Unified Energy System on Thursday lashed out at Gazprom-owned Mosenergo, Moscow’s main electricity supplier, accusing it of failing to build new capacity to meet burgeoning demand.

Months of negotiations and rumors came to an end Thursday as Oleg Deripaska’s United Company RusAl closed a deal to buy a stake of 25 percent plus one share in Norilsk Nickel, the world’s biggest producer of the metal.

Inchcape car dealership group, the world’s largest automobile retailer, said Thursday that it would buy Russia’s Musa Motors Group, paying up to $700 million in a move to strengthen its foothold in one of the world’s fastest-growing car markets.

A Just Russia is to hold its third annual congress Friday at the Kremlin, where the party is expected to expel thousands of members who were not aware that they were members and to tweak the colors scheme of its logo.

Gay rights activist Nikolai Alexeyev lashed out at City Hall on Thursday after Mayor Yury Luzhkov's office assailed his proposal for a gay pride parade during the holidays at the start of May.

Talks between Japan and Russia this weekend will likely focus on preparations for the upcoming Group of Eight summit, the possible sale of carbon credits by Russian companies and a decades-old dispute over the Kuril Islands, officials from both countries said Thursday.

The Russian shareholders who own half of embattled oil major TNK-BP issued a rare statement Thursday strongly denying any intention to sell their stakes in the British-Russian venture.

Your letters

Over my years of living in Moscow, I have come to embrace a number of Russian cultural concepts. I accept superstition as a viable lifestyle. I believe that all plastic bags should be saved until the end of time. I check the sunspot activity forecast before leaving the house. And I'm beginning to think that весеннее обострение -- the belief that all mental and physical processes go kerflooey in the spring -- might exist.

Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo fluffed an early penalty as his side drew 0-0 with a dominant Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal at the Camp Nou on Wednesday.

This year's Moscow Easter Festival will feature performances by Valery Gergiev's Mariinsky Theater and the Collegium Vocale of Ghent, Belgium.