POLITICS

Supporters of presidential candidate Vladimir Putin plan to hold a march February 23 and expect that 200,000 people will come. Meanwhile, opposition protesters announced plans to gather on the Garden Ring Road in central Moscow on February 26, planning to join hands to form an unbroken circle around the city center. Organizers estimate that this will require at least 34,000 people.
(The Moscow Times, Kommersant, Vedomosti, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)

Presidential candidates Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov attended a session of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs on Thursday
(The Moscow Times, Kommersant, Moskovskie Novosti, Vedomosti, Nezavisimaya Gazeta)

South Ossetian opposition leader Alla Dzhioyeva was hospitalized late Thursday after suffering an apparent stroke a day before she planned to declare herself president of the breakaway Georgian region
(The Moscow Times, Kommersant, Vedomosti, Izvestia)

Russian tourists did not notice the regime change in Maldives and say there are no threats to their safety
(Kommersant, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Nezavisimaya Gazeta)

Days after fighting intensified in Homs, the Syrian opposition stronghold, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon criticized the Russian-Chinese veto on a Security Council resolution demanding President Bashar Assad to resign
(Moskovskie Novosti)

According to the most recent survey by Russian state-run pollster VTsIOM, Putin is supported by 53.3 percent of Russians a month before the elections. Billionaire Prokhorov passed ex-Federation Council speaker Sergei Mironov and the two now have seven and five percent of the vote, respectively
(Izvestia)

ECONOMY

After Greek political forces reached an austerity package agreement, the European Central Bank reiterated its confidence in Eurozone’s further development and euro exchange rate reached its two-month maximum
(Kommersant, Vedomosti)

METALS & MINING

Shareholders of Polyus Gold and Polymetal International rejected a merger deal
(Vedomosti)

POWER GENERATION

Russian state-controlled nuclear corporation Rosatom may run behind schedule in its Russian and international NPP construction projects as Moscow’s Serp i Molot metallurgical plant stopped supplies of parts for reactor covers
(Kommersant)

TELECOMS & IT

Kaspersky Lab, a major Russian IT security firm, posted revenue growth of 14%, to $612 million in 2011
(Vedomosti)

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin suggested that black and white lists of websites should be compiled to track down websites that may harm children. Putin warned that the move should not limit internet freedoms
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Izvestia)

BANKING & FINANCE

State-controlled bank VTB will buy back its stock from retail investors at the 2007 issue price of 13.6 kopeks per share over the next two months in a move aimed at enhancing the public face of the country's second-largest lender.
(The Moscow Times, Kommersant, Moskovskie Novosti, Vedomosti)

DEFENCE

Russian nuclear subs, the Yury Dolgoruky and the Alexander Nevsky will enter service with the Russian Navy in summer 2012, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said. Borey class subs will be armed with Bulava intercontinental ballistic missiles, which are also to enter service this year
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)

TRANSPORT

The U.S. Congress resolved to switch its flight traffic control systems from radar technologies to GPS satellite navigation systems
(Izvestia)

SOCIETY

A senior Kommersant executive demanded that the Prosecutor General's Office open a criminal case against officials at the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi, accusing the organization of being behind an Internet attack on the paper several years ago.
(The Moscow Times, Kommersant, Vedomosti)

In a second teenage suicide case in the Moscow region in the past two days, a 15-year-old boy jumped out of his apartment’s window.  Some 4,000 teenagers attempt suicide in Russia every year, and about 1,500 of them succeed, which makes Russia a world’s leader in teenage suicides
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Izvestia)

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin proposed shortening the length of the 10-day New Year holidays and adding extra vacation days later in the year.
(The Moscow Times, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Izvestia)

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