- Russia's economics ministry is hoping to finalize a review of the feasibility study of the Sakhalin-II energy project off the country's Pacific coast by the end of the year
- Russian energy giant Gazprom does not want more than a 25% stake in the Sakhalin II project in the Far East
- Japan could invest up to $50 billion in Russia's economy
- New tax legislation makes it unnecessary for Russia to sign any new production sharing agreements (PSA), but Russia will nevertheless continue to implement the agreements it has already concluded
* Russia's deputy natural resources minister said there are no grounds for expanding the production area under the Sakhalin I oil project near the Far Eastern island of Sakhalin at present, contrary to requests from the project operator
* Alrosa and De Beers have signed a memorandum of understanding on possible joint geological surveying, Russia's state-owned rough diamond producer said
* A crisis of natural gas supplies may hit Russia in two years, the economic development and trade minister said
* Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych said he was positive his country will not pass control over its gas pipeline networks to Russia
* Four soldiers were killed and four wounded in a sophisticated bomb attack Wednesday morning on a convoy in southern Russia, a local Interior Ministry official said
* A Russian guide and three Poles were killed, and around 30 Russians injured, when a Polish bus carrying a group of Russian tourists crashed in France, a Russian Consulate spokesman said
* Bank of Moscow (Bank Moskvy) said it plans to draw a $400 mln syndicated loan in the fall of 2006
* Kazakhstan will invest over $800 million in the construction and modernization of its natural gas pipeline network in 2006-2008, the country's draft midterm plan said
* Russia's economics ministry said an agreement on industrial car assembly by the Peugeot-Citroen concern in Russia might be signed by the end of October, and production could begin in 2008-9
* RusAl has taken out a $2 billion syndicated loan to refinance its current debt and use it for other corporate goals, the aluminum giant's press office said
* Shagen Ovasepyan, a senior tax official in Armenia, was killed in an apparent car bombing, the press office of the national Tax Service said
* A Russian federal arbitration court rejected an appeal filed by Moravel Investment Ltd. to charge $680 million from Yukos
* A federal arbitration court rejected an appeal by Russia's tax authorities to charge extra 165 million rubles (about $6.1 million) from Samaraneftegaz, a subsidiary of Yukos
* Moscow's district military court convicted General Vladimir Ganeyev of the Emergency Situations Ministry and six police officers of corruption
* Moscow Prosecutor's Office said architect Nodar Kancheli was legally responsible for a collapse of a water park's roof in 2004 that killed 28 people
* Russia's soccer team played to a scoreless draw with Croatia in its first Euro-2008 qualifier in Moscow