LOCAL NEWS

IVANOV: RUSSIA WILL USE ITS UN VETO

MOSCOW - Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov took Russia's opposition to war against Iraq a step further on Monday and said flatly that Russia would vote against the proposed new U.S.-British resolution at the UN Security Council.

"Russia believes that no further resolutions of the UN Security Council are necessary and, therefore, Russia openly declares that, if the draft that has been submitted for consideration, and which contains unfulfillable ultimatum-type demands, is put to a vote, Russia will vote against this resolution," Ivanov said.

MATVIYENKO SET TO TAKE CHERKESOV'S PLACE

According to anonymous sources within the Kremlin, Viktor Cherkesov, the presidential representative for the Northwest Region, will soon be replaced in the post by Valentina Matviyenko, currently the deputy prime minister responsible for social affairs in Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov's government.

NATIONAL NEWS

SCHOOL ANGRY OVER SHOOTING OF PORN FILM

As the producer and distributor of what are labeled "hard erotica" films by the standards of Russian censors, since he founded his production company - SP Company - in 1997, Sergei Pryanishnikov has angered religious organizations and the St.

IN BRIEF

'Meeting of Hope'

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) - Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze on Monday called a recent meeting with President Vladimir Putin aimed at resolving the status of the separatist republic of Abkhazia "a meeting of hope.

LOCAL BUSINESS

MINFIN CHIEF SUPPORTS DOLLAR

MOSCOW - Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin urged Russians not to worry about the recent decline of the U.S. dollar, telling them in a televised interview Sunday that it is not necessary to shift their savings out of the American currency because it will not fall dramatically.

GENERAL ELECTRIC PLEDGES INVESTMENT IN LENOBLAST

General Electric is planning to build a factory for the production of railway engines in the Leningrad Oblast the Leningrad Oblast revealed in a statement issued on Thursday.

RACE FOR SEATS UNDERWAY AT TABLE OF POWER

MOSCOW - The race is officially on for what is being billed as the wildest corporate election the country has ever seen.

The directors of UES on Thursday signed off on the final list of candidates eligible for a seat on the monopoly's board at a time when the government is embarking on an unprecedented carve-up of the electricity sector that promises to make or break fortunes.

POSSIBLE WAR COULD HIT AUTO SECTOR

MOSCOW - Russia's second-largest automaker could lose its best customer if Iraq's government is toppled.

GAZ, in Nizhny Novgorod, has halted all production of its once popular and prestigious Volga sedan ~ except for 5,000 taxi versions of its largely unwanted model that are destined for Baghdad.

CORPORATE RAIDERS LET LOOSE IN MOSCOW

MOSCOW - When the Moscow City Administration wanted to move a shoe factory out of the city center in the mid-1990s because the glue it used was too dangerous for downtown, the 70 or so workers at the plant voted to stay put.

According to financial director Yekaterina Balabanova, they undertook a lengthy buyout of the building from the city, and eventually transformed it into a successful office center called Asta, where nearly all of them still work in different capacities.

BUSINESS CHANNEL TO DEBUT IN MAY

MOSCOW - Russia's first 24-hour cable channel dedicated to business news will go live after the May holidays, RBC said Thursday after securing $15 million to launch the project.

OPINION

MINISTRY PREPARES HEADY BREW

THE Agriculture Ministry, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Gordeyev, has put forward a new "alcohol policy" plan. If the plan is implemented it could lead to a doubling in the price of vodka - Russia's main consumer product.

The plan envisages banning the construction of new distilleries, as well as introducing quotas for the production of pure alcohol and liquor.

RUSSIA IN OWN LEAGUE OF TALENT FOR BENDING RULES

NOT long ago, a Finnish company received a contract to make a metal door for a Russian defense installation in the far north. For some reason, no Russian firm could produce a door of such complexity and such unusual dimensions.

PRESIDENT MISLEADS AMERICAN PUBLIC ON TAX-CUT FIGURES

IN U.S. President George W. Bush's recent speeches about the tax cuts in his "economic growth" package, he has emphasized an eye-catching point when talking about its benefits. "Under this plan," he has said, "92 million Americans receive an average tax cut of $1,083.

WAR IN IRAQ MAY BE IN RUSSIA'S INTERESTS

In response to "How To Avoid Losing a Potential War in Iraq," a comment by Vyacheslav Nikonov on March 7.

Editor,

The comment piece is the most pragmatic and sensible one I've read in the non-U.

PLAYING RUSSIA'S HAND

IN the manner of his Soviet predecessor Andrei Gromyko, Igor Ivanov, Russia's foreign minister, now repeatedly suggests that Moscow might veto a second United Nations resolution on Iraq. Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin has maintained a protracted silence.

CITY POLITICS MUST WATCH ITS LANGUAGE

BECAUSE of the day off in lieu of International Women's Day, which fell on Saturday, Monday was a tough day in The St. Petersburg Times office. Government offices and those of most businesses were closed, making it a difficult to find anyone with whom to speak about the latest news.

WOMEN SETTING THE AGENDA IN TODAY'S MEDIA

THERE is no Russian woman who will not speak contemptuously of March 8, International Women's Day. And yet I know of no Russian woman who is not pleased as punch to be showered with bouquets, presents and words of love and gratitude on this day.

In the media industry these days, one frequently hears laments about the shortage of fresh ideas and qualified managers.

CHRIS FLOYD'S GLOBAL EYE

Gangs of D.C.

And the war came.

- Abraham Lincoln

The war is always coming, it's always here, either in utero, full fury or chaotic aftermath.

WORLD

WORLD WATCH

Blair Faces Fines

LONDON (AP) - Prime Minister Tony Blair failed to register his family car for London's congestion charge and could face fines, his office said Sunday.

As a resident of central London, the prime minister qualifies for a 90 -percent discount on the $8 daily charge, introduced last month to help ease the traffic gridlock that often paralyzes the capital.

REAL, JUVE MAINTAIN LEADS, SOCIEDAD REBOUNDS WITH WIN

MADRID - Real Madrid got goals from Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane to hold its one-point lead in Spain's Primera Liga, while Juventus needed a late winner from David Trezeguet on Sunday to restore its three-point edge in Italy.