LOCAL NEWS

RAILWAYS MINISTER SETS OUT HIS PLAN

MOSCOW - Heeding the government's wishes, new Railways Minister Gen nady Fadeyev on Thursday distanced himself from his disgraced predecessor's ambitious $5.25 billion investment program for 2002, agreeing to slash it by 40 percent.

The new program - unveiled Thursday at a government meeting on railway reform - falls in line with earlier recommendations from the Economic Development and Trade Ministry, which suggested dropping some of the more expensive projects, Interfax reported.

The new investment program is expected to be formally approved by the government at a session Jan. 24.

The original plan - drawn up by former Railways Minister Nikolai Ak syo nenko - was criticized by the cabinet last month as unrealistic.

EMBASSY WARNS ON GAY MURDERS

MOSCOW - The General Prosecutor's Office said Thursday that there was no connection among the murders of four foreigners killed between September 1999 and June 2001, apparently after picking up someone from a gay club in Moscow.

NATIONAL NEWS

WIFE NAMED TO TAKE OVER POTEKHIN'S POST

Governor Vladimir Yakovlev appointed local journalist Irina Potekhina acting vice governor in charge of the City Hall Media Committee on Dec. 29. Potekhina, whose appointment must be confirmed by the Legislative Assembly, replaces her husband, former acting Vice Governor Alexander Potekhin, who resigned last month under a cloud of suspicion after the North western District Prosecutor's Office opened a criminal investigation against him.

SIBUR ACTIVITY PROBE FOCUSES ON GAZPROM

MOSCOW - Prosecutor General Vla di mir Ustinov said Thursday his office intends to interrogate more Gaz prom executives, widening an investigation into the sale of the gas monopoly's assets by the management of rogue subsidiary Sibur.

Five Brokerages Dominate Booming Bourse

MOSCOW - Russia's booming stock market may be trading at levels not seen in nearly four years, but just a handful of players are getting all the action.

Figures released by the Russian Trading System on Wednesday show that $4.45 billion worth of shares traded hands on the key dollar-denominated market in 2001, with just five brokerages handling 92 percent of all transactions.

CULTURE

ARTS SQUARE: A STRANGE SALAD

Yury Temirkanov's Arts Square Music Festival got its start three years ago, created especially to suit the conductor's ambitions and allow him to flex his authority as St. Petersburg's musical leader and as artistic director of the Philharmonic Orchestra. The festival was also intended to liven up the city's flaccid winter concert season, which at that time featured precious little that was worthy of the New Year's and Christmas holiday period.

REFLECTIONS WITHIN A GLASS HOUSE

"Thirteen Ghosts," which was released last fall for Halloween, begins in a Chicago auto junkyard in the dead of night, where F. Murray Abraham's sinister Cyrus Kriticos and his zany yet distraught young psychic, Rafkin (Matthew Lillard) are doing a little spirit-chasing while the elegant Kalina (Embeth Davidtz) apparently means to free any spirits they manage to trap.

CHERNOV'S CHOICE

Boris Grebenshchikov has a Christmas present for you at Akvarium's official Web site at www.aquarium.ru. It is a free, 4Mb MP3 file containing the ironic reggae song called "Rastamany Iz Glubinki" ("Rastas From the Provinces"), which the band recorded in December. Akvarium kicks off a five-date U.S. tour at New York's Irvin Plaza on Jan. 18. Support will come from Nastya. Check out www.blissrecords.com for details and keep an eye out for a big local show to coincide with the release of Akvarium's new album in February.

Tequilajazzz will play what singer and bassist Zhenya Fyodorov describes as "an ordinary concert in support of youth clubs" at Faculty on Friday.

HOT GEORGIAN FOOD SERVED COLD

Good food alone does not a good restaurant make. This is the lesson to be had at the elegant Bagrationi, where the splendors of Georgian cuisine are served up in combination with the finest traditions of Soviet restaurant hospitality.