May 22 -- June 22, 2007 “Politicians Through the Eyes of the Media,” a joint project of Vremya Novostei and the Medialogia company, are ratings of the political figures most actively discussed in the Russian media.

VTB Bank is ready to spend $1.5 billion within a year on the acquisition and development of banks in the CIS countries. So far, VTB has subsidiaries in Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine and Belarus, but by the middle of next year it wants to ensure its presence in all the other six countries - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Moldova. This will be the largest network in the CIS countries, which will be created by a Russian bank.

Swedbank may resume operations soon The management of Swedbank, in which the Central Bank introduced a ban on many operations in early June, reached an understanding with the regulator, which they hastened to inform their clients about on the website.

Gazprom Neft will reduce Chevron's stake in the joint project by almost three times Gazprom Neft promises to reduce Chevron's stake in their joint venture Northern Taiga Oil and Gas by almost three times in the next two to three months - from the current 70% to a blocking stake of 25% plus one share. This was announced by the head of Gazprom Neft, Alexander Dyukov, at the annual meeting of shareholders held last Saturday.

American television talks about Russia without news reason From today and throughout the working week, the CNN International TV channel will air a selection of TV stories about Russia in the “Look at...” project. This is the first project where CNN will show Russia “close-up” without a news story in the form of disasters, coups and economic collapses.

On the night from Saturday to Sunday in Burundi (East Africa), an employee of the Russian Embassy, ​​Vladimir Rashitko, was shot dead at a checkpoint near the capital Bujumbura. For an unknown reason, he tried to break through several checkpoints in a diplomatic car. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is investigating the circumstances of the death, and the investigation is being supervised by the Minister of Defense of Burundi.

The President proposed that the Moscow City Duma approve the old mayor Vladimir Putin officially asked Yuri Luzhkov to remain as mayor of Moscow . The president's statement at the beginning of June that he was ready to discuss a change in Mr. Luzhkov's activity later finally took the form of a document - at the end of last week, the Moscow City Duma received a proposal to vest him with the powers of the head of the city for a new term.

The President signed a law abolishing the calculation of fines in the minimum wage Motorists who have violated traffic rules, and other citizens who have somehow encountered administrative justice, should forget about the phrase “minimum wage” . From now on, fines for offenses will be calculated not in abstract minimum wages, but in specific rubles.

"Union of Right Forces" decided to get rid of the opposition Last Saturday, at a meeting of the federal political council of the Union of Right Forces, the powers of the Moscow city branch of the party, headed by its leader Ivan Novitsky, were terminated early. What happened is a consequence of the conflict between Muscovites and the federals, which has been going on for three months.

CONCERTS "Treasures of the Baroque" . Early music chamber orchestra Musica Aeterna , conductor Teodor Currentzis , Simone Kermes (soprano) and Christophe Dumot (countertenor). Great Hall of the Conservatory , 19.00. National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia under the direction of conductor Maria Eklund , soloist Katharina Karneus (mezzo-soprano).

Cyclones from the west continue to attack the European territory of Russia one after another, so the atmospheric pressure is low almost everywhere, and it rains from Murmansk to Astrakhan. In the northwestern region there are rains, the air temperature is about +15...+20°C. In the central and Volga-Vyatka regions there will be short rains only in places, the air temperature on Monday will be +18...+25°C, and on Tuesday it will be two to three degrees higher.

"Kovykta" is sold to "Gazprom" - turn for TNK Gazprom and TNK-BP shareholders have taken a big step towards a big deal . On Friday, top managers of Gazprom, BP and TNK-BP signed an agreement on the basic terms of cooperation. To date, the document provides for only one specific transaction - the sale to the Russian gas monopolist of 62.8% of the shares of RUSIA Petroleum, which holds a license to develop the giant Kovykta gas condensate field in Eastern Siberia.

New hanged men appear in Iraq An Iraqi court in Baghdad yesterday sentenced to death by hanging three members of the Baath Party leadership that ruled under Saddam Hussein. Two received life sentences. The court acquitted the sixth defendant “for lack of sufficient evidence of guilt.” The lucky one was Tahir Yahya al-Ani, the former governor of Nineveh province in northern Iraq.

Marius Petipa's ballet Le Corsaire has been restored at the Bolshoi Theater In the shopping area there are carefully painted and lined houses, fruit stalls, carpets and fabrics. In the pirate cave there are overhanging mighty rocks, in the pasha's palace there are painted walls stretching into the sky. Alexei Ratmansky and Yuri Burlaka, who composed a new version of the ballet "Corsair" at the Bolshoi Theater, invited St.

The bottom of the standings battle the favorites The National Championship continues to surprise with unexpected results. In the 14th round, CSKA and Lokomotiv suffered defeats, and Zenit St. Petersburg topped the standings. “There will be no revolution in Spartak. It has already happened,” announced the new head coach of the “red-whites” Stanislav Cherchesov after his first victory over Saturn.