* Russia's president said:
- talk that the license of France's Total oil company for developing the Kharyaga deposit in northern Russia had been revoked was an exaggeration
- Russia's position on the Transdnestr conflict resolution is based on the recognition of the principle of territorial integrity
* Russia's lower house of parliament passed the 2007 federal draft budget in a first reading
* Russia's lower chamber of parliament approved a bill granting pardons to militants who give themselves up without major crimes on the record
* A jury in St. Petersburg convicted one defendant, and acquitted one other, in the murder case of prominent Russian lawmaker Galina Starovoitova
* Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said after talks with his Russian counterpart Mikhail Fradkov in Moscow:
- His country would ensure stable Russian natural gas transit to Europe
- Russia and Ukraine will agree on the price for Russian natural gas until the end of 2006 in the next few days
* Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on NATO to evolve from a military alliance into a more universal political organization capable of responding to changing realities
* The possible accession of Georgia to an unreformed NATO would seriously affect Russian interests, the Russian Foreign Ministry said
* Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Georgia's possible accession to NATO would not threaten Russia's security
* Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said:
- More than a half of Russia's 2006 budget revenues came from oil sales
- Russia's GDP growth in 2004-2007 will total nearly 29%
- The Russian ruble has strengthened to the level it reached before the country's financial crisis in 1998, and its further appreciation could be a critical threat to industry
- The Russian government will divide the Stabilization Fund into two parts
- Russia will recover its gross domestic product and industrial positions lost after 1990 by the end of 2007
- Russia will avoid a repeat of the 1998 crisis regardless of world oil prices after repaying its debt to the Paris Club of creditor nations
* Sergei Shatalov, a deputy finance minister said:
- Companies working on continental shelves may be freed from taxes for any mineral production
- Sales tax in Russia is unlikely to replace value-added tax in the next few years
* A final public hearing on the environmental impact of the massive Shtokman gas project in northern Russia approved the project, regional authorities said
* Russian equities saw sharp declines on both bourses by the close on Friday, and experts say the downward trend may continue
* Severstal, a leading Russian steel producer, increased its stake in Metallurgy Commercial Bank from 49.85% to a majority stake of 53.57%, the bank said
* A synagogue in the Russian Far East city of Khabarovsk was attacked, local law enforcement agencies said
* Russia's lower house of parliament intends to demand $3 billion to buy new airplanes for the country's civilian fleet, Boris Gryzlov, the speaker of the State Duma said
* Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York with a demand for the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from 'frozen conflict' zones in his country
* Georgia is looking to build a nuclear power plant to reduce its dependence on imported fuel, a leading Georgian television network said
* Russia's underlying inflation will decline from 7.1% in 2007 to 4.8% in 2009, the Finance Ministry said
