* A source in the Russian government said the Cabinet could approve documents on lifting the "ring fence" around energy giant Gazprom's common shares by December 20
* Three people were killed in a gas explosion in a Moscow apartment block
* The State Duma approved the 2006 draft federal budget in its fourth and final reading
* Russia and Iran agreed to draw up a final timeframe for the launch of the Bushehr nuclear power plant that will be confirmed in February 2006 when the head of the Russian Federal Nuclear Energy Agency visits Iran
* Prosecutors in the central Russian city of Voronezh opened a criminal investigation after workers at a local hospital allegedly breached blood transfusion regulations and infected 208 people with HIV
* Anatoly Perminov, the head of Russia's Federal Space Agency, said it would hold a closed tender among Russian space industry companies for the construction of a new "Clipper" manned spacecraft
* Russian national air carrier Aeroflot and aircraft manufacturer Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, a subsidiary of state-owned company Sukhoi, signed a contract for 30 Russian Regional Jet planes
* Russia's largest state-owned bank Sberbank's said it had received authorization to purchase 100% of Kazakhstan's Texakabank, which has $170 million in assets and is the 15th largest financial institution in the Central Asian country
* The Federal Agency for Industry announced that the Volga car, a symbol of on-road comfort for Russians during the past half-century, would no longer be produced in the country
