20:11
RUSSIA GETS ITS FIRST BANKING HOLDING
Russia has got its first banking holding ROSINBANK. Its shareholders are the Russian financial corporation and the Russian association of cash collectors of the Central Bank of Russia. It was said at a news conference in the RIA Novosti news agency. More details...

19:29
RUSSIA'S FIRST CIVIL AIRLINES ASSOCIATION BORN
The first association of civil airlines, Open Skies Alliance, has been established in Russia. It got a registration paper in late October, reports Viktor Fursov of this association. More details...

19:07
DMITRI LITVINOVICH: STATE MONOPOLY ON VODKA RETURNS TO RUSSIA
The epoch of the primary accumulation of capital has long been left behind in Russia. Today’s businessmen are different from those of hot money hunters of the early 1990s. Present-day businessmen do care about their image. The state also tries to catch up with business and wants to show the West a beautiful glossy wrapping in the form of assurances of business being liberalized and corruption being fought. More details...

17:09
ENERGY MINISTER OF VENEZUELA CALLS ON OPEC TO DEVELOP RELATIONS WITH OIL-PRODUCING COUNTRIES, FIRST OF ALL, WITH RUSSIA
Alvaro Silva Calderon, the Minister of Energy and Mines of Venezuela called on OPEC /Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries/ member-states to develop relations with major oil-producing countries, first of all, with Russia and Mexico, in coordinating with oil policy and strategy. More details...

16:59
SWEDEN TO ASSIST RUSSIA IN STAGING ECONOMIC REFORMS
The Swedish government intends to assist Russia in staging economic reforms and allocate 9 million kronas (about USD 900,000) for these purposes, the press service of the Swedish government informed RIA Novosti. These funds will be used within the Swedish-Russian Cooperation Project programme in the course of two consecutive years starting from 2002. More details...

16:30
200,000 JOBS LOST IN AVIATION INDUSTRY
The aftermath of September 11th has been dramatic for the aviation industry, with an estimated 200,000 losses. More details...

14:34
FINANCIAL MONITORING COMMITTEE TO START FULLY FUNCTIONING FROM FEB 1, 2002
The financial monitoring committee being set up under the finance ministry will start fully working from February 1, 2002, reported Russian vice premier, finance minister Alexei Kudrin. More details...

11:04
VLADIMIR PUTIN SIGNS DECREE ON SETTING UP FINANCIAL MONITORING COMMITTEE
Russian president Vladimir Putin has signed a decree on creation of a financial monitoring committee. More details...

21:09
DMITRY LITVINOVICH: WORLD CRISIS IS NOT A DISTURBER TO RUSSIA
OPEC representatives are still warning about a possibility of a crash on the world market of oil. OPEC experts say the uncontrollable reduction of prices may take place in the beginning of the next year in case, if the countries that produce oil fail to agree to cut its supply on the market More details...

20:35
LEBANESE PREMIER FOR FREE TRADE ZONE
Lebanon hopes for a free trade zone to be set up and boost its trade with Russia, Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri said to the Russian Industrialists' and Entrepreneurs' Guild. More details...

20:33
RUSSIA-LEBANON COMMODITY TURNOVER TO EXCEED $300 MLN IN 2001
As meeting, Wednesday, with Rafiq Hariri, Lebanon's prime-minister, Arkady Volsky, president of the Russian union of industrialists and entrepreneurs, said that in 2001 the commodity turnover between Russia and Lebanon would exceed USD 300 million. More details...

19:40
RUSSIA, TURKMENISTAN IN TALKS ON DRAFT GAS PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT
Russian-Turkmen negotiations are through another round to draft a long-term agreement for gas industrial partnership, the Turkmen cabinet reports from Ashgabat. More details...

19:04
BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY ON ECONOMIC GROWTH IN RUSSIA
The Russian economic growth rate has surpassed "respective indicators in European countries," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told Russian politicians on Wednesday in remarks dubbed into Russian. More details...

18:40
ACCESS TO EXPORT OIL PIPE LIMITED FOR 35 RUSSIAN COMPANIES
The governmental commission for access to trunk oil and products pipelines has decided to limit access to the export oil pipe for 35 oil companies for their failure to pay taxes. More details...

17:58
RUSSIAN STATE STATISTICS COMMITTEE PLANS TO HOLD CENSUS OF PRIVATE ENTREPRENEURS IN 2003
The Russian State Statistics Committee, or Goskomstat, plans to hold a census of private entrepreneurs in 2003, Oleg Rybak, deputy chairman of Goskomstat, told the press conference Wednesday. More details...

17:00
BRITISH GOVERNMENT BOOSTS GUARANTEES FOR EXPORTERS TO RUSSIA
The British government has increased the volume of guarantees for exporters to Russia, due to a marked improvement of the situation in the Russian economy, British secretary of commerce and investment Baroness Simons said on Wednesday. More details...

