Football. Russian Cup. 1/8 finals. Return matches. "Dynamo" - "Wings of the Soviets" - 2:0, pen. 3:1 (first game - 0:2). "Saturn" - "Amkar" - 0:0 (1:0). The capital's Dynamo team were able to overcome the two-goal deficit that arose in Samara on their field and, mainly due to the skill of their goalkeeper Sergei Ovchinnikov, won the penalty shootout. The scoring in the match was also opened from the 11-meter shot - Denis Kolodin struck a targeted shot.

Vsevolozhsk Ford is on strike again At the Russian Ford plant, located near St. Petersburg in the city of Vsevolozhsk, another “Italian” strike began yesterday - the second in a row in the last four months. The first workers' protest failed after the company's administration hinted that the activists could be left without work by stopping the assembly line. Now “trade unions” are again undermining the Russian business of the American automaker.

CLUBS John Cale. The only Moscow concert of the legendary musician and producer. Cale is one of the most important people in the history of The Velvet Underground, the man who created the sound and image of many bands that defined the sound of modern music. Among the musicians with whom Cale worked are such celebrities as Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Brian Eno, Nico, Patti Smith, Tony Conrad, La Monte Young, Happy Mondays, The Modern Lovers.

Suspicious antibiotic found in Slobodan Milosevic's blood The circumstances surrounding the death of 64-year-old Slobodan Milosevic in the detention center of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) are surrounded by sensational details. Medical tests gave shocking results indicating poisoning.