* Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend a session of the Interstate Council of the Eurasian Economic Community (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan).
MOSCOW
* Acting Russian Transportation Minister Alexander Misharin will give a news conference on development prospects of the transport sector (2:00 p.m.; ul. Rozhdestvenka 1; phones 926-14-79, 926-12-65).
* Head of the Russian Federal Customs Service Alexander Zherikhov will give a news conference on the service's activities in 2005 and development prospects (11:00 a.m.; ul. Novozavodskaya 11/5; phones 449-72-52; 449-74-92; 449-75-77; 449-71-65).
* The 20th session of the CIS Council for Cultural Cooperation with CIS culture ministers will be held (11:00 a.m.; final news conference 5:00 p.m.; Hotel Ukraina, Kutuzovsky prospekt 2/1; phones 925-28-81, 928-98-03).
* Russian Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev will meet with Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy Odd Roger Enoksen. Enoksen will attend a Russian-Norwegian conference on the development of oil fields in the Arctic region and other cold areas (9:00; 12:00 news conference; Hotel Radisson SAS Slavyanskaya, ploshchad Evropy 2).
* A session of the Federation Council will be held (10:00 a.m.). The upper chamber's speaker Sergei Mironov will deliver a report on 2005 Russian legislation.
* A session of the State Duma will be held (10:00 a.m.). The lower chamber will consider amendments to the laws on cinematography, education, safety of foodstuffs, etc.
* The Central House of Journalists will host the following news conferences (Nikitsky bulvar 8a; phones 203-20-86; 202-94-51):
On the topic, The State Duma Fighting against Arbitrariness in the Customs Services (2:30 p.m.);
With head of the Russian Public Chamber's commission for public control over power structures and law enforcement agencies Anatoly Kucherena on the chamber's role in society (2:00 p.m.; phones: 681-74-84, 684-39-67).
* Ukrainian charge d'affaires Leonid Osovalyuk will give a news conference (12:00 p.m., MK press center, ul. 1905 goda 7; phone 256-95-00).
* RIA Novosti (Zubovsky bulvar 4; phones: 201-50-19, 981-64-72) will host:
- a Moscow-Tbilisi video conference on the recent deterioration in Russian-Georgian relations and ways to resolve the problem (11:00 a.m.);
- a news conference on the doping problem during the Olympics in Turin (1:00 p.m.);
* Interfax will host a news conference with Marco Altherr, the head of the delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Russia, on the ICRC activities in Chechnya in 2006 (ul. 1ya Tverskaya-Yamskaya 2; phones 250-88-32, 250-34-34).
* A news conference on the first regional HIV/AIDS forum with Russian, CIS, Baltic, East European and Central Asian representatives in Moscow (to take place May 15-17) will be held (12:00 p.m.; Hotel Izmailovo Gamma Delta; phone 8-916-810-20-33).
* The European Commission's mission in Russia will host a presentation of the World Health Organization's project on HIV/AIDS control and prevention in Russia (3:00 p.m.; Kadashevskaya naberezhnaya 14/1; phones 787-21-34, 721-20-41/09).
* A congress of drinks market participants on amendments to relevant legislation will be held. Head of the State Duma committee for economic policy, business and tourism Valery Draganov and representatives of relevant ministries and departments will attend (2:15 p.m.; President Hotel; phones 239-37-51, 239-36-79).
* The Federal Contest Commission will hold a session to distribute TV broadcasting licenses in 41 Russian cities (news briefing 6:00 p.m.; ul. Malaya Nikitskaya 12).
* Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov will attend a ceremony to mark St. Tatyana's Day, a traditional Russian student holiday, at Lomonosov Moscow State University (4:00 p.m.; phone 939-36-67). Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia will serve a divine liturgy at St. Tatyana's Church near the university (9:30 a.m.).
ST. PETERSBURG
* The 168th international fur auction will be held. More than 200 participants from 14 countries have registered.
YEREVAN
* Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov will arrive in Armenia on a two-day visit.
DAVOS, SWITZERLAND
* The World Economic Forum will open (January 25-29). Russian Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref will attend.
STRASBOURG
* The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will consider a report on the crimes of totalitarian and communist regimes, and discuss parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan.
PALESTINE
* Parliamentary elections will be held.
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