Foreign investors may not be allowed to control Russian energy generating assets Foreign investors who are planning to acquire assets in the Russian electric power industry have been clearly told that they cannot count on controlling stakes . Energy is a strategic industry, and the law being prepared on this matter will not allow foreign structures to have a stake of more than 50% of the shares.

Chronicle of sporting events Hockey. NHL. Regular season. "Rangers" -- "Philadelphia" -- 3:5 -- Afanasenkov "F" (1+0), "Ottawa" -- "Atlanta" -- 5:3 -- Kovalchuk "A" (0+1), Vyach.

The head of NATO's Department of Defense Policy and Planning, Frank Boland, will lead the Alliance mission, which on February 19-23 will inspect Georgia's implementation of the Individual Dialogue program, which began in the fall of 2006 and is one of the steps to membership in the bloc. This was reported to Vremya Novostey by the official representative of the Georgian Ministry of Defense Nana Intskirveli.

Saudi Arabia proposes to create a company to operate in the Russian oil services market One of the “consequences” of Vladimir Putin’s trip to the countries of the Middle East , as the Saudi media learned, could be a joint project in the field of oil services.

The North Atlantic cyclone has made its own adjustments to the weather in the European territory of Russia. Its rapid invasion forced the frosty and sunny anticyclone to retreat to the south. In the north-west of European Russia, as well as in the west of the Vologda region, frosts have noticeably softened. On Monday, in the northwestern region, in the rear part of the cyclone, there will be snow in places, the air temperature during the day will be -6...-11oC.

Despite many problems, the domestic economy is increasingly emerging from the shadows. This is noted not only by government officials, but also by representatives of banking structures operating in the Russian market. Vice-President of the Moscow Industrial Bank Yuri PTITSIN talks about what trends are prevailing in the industrial sector today. -- Yuri Yuryevich, according to official data, 2006 turned out to be a successful year for the Russian economy. How do you assess the situation?

On-lending reached automobile and consumer loans Consumer refinancing of loans, or, more simply put, refinancing, started in Russia recently - only last year. Starting with the most guaranteed segment - mortgage loans , bankers today expanded on-lending programs to auto - and even consumer unsecured loans. However, such offers are currently available only to those borrowers who have not made late payments.

After the Sotheby's auction, the Russian art market has become more transparent Sotheby's won, although not big. The bold decision to separate lovers of antiques from buyers of contemporary art turned out to be noticeably more successful than attempts to sell works of the late 20th and early 21st centuries at the end of the usual “Russian auctions”.

Bankers discuss the initiative of deputies The State Duma on Friday approved in the first reading a bill to increase the amount of insurance compensation on bank deposits of citizens from 190 thousand to 400 thousand rubles. According to the authors of the project - deputies Anatoly Aksakov and Vladislav Reznik, in 2007 there is a clear social and economic need to increase the existing level of compensation for deposits.

The government in Russia is used as a tool for balancing the interests and ambitions of warring factions near the Kremlin, as a training school for the president's successors , as a place to hire officials who, for some unrelated reasons, cannot simply be fired. Our government is not used only for its only intended purpose: as a body of real executive power.

A major arms show has begun in the United Arab Emirates Yesterday, February 18, the International Defense Exhibition and Conference IDEX-2007 began in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi. It is patronized by the government, the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of this country. The forum was opened by the President of the UAE, Supreme Commander of the country's armed forces, Khalis Bin Zayed al Nahyan.

In Ukraine they are finding out who negotiated with Russia The Ukrainian president and government are pointing fingers at each other on the question of which of them promised to transfer part of the assets of the Ukrainian gas transportation system (GTS) to Russia. At a press conference on February 1, Vladimir Putin said that the Ukrainian side intends to offer part of these assets for parity participation in Russian gas production assets.

Vasily Ivanchuk replaced Teimur Radjabov at the start of Linares The most prestigious world chess tournament under the auspices of the Spanish city of Linares starts for the 24th time. Over the past two years, it has expanded its format to Mexico, where the first round is held in the city of Morelia from February 17 to 25. After this, the grandmasters move to Linares, where they play the second round from March 2 to 11.

Paul Gardner won his eighth match in a row against Lokomotiv In the regular Super League championship, teams have 7-8 matches left to play. It seems that there is no intrigue left in the fight for a place in the playoffs, where 16 out of 19 participants receive a pass. In the 51st round, Novokuznetsk Metallurg defeated Cherepovets Severstal at home - 5:0, and Chelyabinsk Traktor was defeated on its ice by Yaroslavl Lokomotiv - 0:2.

One of the most remarkable materials of the February “Banner” is the article by Alexander Melikhov “Communism, nationalism, liberalism - a factory of dreams.” The famous writer, not for the first time, inviting the public to see in the history of mankind primarily “the history of the origin, struggle and collapse of collective phantoms,” analyzes the current state of affairs in the ring (or market?) of social illusions.