* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said:
- Russia does not intend to restore transport links with Georgia in the near future
- the UN Security Council is not discussing a resolution on Iran's controversial nuclear program, and he hopes talks with Tehran are still possible
- he is hopeful the first round of negotiations on a Russia-European Union partnership agreement can be held before the end of the year
- Russia does not seek to revoke the license of the giant Sakhalin II oil and gas project off its Pacific coast
* Russian Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref said:
- Investment in Russia by the end of the year is expected to grow 12.7% on 2005
- Russia's GDP grew 6.6% in the first nine months of 2006
- Wages in Russia grew 12.8%, year-on-year, in the first nine months of 2006, while September wages were 13.6% higher than in the same month of 2005
- Inflation was 7.4% in Russia this year as of October 16
* The Industry and Energy Ministry said:
- Russia produced 483.73 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the first nine months of 2006, representing an increase of 3.1% on the same period of 2005
- Production of oil with gas condensate in Russia grew 2.4%, year-on-year, in the first nine months of 2006, reaching 357.92 million metric tons
- Electric power output in Russia grew 4.7%, year-on-year, in the first nine months of 2006, to 718.73 billion kWh
* Futures trading in Russian oil REBCO (Russian export blend crude oil) started on the New York Mercantile Exchange
* The assets of Russia's bankrupt Yukos Oil Company could be valuated with a discount of 10-90%, the head of Roseco, included in the consortium of valuators, said
* A Russian Soyuz-U booster rocket with a Progress M-58 cargo spacecraft has been launched from the Baikonur space center to the International Space Station, a spokesman for the Russian Federal Space Agency said
* A Russian ship, the Sinegorye, with 18 crew members on board sank in the Sea of Japan, according to preliminary information from the Russian Transportation Ministry; three foreign vessels are nearing the site following its distress signal earlier Monday
* Yevgeny Ishchenko, the mayor of the southern Russian city of Volgograd, charged with abuse of office, resigned in a courtroom
* Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov said President Alexander Lukashenko will soon pay an official visit to Iran
* The European Union Council expanded the list of high-ranking Belarusian officials banned from entering the EU, and whose financial accounts in the EU could be frozen
