The world's largest IT company opened a technology center in Moscow Last week, Microsoft opened the first technology center in Central and Eastern Europe (and the 20th in the world) in Moscow (Microsoft Technology Center - MTC). As Oleg Karacharov, director of the Moscow Microsoft Technology Center, told our correspondent, Microsoft Technology Centers is a system of internal corporate institutions. In total, there are two dozen centers like the one opened in Moscow.

Bashneft stops working under the tolling scheme Bashneft, controlled by AFK Sistema, is ready to make money on the sale of petroleum products and is completely breaking off relations with dealers. The general director of the oil company, Viktor Khoroshavtsev, announced this yesterday. According to experts, such a step will not have an impact on the oil products market, but will require Bashneft to develop its own production, as well as increase oil purchases.

Valentina Matvienko has found a new senator The administration of St. Petersburg in the Federation Council will be represented by United Russia member Viktor Evtukhov. The legislative assembly of the northern capital approved the corresponding decision at yesterday's meeting. 31 deputies voted for the candidacy of Mr. Evtukhov, introduced by the Governor of St. Petersburg Valentina Matvienko, three voted against, and two more ballots were invalid. Currently, Mr.

Prince Harry chose a military career over marriage The grandson of the British Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Harry, will not walk down the aisle this year, as the English tabloids predicted last spring. Yesterday, the British tabloid press unanimously reported the breakup between the prince and his “official” girlfriend Chelsy Davy.

The board of the RSPP asked the president to compensate for the increase in the tax burden On the eve of the presidential address to the Federal Assembly, the board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) made another attempt to remind the president of the need to compensate businesses for the sharp increase in the tax burden due to the replacement of the Unified Social Tax (UST) with increased insurance contributions.

Russian pharmaceutical manufacturers complain about officials' lack of attention to their products In the very near future, specialists from the Ministry of Health and Social Development promise to update the list of vital and essential drugs (VED), that is, those drugs for which the state reserves the right to regulate prices. Despite the fact that the work is being carried out in an atmosphere of increased secrecy, it is already clear that the list will be significantly reduced.

A court in Dresden yesterday announced a verdict in the murder case of 31-year-old Egyptian citizen Marwa al-Sherbini in a local courtroom. A pharmacist from Alexandria came to Germany with her three-year-old son and her husband, who received a grant for an internship at one of the research centers.

The Russian economy urgently needs modern technologies IBM has officially presented the results of a study on the prospects for modernizing the Russian economy. The document is called Russia's productivity imperative: Leveraging technology and innovation to drive growth (“Russian productivity imperative: technology and innovation as a means of growth”) and was created by the IBM Institute for Business Value.

Marat Safin played the last official match of his career Having suffered a defeat in the second round of the Masters tournament in Paris, Russian Marat Safin put an end to his sports career. The thankless role of the offender was played by 21-year-old Argentinean Juan Martin del Potro, who defeated the Russian - 6:4, 5:7, 6:4. Even before the start of the season, the 29-year-old Muscovite did not hide that the last tournament in his professional career would be the competition in Bercy in Paris.

The State Duma increases the validity period of biometric passports A bill designed to double the life cycle of a biometric foreign passport has passed its first reading in the State Duma. After its final approval by the parliament and signing by the president (and there is no doubt now that this will happen), Russian citizens will begin to be issued documents with a microchip for not five, but ten years. The authors of the bill assume that it will come into force on January 15, 2010.

CSKA set an example for the Russian football team On Saturday, the first of two play-off matches of the qualifying round for the World Cup Russia - Slovenia will take place at the Luzhniki Grand Sports Arena. In this confrontation, a ticket to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa will be played out. Yesterday, the “week of Slovenian sports in Moscow” was opened by basketball players performing as a “warm-up”.

The Afghan President sent his teacher to Russia Last night, one of the oldest political figures in this country, the chairman of the upper house of parliament, Sebghatullah Mojadeddi, arrived in Moscow for the first time at the head of the Afghan parliamentary delegation. In the modern history of Afghanistan, the name of this venerable 84-year-old theologian professor, head of a respected Afghan clan of Arab origin, whose ancestors once migrated from Baghdad, occupies a special place. Mr.

The next King Crimson Festival took place in Moscow The B1 Maximum club hosted one of the largest events in the King Crimson Festival series. As part of this project, in recent years ensembles and soloists from the legendary King Crimson (KC) have performed in Russia - not so much a group as a musical laboratory. From its founding (forty years ago) to this day, it has been led by guitarist Robert Fripp.

Negotiations on the Caucasus did not lead to success The eighth round of negotiations on security in the Caucasus was held yesterday at the Geneva Palace of Nations with the participation of delegations from Russia, the United States, Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as international organizations. The work was carried out in two groups.

Vasily Aksenov mourned the fate of his company Aksenov’s “novel about the sixties,” which was the last to be published posthumously, is filled not with the sadness that we, mindlessly exploiting Pushkin’s brilliant oxymoron, with Khlestakov’s ease, call “bright,” but with deep melancholy.