Russia

MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/: Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officers have apprehended seven members of an organized crime group and stopped operation of three laboratories that forged papers of illegal migrants, FSB press service for the Moscow Region told TASS.

According to the press service, the organized crime group’s annual income exceeded 10 million rubles.

KOSTROMA, March 13. /TASS/: The possibility of concluding a new OPEC+ deal was not discussed on March 12 at a meeting of Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak with oil companies, he said on Friday. He added that he does not see conditions for a new agreement at the moment due to the actions of OPEC partners.

"We did not discuss this. We do not see conditions for such proposals (on a new agreement - TASS). We do not see conditions forming. You see how OPEC participants behave, therefore, movement is hardly possible against this background," Novak said.

MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with his South Ossetian counterpart Anatoly Bibilov on Friday, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.

"South Ossetian President Bibilov will be in Moscow with a working visit. A meeting between the two presidents will take place," Peskov said.

MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/: Qatar will take part in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) scheduled for 2021 as a guest country, the event’s organizer, the Roscongress Foundation, said on Friday.

"Qatar will be a guest country of SPIEF in 2021. Moreover, the effort that we have launched on arranging the forum continues and we will use the opportunity to prepare our joint program in detail," Roscongress said, citing Qatar’s ambassador to Russia Fahad bin Mohammed Al-Attiyah.

MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/: Bailing out Russia’s banking sector was necessary in order to prevent millions of clients from sustaining losses. The Bank of Russia is going to reintroduce the assets in question into the market after their financial recovery, Russian President Vladimir Putin told TASS in an interview for the project entitled "20 Questions with Vladimir Putin."

MOSCOW, March 13. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin strongly opposes attempts to build a cult of personality around him, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

"What Vladimir Putin cannot accept is Vladimir Putin’s personality cult. He clarified his attitude to personality cults long ago. Definitely, he does not like it and cannot accept it," Peskov said in response to a question.

ST.PETERSBURG, March 13. /TASS/: Authorities in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city, have banned all mass events to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, the city’s government press service said on Friday.

Under a decree, signed by Governor Alexander Beglov, starting from March 16 and until April 30, 2020 a ban will be introduced on holding theater and entertainment, cultural and educational, sports and other mass events "with more than 1,000 participants."

13 Mar 2020; MEMO: Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone to his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday, the Kremlin said in a statement, saying both men agreed with satisfaction that tensions in Syria’s Idlib were now significantly lower, Reuters reports.

Turkey and Russia, which back opposing sides in Syria’s war, last week agreed on a ceasefire to halt an escalation of violence in Idlib that displaced nearly a million people and brought the two countries close to direct confrontation.

MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/: Russia’s top brass has received the first regiment set of S-400 ‘Triumf’ anti-aircraft missile systems this year from Almaz-Antey defense manufacturer, the Company’s press office reported on Thursday.

The official handover ceremony took place at the Kapustin Yar proving ground in the southern Astrakhan Region.

"We have delivered the first regiment set of S-400 ‘Triumf’ systems this year to the state customer ahead of schedule. The delivery/acceptance tests have passed successfully," the press office quoted Almaz-Antey CEO Yan Novikov as saying.

MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/: The complex global situation is one of the reasons why Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted State Duma member Valentina Tereshkova’s arguments in favor of removing limits on presidential terms, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.