Vedomosti
www.vedomosti.ru
- Sergei Chemezov, the director general of Rosoboronexport, Russia's main arms exporter, comments on sales of Russian weapons to third world countries.
- Despite the wave of trade union protests this fall, people remain skeptical about trade unions in general, according to a survey. The Russian Public Opinion Poll center said only 20-25% of Russians believed in trade unions, whereas 45-50% did not. This trend has been constant in the past few years.
- Britain's biggest high-street pharmacy, Boots, which is also a major producer and distributor of cosmetics, is about to enter the Russian market. Boots and Russia's 36.6 chain are in talks over an exclusive deal to sell British brands in Russia.
Izvestia
www.izvestia.ru
- On January 1, the number of shops selling alcoholic beverages will be dramatically cut over a planned ban for individual retailers to sell alcoholic drinks stronger than 15 percent. In practice, this measure will lead to the closure of most of small retail outlets within walking distance for people, because alcoholic drinks are their main product. Officials, however, will be provided with "additional opportunities".
- Judges and law-enforcement officers will now have to declare their incomes if the relevant legislative measures are adopted. The newspaper came into possession of an explanatory note to a corresponding bill developed by the presidential envoy to the Southern Federal District, Dmitry Kozak. The bill will be considered by the upper chamber of the Russian parliament Monday and then submitted to the lower chamber in a few weeks.
Kommersant
www.kommersant.ru
- Russia's energy giant Unified Energy Systems (UES) may lose its monopoly status in Kazakhstan on energy imports and exports. The Russian Energy Ministry and the Kazakh Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources will draft proposals on integrating both countries' markets and, possibly, letting in other energy suppliers.
- Georgia released a Russian peacekeeper, Colonel Lieutenant Roman Boiko, from custody. Boiko was detained in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict zone Friday. The incident threatened to further exacerbate relations between Moscow and Tbilisi. Georgian State Minister Georgy Khaindrava said the arrest had been directly linked to the terrorist attack in Gori on February 1.
- A former Russian UN official Alexander Yakovlev, who was arrested in July for alleged corruption in Iraq's oil-for-food program, expects his verdict next February. His lawyer said Yakovlev would face three or four years in jail at worst, or a suspended sentence at best.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
www.ng.ru
- Only a united opposition in Azerbaijan is capable of undermining the current authorities, said former head of the presidential secretariat Eldar Namazov who is heading the public forum, In the Name of Azerbaijan.
Novaya Gazeta
www.novayagazeta.ru
- Russian parliamentarian Sergei Shtogrin says a hundred million people will fall victim to tax bodies. A bill that will abolish presumption of innocence has a short distance left to cover from the lower chamber of parliament to the Kremlin. Shtogrin, a deputy chairman of the committee for budget and taxes, elaborates on the consequences of the law and on how decisions are made in the State Duma, the lower chamber.
Rossiiskaya Gazeta
www.rg.ru
- Alexis Hatzis, the Counselor of the Greek ambassador to Russia, spent eleven years in Russia, and is now interviewed by RG.
