* Vladislav Surkov, a deputy head of the Kremlin administration, said Russia must develop its own national ideology as soon as possible to gain respect in the international arena
* A senior Russian energy official said an intergovernmental agreement between Russia, Bulgaria and Greece to build the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline, which will bypass some of the world's busiest shipping lanes, might be signed by the end of the year
* The director general of the Kommersant publishing house said the company is being sold to Alisher Usmanov, the owner of Metalloinvest holding
* A draft government report said Russia's state debt decreased by 158.7 billion rubles, or $5.8 billion, to 2.9 trillion rubles, or $109.1 billion, during the first six months of 2006
* Russia's statistics service said the country's GDP growth of 5.5% in the first quarter of 2006 was the highest among the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations for the period
* The Russian Defense Ministry said a 24-satellite navigational and global positioning system, Glonass, would be fully deployed by 2010
* Russia's energy ministry said it doubted that a Russian-U.S. agreement on information exchange, which is set to expire this year, would be prolonged
* Eduard Kokoity, the leader of the self-proclaimed North Caucasus republic of South Ossetia, said the breakaway province in Georgia would most likely hold a referendum on its independence by the end of the year
* Nikolai Sevastyanov, president of the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation, said the lift-off of the 14th expedition to the International Space Station could be put off from September 14 to 18 after a shuttle launch was delayed
* The Russian government's press service said Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov approved the federal property privatization program for 2007 and the key areas for federal property privatization for 2007-2009
* Russia's economics ministry proposed that airlines with public stock in the Far East be consolidated into one company
* Vladimir Artyakov, the board chairman of AvtoVAZ, said Russia's largest carmaker
is not planning to sell shares to foreign investors
* The president of the Ford Motor Company in Russia said the American carmaker intends to nearly double sales in Russia to 120,000 in 2006 compared with 2005
