- Business in the country should show a greater sense of social responsibility
- Russia's banking system has so far been unable to meet the growing demand for retail loans
- Most Russians are afraid to use banking services, and only 25% of the population hold bank accounts, while less than 10% use plastic cards
- The creation of major financial and banking structures will help strengthen the financial stability of the banking system, which is in the interest of both the business community and the state
* President Putin also:
- urged the country's trade unions not to interfere in politics prior to the country's parliamentary and presidential elections
- criticized the country's trade unions for their sluggishness, and urged them to protect the interests of workers properly
* A court in Kondopoga in northwest Russia ruled that the case of a defendant accused of starting a brawl in the city in early September, which led to mass riots, be returned to prosecutors
* Russia and Belarus may sign an agreement to form a unified air defense system during a meeting of the former Soviet republics' defense ministers November 23, a Belarusian military official said
* Cash dollars held by the Russians totals an estimated $30 billion, the Central Bank of Russia said
* Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili urged Moscow to resume talks with Tbilisi in an effort to resolve a crisis in relations between the two ex-Soviet neighbors
* Georgia will not buy Russian natural gas at $230 per 1,000 cubic meters, President Mikheil Saakashvili said
* Iran is planning to create 60,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges, the Iranian president said
* Russia's Gazprom [RTS: GAZP] and Italy's Eni have signed a strategic partnership agreement giving the Russian energy giant access to Italy's natural gas market, the companies said in a joint news release
* There will be no gas shortage in Russia, the head of the expert department with the Kremlin administration said
* The Russian environmental watchdog called for the revocation of water use licenses from the international consortium operating the Sakhalin II oil and gas project, off Russia's Pacific coast
* A Moscow court ruled that the refusal by the Prosecutor General's Office to exonerate Russia's last Emperor Nicholas II and his family is illegal
* A Moscow court ordered three people convicted of embezzling funds from Russia's flagship air carrier Aeroflot to pay a total of 215 million rubles ($8.1 million) in fines
