MOSCOW
* The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation will examine some provisions of the Federal Law "On Retirement Pensions in the Russian Federation."
* Russian minister of culture and mass communications Alexander Sokolov and culture minister of Belarus Leonid Gulyako will hold a press conference on the opening of the Year of Belarussian Culture in Russia.
* Russia's education and science minister Andrei Fursenko and head of the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks Boris Simonov will participate in a press conference on the International Day of Intellectual Property.
* A two-day international anti-terrorist media forum, "The Mass Media against Terrorism and Drug Threat," will open at the President Hotel.
* The Russian Information Agency Novosti will host:
- a press conference on the 18th anniversary of the Chernobyl atomic power plant disaster;
- the presentation of the Russian Military Review journal, a joint information and analytical publication of the Defense Ministry of Russia and RIA Novosti.
* An international press conference in the format of a TV hook-up between Moscow, St. Petersburg and Rome will be held to announce for the first time to the public the name of the laureate (laureates) of the Global Energy 2004 international energy prize. The press conference will be attended by chairman of the international committee for the awarding of the global energy prize, Nobel Prize laureate, academician Zhores Alfyorov, chairman of the Prize's expert commission, academician Vladimir Fortov, the heads of the companies - the Prize's founders: chairman of the OAO Gazprom board Alexei Miller, chairman of the RAO UES Rossii board Anatoly Chubais, chairman of the Yukos board Semyon Kukes.
* The Russian-Iranian commission for the Islam-Orthodoxy dialog will open its 4th session (April 26-28).
* The Vyacheslav Zaitsev Moscow Fashion House will host the 11th Nadezhda Lamanova Competition of professional fashion designers.
GOMEL (BELARUS)
* The 2nd international scientific and practical conference, "Overcoming the Consequences of the Chernobyl Atomic Power Plant Disaster: the Condition and Prospects," devoted to the 18th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster will be held.
TIRASPOL
* The negotiations on the Dniester settlement within the five-party format - Russia, Ukraine, the OSCE, Moldova and Trans-Dniestria (the self-proclaimed republic on the territory of Moldova) will be resumed. The first round of the negotiations will be held in Tiraspol, the capital of Trans-Dniestria, and the second round will take place next day in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova.
ROME
* The second Rome energy forum will begin its work. It will be attended by representatives of the countries that are oil and oil product producers: Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Syria, Qatar and others. The meeting will aim to exchange opinions on the state of the oil market and the prospects of oil and gas deliveries from supplier countries to Europe.
STRASBOURG
* The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will open its spring session (April 26-30). The Russian theme will be represented by a report to be made by a group of PACE observers at the presidential elections in Russia.
WASHINGTON
* The Third World Russian Forum, "On the Way to Economic, Political and Military Cooperation," will begin its work. It will be held with the support of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the US University in Moscow, the America-Russia Culture Development Fund and others (April 26-27).
AMMAN
* The fifth international exhibition of special operation forces, SOFEX'2004, will open at the King Abdullah airbase of Marka, Jordan (April 26-29). Delegations from over 50 countries are expected to attend it. Russia's Rosoboronexport state sales company will feature about 150 samples of armaments.
UPON ANY REPUBLICATION, REFERENCE TO RIA NOVOSTI IS MANDATORY.
