* Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov will meet with U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman, currently in Moscow (15.00). Before that, Bodman will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (10.00).
* The 89th session of the council of ministers of the European conference of transport ministers (May 24-25) will open in the International Trade Center (11.30).
* Indian President Abdul Kalam, currently on a state visit in Russia, will attend the Mashinostroyeniye (mechanical engineering) science and production association.
* The joint staff of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will host a meeting of heads of press services and PR departments of the CSTO power ministries.
* An inter-parliamentary delegation of Azerbaijan headed by speaker of the country's National Assembly Murtuz Aleskerov will arrive in Russia on an official visit (May 24-27). The official program of the visit will start on May 25.
* The Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) will host a press conference entitled "Children of the world against terror" with members of the State Duma committee for CIS and compatriots affairs, representatives of Vladimir Spivakov's international charity funds and children from Beslan, Vladikavkaz and other Russian and CIS cities (12.00).
* The Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry will host the 7th nationwide session of heads of enterprises of defense industry and oil and gas complex. It is sponsored by the federal agencies for industry, energy, nuclear energy, technical regulation and metrology, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other organizations. At issue will be the use of the Russian defense industry potential in the oil and gas sphere (10.00).
* The Russian News and Information Agency Novosti will host the following press conferences:
- with Russian Deputy Prosecutor General, Chief Military Prosecutor Alexander Savenkov on the crimes in the Russian army (13.00);
- with secretary of the federal political council of the Union of Right Forces (SPS) Ivan Starikov and supervisor of the program commission of the Moscow SPS department Sergei Zhavoronkov on the topic "The Union of Right Forces: crisis and revival" (13.30);
- on the premiere of the movie Zhmurki (Blind Man's Buff) at RIA Novosti's press club in Nizhny Novgorod (the Volga area) with President of the Russian Union of Filmmakers Nikita Mikhalkov, director Alexei Balabanov and actor Alexei Panin (16.00).
* Moscow's Meshchansky Court will continue reading the verdict in the trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Platon Lebedev and Andrei Krainov (11.00).
* The 4th international conference on electric energy market reforms will be held in Moscow (9.30).
* The 4th international pipeline forum (May 24-27) will open in Moscow. Its program includes an international conference and an exhibition Pipeline Transport-2005 (9.00).
* The 3rd annual conference of the Adam Smith Institute on the topic "Retail financial services in Russia" will open in Moscow (May 24-26).
ST. PETERSBURG
* The British Royal Navy's frigate HMS Sutherland will pay a friendly visit to the port of St. Petersburg.
UFA
* The 6th Russian oil and gas congress "The oil and gas complex: reality and prospects" and the 13th international specialized exhibition "Gas. Oil. Technologies-2005" will open in Ufa (May 24-27).
YEREVAN
* An international conference "Tolerance and the struggle against discrimination and xenophobia in the counter-terrorism context in the Caucasus" will open in Yerevan (May 24-25). About 60 representatives of Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, international, interstate and public organizations will attend the conference.
LONDON
* Russian Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev will pay an official visit to the United Kingdom (May 23-25). He is to hold talks with Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs Lord William Bach. They are to discuss stable development of agricultural territories, competitive ability of agriculture and processing industry and the system and mechanisms of cooperation with the World Trade Organization.
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