MOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti) - Russian political parties may soon be freed of the necessity to collect a set amount of signatures in order to register for parliamentary polls, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.
MOSCOW, January 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia"s auto makers have competed their transition to the Euro 3 emission standard in vehicle production, the chief executive of the Association of Russian Auto Makers said on Wednesday. From January 1, 2008, Russia introduced Euro 3 exhaust emission standards, prohibiting production or imports of vehicles that fail to meet the requirements. Euro 3 standards were introduced in the European Union in 2000. "The transition was difficult for the auto industry but everything necessary has been done, and from January 1 we switched completely to the production of vehicles in accordance with the Euro 3 standard," Igor Korovkin said. The executive said the adoption of the Euro 3 standard raised prices by an average of 200 euros (about $300) for cars and 1,000 euros ($1,490) for trucks. Korovkin said Russian auto producers were now preparing for transition to the cleaner Euro 4 emission standards, adopted by EU states in 2005.
Russia celebrated Defenders of the Fatherland Day on Tuesday, with President Dmitry Medvedev leading a ceremony to return the eternal flame to its traditional home next to the Kremlin.