POLITICS
* During his inauguration ceremony on Thursday, Moscow's new Mayor Sergei Sobyanin outlined his plans for the Russian capital, promising to fight corruption and solve the capital's traffic problems. (Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Vedomosti, Vremya Novostei, Kommersant)
* Prime Minister Vladimir Putin appointed State Duma Deputy Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin as his new chief of staff, after Sergei Sobyanin, who previously held the post, was sworn in as the new Moscow mayor. (Vedomosti, Vremya Novostei, Kommersant)
* Former Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov slammed the country's political system on Thursday, calling his former United Russia party a "servant" to the Kremlin and criticizing the president's "dictatorial" power to dismiss governors. (Vedomosti)
BUSINESS
Shareholders of Russia's top nickel producer Norilsk Nickel voted on Thursday against an attempt by Oleg Deripaska's RusAl, the world's largest aluminum producer, to oust the current board of directors. A total of 46.9 percent of shareholders participating in the emergency shareholders meeting voted against the move,while 37.88 percent voted in favor. (Vremya Novostei, Vedomosti, Kommersant)
The Russian Railways (RZhD) company abandoned plans to sell its stake in Transtelecom, citing unfavorable market conditions and poor financial performance of the operator of the largest fiber-optic communication network in Russia. (Vedomosti)
FINANCE
Russian Presidential Aide Arkady Dvorkovich said Russia would not take part in the so-called "currency wars" and had no plans to restrict capital flows. (Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
SOCIETY
Russia was fined around 30,000 euros by the European Court of Human Rights on Thursday for banning homosexual parades in Moscow (Vremya Novostei, Vedomosti)
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) proposed issuing warnings to Russian citizens of potentially illegal or harmful activities in order to prevent crime. A draft directive has been posted on FSB website for public discussion. (Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
TRADE
Russia's Economic Development Ministry promised to simplify in the near future customs regulations for products exported by domestic hi-tech companies. Russia currently has strong customs barriers for hi-tech products to protect its state and industrial secrets. (Vremya Novostei)
A trade commission from the Customs Union between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan will protect cross-border trade competition between the three countries. It will compete with cartels and have the ability to prohibit the countries from regulating prices. (Vedemosti)
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