POLITICS
President Dmitry Medvedev warned that Russia would quit the New START nuclear arms reduction pact with the United States if America continues plans to deploy a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe.
(The Moscow Times, Kommersant, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Vedomosti, Izvestia)
Dozens of State Duma lawmakers ostentatiously snubbed Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, refusing to greet him by standing during his rare visit to the lower house of parliament
(The Moscow Times, Kommersant, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Moskovskie Novosti, Vedomosti, Izvestia)
A research by Transparency International revealed that the vast majority of candidates who worked in the previous State Duma concealed their true income while applying for registration. As various parties accuse each other of illegal campaigning, Russian bloggers announced “general mobilization,” calling on everyone to vote for any party except for United Russia.
(The Moscow Times, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Vedomosti)
A spokesman for the Russian Central Election Commission dismissed media reports that the accreditation of PACE observers may be revoked
(Kommersant, Nezavisimaya Gazeta)
As protests continue in Cairo, the country’s ruling military council promised a speedy transition of power to democratically elected authorities and rejected the role of Egypt secularity guarantor
(Kommersant, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Izvestia)
ECONOMY
Acting Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said publicly that Russia has to counteract a possible second wave of the financial crisis. He said that the fall in oil prices to $93 would be dangerous for Russia, but an oil price of $35 dollars is far from his mind.
(The Moscow Times, Kommersant, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
METALS & MINING
Polymetal International, the London-listed owner of Russia's biggest silver producer, might spend as much 35.4 billion rubles ($1.1 billion) in a mandatory buyout offer to minority shareholders of the Moscow-traded unit
(The Moscow Times)
OIL & GAS
China signed an agreement to increase natural gas supplies from Turkmenistan, even as it continues negotiations with Gazprom to buy the fuel
(The Moscow Times, Kommersant)
Rosneft’s request to receive four oil extraction sites on the Barents Sea shelf were rejected by Russian authorities
(Vedomosti)
AEROSPACE
The European Space Agency has received the first signal from Phobos-Grunt since it got stuck in Earth’s orbit two weeks ago, officials said Wednesday, raising hope that the mission might be saved
(The Moscow Times, Nezavisimaya Gazeta)
DEFENSE
A Russian special working group will visit Azerbaijan to discuss the terms of an agreement to extend Russia’s lease of the Gabala early warning radar in the country. So far, the sides have failed to agree only on the price
(Nezavisimaya Gazeta)
Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said military police would be created within the Russian armed forces in 2012
(Izvestia)
SOCIETY
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met with investigators, prosecutors and public figures to discuss anticorruption efforts. He said that Russia may remove corruption cases from the jurisdiction of jury panels and make officials responsible for proving that they acquired their wealth legally
(Kommersant, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Izvestia)
Russian pilot Vladimir Sadovnichy and his Estonian colleague were released in Tajikistan after a court of appeals overruled their lengthy prison terms
(The Moscow Times, Izvestia)
A $1.5-billion modernization program for Moscow's iconic All-Russian Exhibition Center, or VVTs, has been heavily criticized by preservation groups who allege that the plans are likely to destroy dozens of Soviet architectural masterpieces and ruin unique history
(The Moscow Times)
Russian prosecutors asked Interpol to issue an international arrest warrant for Bank of Moscow’s former chief executive Andrei Borodin
(The Moscow Times, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
Platon Lebedev, jailed in the Yukos case along with Mikhail Khodorkovsky, has challenged in the Constitutional Court a law that requires convicts to plead guilty to qualify for parole
(The Moscow Times, Kommersant, Moskovskie Novosti)
SPORT
Russia’s sports ministry plans to take third place in the London Olympics medal count, behind China and the United States
(Moskovskie Novosti)
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