POLITICS
The proposed ban on US adoptions of Russian children has provoked heated debate between ministers and lawmakers. The Kremlin said it “closely follows” the “public discussion,” but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov abstained from making any comments.
(Kommersant, Vedomosti, Izvestia)
Russian president Vladimir Putin attended an all-Russian meeting of judges.
(Kommersant, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
Talks between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents, Vladimir Putin and Viktor Yanukovych, were cancelled just hours before they were scheduled to begin. There only one similar precedent in Russian-Ukrainian relations took place in 2007, during the tenure of Viktor Yushchenko. The cancellation of these talks is seen by experts as a signal of serious disagreements between Moscow and Kiev.
(Kommersant, Vedomosti, Izvestia)
METALS & MINING
Russian gold and silver producer Polymetal JSC will buy its first platinum asset, paying the seller with 0.14 percent of its shares.
(Kommersant, Vedomosti)
OIL & GAS
Ukraine might get a long-awaited discount for Russian gas. Gazprom said it might decrease the gas price for Ukraine to $352 per thousand of cubic meters from the previously stated price of $420. Prices for European consumers will also be slashed.
(Kommersant)
Rosneft, Russia’s largest state-owned oil company, will set up a joint venture with Italy’s Saras to refine oil and sell fuel.
(Vedomosti)
VEHICLES & ENGINEERING
Russian car market may shrink in 2013 for the first time since the 2009 financial crisis, experts warn. Carmakers, however, say they expect stable car sales during the coming year.
(Vedomosti)
DEFENSE
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Uzbekistan ahead of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit, during which Tashkent is to quit the post-Soviet defense alliance.
(Kommersant, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
John Kerry and Chuck Hagel are President Obama's likely picks to head his second-term national security cabinet, and their possible appointment is seen as a sign of a possible shift in the US foreign policy. Both have repeatedly spoken against the “excessive militarization” of the country.
(Kommersant)
SOCIETY
Whistleblowing lawyer Alexei Navalny is being probed for possible involvement in a power abuse case of Konstantin Arzamastsev, a former head of the Kirov Region state property department.
(Kommersant, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said age discrimination is inadmissible on the Russian labor market. The comment came as part of a broader initiative to improve living conditions of retirees in Russia.
(Kommersant, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
Pilot error was named as the main cause of the SSJ 100 crash in Indonesia, by both Indonesian and Russian transport investigators.
(Kommersant, Vedomosti, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
The Russian Interior Ministry said this week it had uncovered a large money forging network, operating in Moscow and the North Caucasus Republic of Dagestan. Its members produced 40 million rubles (over $1 million) worth of fake rubles, US dollars and euros each month.
(Vedomosti, Izvestia)
SPORT
Two companies in South Russia’s Kransodar Territory have been picked to build a Formula1 racetrack and hold a grand prix. However, the project still has no sponsors.
(Vedomosti)
For more details on all the news in Russia today, visit our website at www.en.rian.ru