* President Vladimir Putin made a series of new high-profile government appointments: Dmitry Medvedev moved from the Kremlin administration to become first deputy prime minister, and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov was appointed deputy prime minister while retaining his current post
* The head of the export arm of one of Russia's leading space and aerospace research institutes, Igor Reshetin, charged with passing information on sensitive technologies to China, filed an appeal
* The Fitch Ratings agency said it had assigned Russian oil major Rosneft foreign and national currency ratings of BB+ with a stable outlook
* A source in the presidential staff said the Russian and Uzbek presidents were set to sign a treaty on partnership and discuss the situation in Central Asia, along with other current international issues during talks in the Kremlin in the evening
* Newly appointed First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said he hoped major national projects would yield results shortly
