... strive "to provide adequate representation in the informational sphere of the interests of citizens who tie their worldview to the values of orthodoxy and other traditional faiths," Putin said at a meeting with Orthodox Church head Patriarch Kirill and the leaders of other major Russian religious groups, Interfax reported. The prime minister did not specify any concrete plans for providing more airtime for religious programming, but he cited poll numbers that said 71 percent of Russian citizens...

... Moscow’s MICEX-RTS bourse to boost its IPO hopes and compete with big international centers like London for Russian company listings. The $10 billion Russian Direct Investment Fund, or RDIF, which is government funded but run by private equity specialist Kirill Dmitriyev, is investing together with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The pair is buying a total stake of 7.54 percent. MICEX-RTS was valued at $4.5 billion in December when two Russian exchanges combined, and at that value...

Russia's Direct Investment Fund is looking at acquiring assets in countries including Germany, Italy and Britain, said the head of the fund, Kirill Dmitriyev, in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday. (Bloomberg) Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves rose to $499.7 billion in the week to Jan. 20 from $497.1 billion a week earlier, Central Bank data showed Thursday. (Reuters)

... build, own and operate four nuclear power plants in Jordan, Al-Ghad newspaper said. (Bloomberg) The United Arab Emirates may invest "billions of dollars" in Russia, focusing on mining, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and the logistics industry, Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russia Direct Investment Fund, told state broadcaster RT on Tuesday. (Bloomberg) Gazprombank's earnings rose to 39.2 billion rubles ($1.2 billion) last year, from 14.5 billion rubles in 2010, the lender said Tuesday. (Bloomberg)

... Elections Commission. For the second day in a row, opposition members of the commission have been joined by elections chief Vladimir Churov in supporting a proposal to discuss the resignation of Churov himself. Commission member from the Communist Party Kirill Serdyukov proposed adding the issue of Churov's early resignation to the commission's agenda Friday and was supported in his motion by members from the Yabloko, A Fair Russia, and Communist parties—as well as by Churov himself, Interfax reported...

... the London Metal Exchange. Nickel has slumped by more than 30 percent from last year's peak in February, and copper prices have dropped 18 percent. "Current prices still allow the majority of nickel and copper producers to turn a profit," Kirill Chuyko, an analyst for UBS, said Friday. Norilsk sees nickel prices advancing to $30,000 by 2025, with copper, the second-biggest contributor to the company's revenue, surging to $11,300, according to the October strategy. 179743

... concept for freeing television from state control was given to the presidential administration — that is, to the very same people who first made national television the lapdog of government in the 2000s. Another leader of public opinion, Patriarch Kirill, was undoubtedly referring to the almost exclusively liberal membership of the Presidential Council on Human Rights when he said public television risks becoming a "mouthpiece for the minority that declares its demands more loudly than anyone...

... web sites. NEW YORK — A father and son from Moscow were charged by prosecutors in New York with taking part in a scheme to gain illegal computer access to U.S. bank accounts through bogus e-commerce web sites. Vladimir Zdorovenin and his son, Kirill, were named in an indictment unsealed Tuesday in a federal court in Manhattan that alleges they and unknown others controlled U.S.-registered companies. The two men also operated a business that bought and sold securities. The defendants took...

... managers and even insist on them being sent to prison if there turned out to be any truth in Riviera's claims. But that would not be enough to avert "significant reputation damage in both the United States and Europe" should guilt be proven, Kirill Markin, an analyst at the Investcafe analytical center, said in a note Thursday. Maintaining a crystal-clear reputation is critical to the airline's efforts in the U.S. market as it seeks to post ADRs and improve its attractiveness to foreign...

... French-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce, the Severny Kuzbass case was a major talking point. "I don't think they fully understand the tax impact they are creating for themselves," Baker&McKenzie's Kirill Vikulov said of the Supreme Arbitration Court Presidium and the Severny Kuzbass ruling. Vikulov, a lawyer and an associate at the corporate law firm's Moscow office, called the Severny Kuzbass decision "groundbreaking." In an interview...

... Panfilova, general director of Transparency International Russia and one of the report's editors, said in an interview that both raiding by banking institutions and raiding of banks themselves remain problems. At a Tuesday press conference, Panfilova and Kirill Kabanov, who chairs the National Anti-Corruption Committee and directed the report, said all levels of law enforcement know the extent of raiding and fail to act against it. "Without local government resources, raiding is, of course, not possible...

... could help VTB out if the sum was too high. Forum participants said they expect more foreign investors after the March 4 presidential election. Russia will see more foreign investors if the new government ensures stability and economic growth, said Kirill Dmitriyev, chief executive of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, a vehicle created last year to reduce investment risks and attract investors. Dmitriyev said foreign investors regard the protests positively as long as the opposition and the government...

... Svetlanov Hall. 7 p.m. Russian Philharmonia Symphony Orchestra performs Liszt’s Tasso symphonic poem, his Piano Concertos No. 1, No. 2 and Preludes. Soloist Vladimir Ovchinikov (piano). Conservatory Great Hall. 2 p.m. Rustam Yavayev (countertenor), Kirill Varyash (cello) and Fyodor Stroganov (organ) perform Rachmaninov, Marcello, Piazzolla, Gabrieli, Yusupova and others. St. Mary’s Cathedral. 7:30 p.m. Telemann Consort Ensemble performs Vivaldi. Dom Muzyki Chamber Hall. 7 p.m. Monday, February...

... corruption. The age-old Russian question of "Who is guilty?" attracted no attention because everyone knows who, although few named him. Nor were people interested in the other old Russian question: "What is to be done?" Instead, Kirill Androsov, deputy minister of economic development and trade from 2006 to 2008, talked about how to do it. The cure presupposes a democratic breakthrough leading to a cleanup of top-level corruption, which is the big political, social and economic...

... paying for are noticeable throughout the country. "We do operations here they don't do anywhere else in the country, even though they've been doing them in Russia for a long time," Shevyakova said. "We have a neurologist." Neurologist Kirill was a well-built man who, with his shaved head and goatee, would have looked right at home in Moscow, but he cut a striking figure in Addis Ababa. All the staff recalled with a gleam in their eyes the equipment donated by the Russian Health and...

... affair that, essentially, never happened." A film about a love affair that never happened. Now, doesn't that sound Chekhovian? Following the screening I had the distinctly humorous opportunity to overhear an exchange between a photographer and Kirill Pirogov, the actor who plays Chekhov in the film. "You are the spitting image of Chekhov," the photographer stated admiringly. "Oh no," replied Pirogov. "You look exactly like him!" "No, we don't look anything...

... Theater Na Maloi Bronnoi. 7 p.m. The Seven Who Were Hanged (Rasskaz o Semi Poveshennykh): Leonid Andreyev’s indictment of capital punishment as staged by Mindaugas Karbauskis. Tabakov Theater. 7 p.m. The Threepenny Opera (Tryokhgroshovaya Opera): Kirill Serebrennikov’s production of the Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht gangster tale. Chekhov Moscow Art Theater. 7 p.m. Tuesday, February 7th New A Conspiracy of Feelings: (See Sun. listing.) Playwright and Director Center. 7 p.m. Celestial Beings...