- called for transforming the Stabilization Fund into the Reserve Fund and the Future Generations Fund in his budget 2008-2010 address
- said there is a pressing need to transfer to long-term budget planning, for 10-15 years and more
- said he is opposed to abolishing the flat tax rate
* Lithuania's president secured the support of the UN nuclear watchdog for the Baltic state's plans to continue its nuclear program after the closure of its Soviet-era nuclear power plant
* Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said the ministry categorically rejected the U.S. State Department's annual country report on human rights practices that found Russia backsliding on human rights
* The Russian government approved a draft law on a transition to a two-tier university education system
* Russia's Interior Ministry is investigating a criminal tax evasion case involving 243 million rubles ($9.3 million) and PricewaterhouseCoopers, who represented the now bankrupt oil company Yukos in 2002-04
* Russia is considering several scenarios to maintain state control of the power sector following the reorganization of the electricity monopoly Unified Energy System, a government source said
* Armenia's deputy foreign minister said the Caucasus state was not considering deploying elements of a U.S. missile defense system on its soil
* A senior North Korean diplomat said Washington agreed to strike the Communist nation off its list of states sponsoring terrorism and promised to lift financial sanctions within a month following historic talks in the U.S. earlier this week
* Negotiations between Russian and Iranian nuclear officials on the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran produced no results, a Russian source said
* The leaders of 27 EU member countries approved the European Commission's proposal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020, on the close of a two-day summit in Brussels
* India, Iran and Pakistan are ready to start building a natural gas pipeline that will supply Iranian gas to India and Pakistan on a common branch with a capacity of 110 million cubic meters per day
* Georgia's military contingent in Iraq is expected to increase to about 2,000, the first deputy defense minister said
* President Vladimir Putin delivered his 2008-2010 budget address to the prime minister and the speakers of both houses of Russia's parliament, the Kremlin press service reported
* Mohammad Saidi, a deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said problems surrounding construction of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant will stop being purely technical if Russia fails to supply nuclear fuel to Iran in March
* Russia's finance minister Alexei Kudrin said severance tax on natural gas could be raised soon
* Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said all live matches from the Russian soccer Premier League will be broadcast free this year
