* The Russian federal space agency said it had signed a contract with Daisuke Enomoto, a space tourist from Japan, who is set to fly to the world's sole civilian orbital station in the fall of 2006.
* Russia's No.1 independent gas producer Itera said it had filed a claim against the Georgian energy ministry at the arbitration court of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
* Russian Ambassador-at-Large Valery Nesterushkin said a meeting of conflict mediators on the Transdnestr settlement in the 5+2 format (Moldova, Transdnestr, Russia, Ukraine, the OSCE, the EU and the U.S.), scheduled for April 4-5, would not take place
* Russia has doubled the price for its natural gas supplied to Armenia from the current $54 per 1,000 cu m to $110 from April 1
* Ukraine has stopped supplying hard liquors to Russia due to the non-availability of new excise stamps from April 1
* Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry said an airplane with humanitarian aid had flown to western Iran, hit by a powerful earthquake Friday morning
* The Russian Defense Ministry said conscripts would only do their compulsory military service in regular army units and not be sent to conflict areas
* A Russian deputy defense minister said the transition to a one-year conscription service would be definitely completed by 2008
* The Russian Foreign Ministry said it had lodged strong protest with Argentina over a police attack on a Russian diplomat.
