December 1
* Vladimir Putin instructed the government to revise and submit to parliament a bill on cutting army conscription term from 24 to 12 months starting January 1, 2008
December 5
* Nursultan Nazarbayev, the incumbent president of Kazakhstan, cruised to an easy victory in December 4 elections with a preliminary 91% of the vote
* The Moscow Election Commission said the pro-Kremlin United Russia party had taken 47.25% of the vote in the Moscow legislature elections on December 4, the Communist Party - 16.75% and Yabloko - 11.11% with all the votes counted
December 6
* The Moscow City Court opened preliminary hearings on the murder of Forbes Russia Editor Paul Klebnikov
December 9
* Russia's lower house of parliament approved a bill in the final reading enabling foreigners to buy energy giant Gazprom's shares
* Moscow's Arbitration Court of Appeals upheld the ruling to reduce 2001 tax claims against Russia's TNK oil company from 4 billion rubles ($138 million) to 4 million ($138,000)
* Alexander Borodyuk signed a contract to become a new senior coach of the Russian national soccer team
December 10
* Russia Today, the country's first 24-hour English-language news channel, began broadcasting at 1 p.m. GMT
* Ukrainian TV said a bird flu outbreak had been recorded in 19 settlements in the Crimea, an autonomy on the Black Sea
December 11
* Chechen Security Council Secretary Rudnik Dudayev was killed in a fire that broke out in a trailer within the Chechen government complex
* Iran agreed to Russia's participation in a transnational project to build a pipeline transporting Iranian natural gas to Pakistan and India
December 13
* Russian natural gas monopoly Gazprom said it would stop gas deliveries to Ukraine if a contract was not signed by January 1
* Shareholders of the consortium for the construction of the North European Gas Pipeline agreed to appoint former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder head of shareholders' committee
* Russia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations adopted a declaration and an action plan for 2005-2015 at their first summit in Kuala Lumpur
December 14
* Russian energy giant Gazprom said it would charge $220-$230 for its natural gas supplies to Ukraine
* Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said the country was ready to raise tariffs on the transportation of Russian natural gas via its territory in 2006
* The upper chamber of the Russian parliament passed the 2006 budget and approved legislative amendments to lift restrictions on foreign ownership of Gazprom common shares
* The Ukrainian Health Ministry said the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, which is potentially lethal for humans, had been found in 11 settlements in Ukraine
* The 12 Russian sailors arrested in Nigeria in October 2003 for alleged oil smuggling were released
December 15
* Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev inaugurated the Atasu-Alashankou pipeline to export crude directly to China without crossing Russian territory
December 16
* A Moscow district federal arbitration court rejected an appeal filed by embattled oil major Yukos against a back-tax bill of about $3 billion for the year 2000
* The European Aeronautic Defense and Space company (EADS) bought a 10% stake in Russian aircraft manufacturer Irkut for $65.3 million
December 17
* Russia signed protocols on the completion of the WTO accession talks with Nicaragua and Paraguay at the sixth WTO Ministerial conference in Hong Kong
December 18
* Russia and Switzerland agreed to sign a final protocol on the completion of their talks on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) at a world economic forum at Davos in late January 2006
* Russian boxer Nikolai Valuyev became the WBA heavyweight Champion of the World following his victory over John Ruiz in Berlin, Germany
December 19
* Russian energy giant Gazprom said it was moving away from fixed pricing of its natural gas exports to Ukraine toward a price regime based on world oil prices
December 20
* Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli said Georgia would buy Russian natural gas at the price of $110 per 1,000 cu m in 2006
December 21
* President Vladimir Putin proposed sending a 200-strong contingent to Sudan in response to the UN Secretary General's request that Russia contribute troops to the United Nation's peacekeeping operations in the country
* The Russian cargo ship, the Terney, which had been held by North Korean authorities for more than a week, returned home
December 22
* Gazprom signed a contract on the construction of an underground natural gas storage facility in China
December 23
* Russian President Vladimir Putin signed legislation on the liberalization of Gazprom shares
* Gazprom Deputy Chairman Alexander Medvedev said his company would not supply Ukraine with natural gas if a contact had not been signed by 2006
* Gazprom and Georgia's joint stock gas distribution company Tbilgazi signed a contract on supplying up to 920 million cu m of natural gas to Georgia at a price of $110 per 1,000 cu m in 2006
* Russia and Canada signed a protocol on the completion of bilateral talks on the former's accession to the World Trade Organization
December 25
* A Russian carrier rocket successfully puts three navigation satellites into orbit, expanding Russia's global navigation satellite system, GLONASS, to 17 spacecraft
December 26
* The Russian Military Prosecutor's Office said it had dropped bribery charges against former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko, citing the expiration of the statute of limitations
December 27
* Andrei Illarionov, an outspoken critic of Russia's economic policies, resigns as Vladimir Putin's economic adviser
December 28
* The parliamentary commission investigating the 2004 Beslan school siege concluded that law enforcement officials in the North Caucasus republics of Ingushetia and North Ossetia were responsible for allowing the hostage crisis in Beslan to happen
December 29
* The Swiss Federal Court said former Russian Nuclear Power Minister Yevgeny Adamov would be extradited to Russia
December 30
* Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko proposed freezing prices for Russian natural gas supplies to Ukraine until January 10, when the gas talks resume. Gazprom said the idea was unacceptable
* Yushchenko said Ukraine was introducing a special regime to ensure Russian gas flows via Ukraine to Europe until a contract was signed with Russia, and also ruled out any revision of the treaty on Russia's naval base in Ukraine
* Russia's former nuclear power minister, Yevgeny Adamov, wanted for embezzlement in America, leaves Switzerland after local court rules to extradite him home
December 31
* Ukraine agrees to market gas prices, but wants to specify the figures. Earlier, President Vladimir Putin proposed to freeze up gas prices until the second quarter of 2006, if Ukraine agreed to Russian gas giant Gazprom's proposals
* Upon his arrival in Moscow, Russia's former nuclear power minister, Yevgeny Adamov, was put into custody and faced official charges of fraud and abuse of office, prosecutors said
