Minsk received half of the Russian loan As the press service of the National Bank of Belarus reported yesterday, Minsk received the first tranche of a Russian stabilization loan in the amount of $1 billion. The total volume of the loan is $2 billion; the remaining half is expected in Belarus in 2009. “Credit funds have replenished gold and foreign exchange reserves,” press secretary of the Belarusian National Bank Mikhail Zhuravovich told Vremya Novostei.

Recently, the situation around the supply of apatite concentrate to JSC Voskresensk Mineral Fertilizers (Voskresensk, Moscow Region) has become heated. Accusations against the plant's management even began to appear in the media . We decided to find out first-hand what is really happening and why a long-term contract for the supply of raw materials to the enterprise has not been signed by talking with the General Director of Voskresensk Mineral Fertilizers OJSC Murad CHAPAROV.

The gallery on Solyanka shows Soviet art from Central Asia In Moscow autumn, an exhibition in the gallery on Solyanka revives colonial complexes. It’s good to live in the East - the sun is shining brightly, the sky is blue, the trees around are green, the shadow from them is soft, life-saving, people are sitting in a circle drinking tea, interesting women (sometimes in veils), funny animals around - all sorts of camels, donkeys .

A “house near Paris” was found for the former governor of the Irkutsk region The Directorate of the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor's Office (SKP) for the Irkutsk region, as it became known yesterday, opened a criminal case for abuse of power against the former head of the region, Alexander Tishanin. Moreover, it was not the SKP himself or Mr. Tishanin who reported this, but one of the deputies of the regional legislative assembly.

Spartak refused the Channel One Cup Moscow's Spartak will not take part in the annual pre-season Channel One Cup tournament, which is held in Israel by the National Football Academy Foundation and sponsored by Roman Abramovich. Thus, the tournament will lose its main match “Dynamo Kyiv” - “Spartak”, the sign of which attracted the largest number of spectators.

Sberbank tightens credit policy Sberbank announced yesterday the basic principles of its credit policy in the context of the crisis. The largest Russian bank is tightening requirements for borrowers and invites all its clients to conservatively assess their own financial capabilities.

To ensure gas intake from Nord Stream Today in Berlin, official hearings begin on the fate of the OPAL and NEL pipelines, which should become transit corridors for delivering gas from Nord Stream to European markets. The consortium of Wingas and E.ON Ruhrgas, implementing these projects, must achieve the exclusion of two gas pipelines from the general regulatory rules, i.e. obtain future preferential rights to access the transport capacities of OPAL and NEL.

The weather on the European territory of Russia today and on Friday will be subordinated to a vast Atlantic cyclone, the center of which will first come to the Murmansk region, and on Friday it will already be over the northwestern regions. Meanwhile, its fronts will stretch further south, and precipitation from them will reach the central regions. In the central region, closer to the fronts, it is more stormy. Daytime temperatures in the central regions are -2...+4оС.

The capital's Dynamo confidently beat Khimki near Moscow In the Super League championship, only one team goes undefeated - the current holder of the Russian “gold” and the winner of the Euroleague CSKA. Yesterday, the Moscow region's Khimki suffered its first setback, losing in Krylatskoye to the capital's Dynamo with a difference of 15 points - 67:82. This match was expected with particular interest, since both opponents significantly strengthened their rosters last off-season.

Moscow has lowered its forecast for revenues from oil and gas companies Managers of the country's largest city budget were forced to admit that next year Moscow will have to significantly tighten its belts. Yesterday, the Moscow City Duma, fearing to cause panic among citizens with the economic term “sequestration,” approved the parameters of the 2009 budget “optimized” by city officials .

Ukrainian trade union accuses Evraz of gross violation of procedure The Trade Union of Metallurgists and Miners of Ukraine (PMGU) accused the Evraz Group (50% owned by Roman Abramovich's Millhouse), which is the owner of the Dnepropetrovsk Iron and Steel Works. Petrovsky (DMZ), in gross violation of the procedure for holding a conference of the labor collective to temporarily change the collective agreement.

Russia begins to actively spend financial reserves In September and October, the Central Bank spent $57.5 billion to support the ruble exchange rate . The head of the Bank of Russia, Sergei Ignatiev, spoke about this yesterday in the State Duma. According to market participants, the regulator will need the same amount in the last two months of the year to keep the national currency from devaluing.

Serbian opposition accuses government of surrendering Kosovo Tomorrow the Assembly (Parliament) of Serbia will vote on a vote of confidence in the government of 58-year-old Mirko Cvetkovic . It was demanded by the opposition represented by the Serbian Radical Party (SRP), the Democratic Party of Serbia of former Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and the New Serbia party. Oppositionists accuse the cabinet of refusing to protect Serbian sovereignty over the province of Kosovo .

Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia began negotiations Yesterday may become a historic date for the beginning of a new, difficult and lengthy process of Caucasian settlement. In Geneva, at the Palais des Nations, it was possible to begin international discussions , in which Russia, the USA, Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia took part through the mediation of the European Union, OSCE and the UN. An attempt to hold the first round of negotiations on October 15 ended in failure.

The Russian economy can no longer grow with oil “The global economic crisis, which is just unfolding, has shown the exhaustion of the growth model of the Russian economy that we had in previous years,” said Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina, speaking in the State Duma yesterday. According to her, this model was built on high oil prices, which have tripled in the last five years alone, as well as the availability of cheap long-term money for Russian banks and enterprises abroad.