The Russian Information Agency Novosti begins Hotline coverage for Tuesday, April 20, 2004.
MOSCOW
* Kazakh President Nursultan Nararbayev will arrive in Russia on a routine visit.
* A routine visit to Russia of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will start. It will wind up on April 21.
* Belarussian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky will arrive in Moscow on a routine visit.
* Cypriot Foreign Minister Georgios Iacovou will arrive in Moscow on a working visit.
* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will receive Tajikistan's parliamentary delegation, in Russia on an official visit.
* An additional session of the State Duma will take place. Together with the Ukrainian parliament, the issue of the ratification of the Russo-Ukrainian treaties "On Russian-Ukrainian Border", "On Cooperation in the Use of the Sea of Azov and the Strait of Kerch" and the agreement "On Formation of the Common Economic Space" is to be considered.
* The fourth seminar of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) on efficiency audit will open in the Russian Audit Chamber.
* The Russian Commerce and Industry Chamber will host public hearings "On the project of a new wording of the law 'On precious metals and gemstones'." (10:30 a.m., small hall at 6 Ilyinka Street; for accreditation call 241-08-52, 929-01-87).
* The Russian Information Agency Novosti (press club, sixth floor, 4 Zubovsky Boulevard; for accreditation call 201-50-19, 201-39-68, 201-45-67) will host:
- a press conference devoted to the World Day of Sister Cities, the 40th anniversary of the International Sister Cities Association, and the constituent congress of a new world organization of united cities and local authorities, due on May 2-8.
- a round table dedicated to the world day of youth service (VDMS) and the role of youth goodwill in the resolution of social problems and building civil society. Participants are: from America: Mary Eisenhower, the president and executive director of the People to People International organization, and other members; from Russia: members of the VDMS national Coordination Committee, head of the Russian Center of Goodwill Development Galina Bodrenkova, executive director of the Sozidaniye fund Yelena Zakharova, young volunteers from different regions of Russia.
* The Russian academy of arts will host a solemn ceremony of electing Yuri Osipov, the president of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Viktor Sadovnichy, Moscow State University rector, space pilot Aleksei Leonov, and cardio-surgeon Leo Bokeriya honorary members of the academy.
ST PETERSBURG
* The international construction forum "Interstroiexpo-2004" will open. Over 740 companies from Russia, Belarus, Greece, Germany, Denmark, Indonesia, Italy, Canada, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Turkey, Ukraine, Finland, Sweden, and Estonia will take part in it.
KIEV
* The Ukrainian parliament will consider the issue of ratification of the Treaty between Ukraine and Russia on cooperation in the Azov Sea and Kerch Strait, the Treaty on Russo-Ukrainian state border and the Agreement on the formation of the Common Economic Space of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine.
* An international conference "State border service of Ukraine: step by step to European standards" will be held. Heads of border services of the CIS and EU countries, as well as representatives of international organizations, in particular, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, will take part in it.
DUBLIN
* Russian Vice Premier Alexander Zhukov will arrive in Ireland on a routine visit. He will speak at an international conference on the formation of market economy and modern problems in the economy and financial spheres. He will return to Moscow later in the day.
LONDON
* Within the framework of the Russian Economic Forum, Russian Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin will meet with EBRD President Jean Lemierre.
BEIJING
* Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov will start an official visit to China (April 20-22).
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