16:08
RUSSIAN VICE-PREMIER KHRISTENKO TO DISCUSS TRADE-ECONOMIC ISSUES IN CANADA
On Wednesday in the afternoon Russian vice-premier Viktor Khristenko is leaving for Canada, where the fifth session of the Canadian-Russian economic commission will be held on November 1, the vice-premier's press-secretary Stanislav Naumov told RIA Novosti. More details...

15:16
CHAIRMAN OF THE RUSSIAN AUDIT CHAMBER DISCUSSES IN THE NETHERLANDS PROSPECTS FOR COOPERATION IN COMBATING MONEY LAUNDERING
Chairman of the Russian Audit Chamber Sergei Stepashin, who is now staying in the Netherlands, discussed in the Hague prospects of cooperation in combating money laundering and corruption with Mrs. Saskia Stuiveling, chairman of the Audit Court of the Netherlands. More details...

14:16
VALENTINA MATVIYENKO SAYS THAT INFLATION IN RUSSIA IN 2001 WILL NOT TOP EIGHTEEN PERCENT
According to the forecasts of the government of the Russian Federation, inflation in Russia in 2001 will not top eighteen percent. As RIA Novosti correspondent reports, this statement was made on Wednesday by vice chairman of the government Valentina Matviyenko in opening the meeting with Austrian Minister of Economic Affairs Martin Bartenstein. More details...

14:12
RUSSIAN REPRESENTATIVE APPOINTED GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE EURASIAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY
Russian representative Gennady Rapota has been appointed general secretary of the Eurasian Economic Community, which unites Russia, Byelorussia, Kazakhstan, Kirghizia and Tajikistan. This was reported at the international conference "The Eurasian Spirit as the Future of Russia: Dialog of Cultures and Civilizations", reports the RIA Novosti correspondent. More details...

13:58
PRESIDENT AND PRIME-MINISTER DISCUSSED PREPARATION OF DECREE ON FINANCIAL MONITORING BODY
Russian President Vladimir Putin had on Wednesday a meeting with Prime-Minister Mikhail Kasyanov. More details...

13:38
GAZPROM PLANS TO ENSURE GAS OUTPUT AT 530 BILLION CU M A YEAR
Russia's largest gas company, Gazprom, plans to ensure the output of gas at the level of 530 billion cu m of gas a year, vice-chairman of the Gazprom Board Vitaly Savelyev told journalists on Wednesday. More details...

13:18
UK WILL HELP RUSSIA TO ELIMINATE ITS CHEMICAL WEAPONS
The United Kingdom will allocate around 12 million pounds to help Russia eliminate its chemical weapons, according to a draft bilateral agreement approved by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov. More details...

12:02
AUSTRIA SUPPORTS RUSSIA'S EFFORTS TO ENTER WTO
Austria supports Russia's efforts to enter the World Trade Organisation /WTO/ and believes it is not expedient to be too long with the process, a RIA Novosti correspondent has quoted Austrian Economy Minister Martin Bartenstein as saying at a meeting with Vice-Premier Valentina Matviyenko on Wednesday. More details...

10:26
SECOND VISITING EXPEDITION TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION SUCCESSFULLY CONCLUDES ITS SPACE FLIGHT
The second visiting expedition to the International Space Station returned to Earth at 7:59 a.m. Moscow time on Wednesday. More details...

21:13
RUSSIAN CABINET READIES TAX EXEMPTIONS FOR DEFENSE-INDUSTRY COMPLEX
The Russian cabinet is drafting 50 amendments to the Tax Code as regards taxation of defense-industrial complex enterprises, Vice-Premier Ilya Klebanov told journalists More details...

20:40
ITALY BELIEVES RUSSIA MAY JOIN WTO AS EARLY AS IN 6 MONTHS
On Tuesday, an Italian deputy minister on productive activities, opined at a seminar devoted to economic cooperation between Italy and Russia that Russia might become a World Trade Organization member as early as in 6 months More details...

20:23
PRESIDENT PUTIN FOR ELABORATING A PROGRAMME OF FITTING DEFENSE-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX INTO MARKET-ECONOMY
Vladimir Putin has spoken out in favour of elaborating a programme of integrating the country's defense-industrial complex into the market economy More details...

19:18
SUB DESIGNER SINGLES OUT TWO PROBABLE VERSIONS OF KURSK CATASTROPHE
On Tuesday, Igor Spassky, general designer with the Central Design Bureau "Rubin", said at a press conference that he was considering two probable versions of the "Kursk" submarine catastrophe: torpedo launcher's exposure to external influence and malfunction of a torpedo itself More details...

19:09
RUSSIA, HUNGARY TO SET UP MIXED ECONOMIC, CULTURAL COMMITTEES
Following Russian-Hungarian parliamentary talks, Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznyov and National Assembly head Janos Ader appeared before newsmen to declare themselves in favour of wider inter-parliamentary contacts between the two countries More details...