The Moscow Times

A U.S. company is accused of illegally exporting defense technology used by the U.S. military to Russia and three other countries, U.S. prosecutors said.

In the past two years, big energy giants including Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell have snapped up licenses in Sweden, Poland, Germany, France and Austria to explore for shale gas — natural gas trapped in layered rock rather than porous reservoirs.

n International Monetary Fund mission will visit Ukraine at the end of March to discuss a resumption of lending with the new leadership, and Ukrainian officials said they expected "difficult talks."

European Union proposals to force countries to build new emergency gas infrastructure were approved Thursday by a parliament panel, but a requirement to prepare for 60 days of supply cuts was reduced to 45 days.

The state-controlled bank said full-year profit was down about 75 percent from 97.7 billion rubles in 2008 after it took huge provisions against bad debt during the worst of the financial crisis.

The Transportation Ministry wants to return to the use of separately administered funds to pay for road construction, but the Finance Ministry opposes the idea, saying it would lead to corruption and be impractical to finance.

Effective Oct. 1, street exchange points will be required to become cash-transaction desks or full-fledged bank branches, otherwise the Central Bank will close them.

Aeroflot is ready to hand over its Terminal D for management to Sheremetyevo, which will be running the entire airport until officials are able to select an independent operator.

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries ministers on Wednesday agreed not to change oil output targets they are already exceeding, anticipating that demand will pick up later in the year to mop up extra barrels the producers may pump.

The prestigious Moscow region town, which currently hosts a premier business school, will have five "presidential" priorities for modernization: energy, IT, telecommunications, biotechnology and nuclear technology, Medvedev said.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin held a meeting on the nuclear power industry after overseeing the opening of a new reactor in Volgodonsk, Rostov region, that will begin operating at its full capacity of 1,000 megawatts in October.

The ruble gained to the strongest level per euro since 2008 on Thursday, forcing the Central Bank to ease its trading band for the 20th time in a month, as concern grew that Greece may struggle to get European Union financial assistance.

Rosneft has challenged U.S. and British court injunctions brought by managers of defunct rival Yukos and says oil supplies will not be harmed by the cases.

Coca-Cola, the world's largest soft-drink maker, has applied for Russian regulator approval to buy into juice maker Nidan Soki, sources said Thursday, as it seeks to challenge rival PepsiCo's market dominance.