* Gazprom will demand 100% advance payments for
natural gas from Ukraine if it fails to pay for supplies before
June 7, Russia's energy minister, Sergei Shmatko, said
* The Brazilian air force has begun searching for an Air
France passenger plane carrying at least 228 people that went
missing over the Atlantic en route to Paris, Globo News said.
The plane sent a message reporting an electrical short, French
radio said
* Flight attendants of the bankrupt Siberian airline
KrasAir ended their 19-day hunger strike over unpaid wages due
to health risks, but pledged to bring their case to court
* The possibility of establishing a grain cartel will be
discussed at the World Grain Forum scheduled for June 6-7 in
St. Petersburg, the governor of Russia's second-largest city,
Valentina Matviyenko, said
* Sberbank has issued a 10.8 billion-ruble ($348.6
million) loan to the country's rail monopoly, Russia's largest
bank said
* The Russian carmaker GAZ could start producing Opel cars
within nine months if a consortium of investors taking over the
German auto producer gives their backing, GAZ said
News
