* The Russian Constitutional Court will announce its decision on the checking of a number of provisions of Tatarstan's law On the Languages of the Nations of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Russian law On the Languages of the Nations of the Russian Federation (10.00). After that the Court will consider the compliance of the provision of the federal law On Political Parties with the Russian Constitution. This provision prohibits to formation political parties along national and religious lines and to mention the above-mentioned lines in the names of political parties.
* Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov will meet with his Spanish counterpart Jose Bono, who will arrive in Moscow on a two-day visit.
* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet with President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Alcee L. Hastings. After that, Mr. Lavrov will leave for Chile to participate in the ministerial session of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.
* The Russian State Duma will host:
- a meeting of State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov and Serbian President Boris Tadic;
- a roundtable entitled "Trademarks as a factor removing counterfeit products from the Russian market and increasing of quality of goods and services";
- a roundtable on the topic "The elections in the United States: peculiarities and violations of international standards".
* The Column Hall of the House of Unions will be the venue of the 14th congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (employers). Heads of similar unions from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Lithuania, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro are invited.
* The Russian Information Agency Novosti will host the following press conferences:
- with Serbian President Boris Tadic on the topic "Russian-Serbian relations: condition and prospects of development. The results of the visit to Moscow";
- with CEO of the Russian Pension Fund Gennady Batanov on the results of the first stage of preparations for monthly payments in 2005. A live conference will be held with some constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
* The Alexander House business center will host a roundtable entitled "The real insurance market: today and tomorrow". Those participating will be representatives of ministries and departments, leading Russian and foreign insurance companies, banks, insurance brokers, and major Russian realty companies.
* The Faith and Word first international festival of Orthodox media will open in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior (November 16-18). All eparchies of the Russian Orthodox Church and local Orthodox Churches and journalists writing about religious life will participate in the event. During the opening ceremony Spanish Defense Minister Jose Bono will hand the cross of St. Sophia's Cathedral (Novgorod) to Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and All Russia. This shrine was kept in Spain during World War II.
* Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov will meet with ambassadors accredited in the Russian Federation to present the Russian capital as a contender to hosting of the 30th Olympic Games in 2012.
ST. PETERSBURG
* Finland's Minister of Regional and Municipal Affairs Hannes Manninen will arrive in St. Petersburg on a two-day routine visit. He is to meet with Finnish businessmen working in Russia.
MINSK
* The 39th session of the Railway Transport Council of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Finland will open in the Belarussian capital.
BRUSSELS
* The Belgian capital will host a conference entitled "Relations between Russia and the European Union after the EU expansion".
SAN PAOLO, BRAZIL
* A two-day seminar on the development of Russian-Brazilian partnership will open in San Paolo. Cochairmen of the intergovernmental cooperation commission, Brazil's Vice President and Defense Minister Jose Alencar and head of the Russian federal industry agency Boris Aleshin will participate in the seminar.
LONDON
The Sakhalin's Oil and Gas 8th annual conference will open in London (November 16-18). Those participating will be representatives of the Russian and British governments, administration of the Sakhalin region, the European Bank for Reconstruction and development and leading companies.
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