TODAY: Medvedev defends Russia at Davos; gasoline prices on the rise; Duma passes bill to abolish direct elections for governors; Gref wants foreign bank account rule exemption; Lebedev compares trial to witch huntgs; sexuality checking in the army; Alyokhina complains of death threats; Udaltsov’s complaint upheld; orphans.

Speaking in Davos at the World Economic Forum yesterday, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev dismissed concerns that Russia will face further civil unrest if it does not embrace economic and political reform, with many of his opponents concerned about Russia’s dependence on the price of oil.  Medvedev speculated that Gazprom could lose its monopoly, but stressed that any such move mustn’t impact the economy: ‘Money comes first.’  Foreign investors apparently expressed to Medvedev their concern about poor relations between Russia and the E.U., and the difficult work environment this creates.  Russia’s gasoline prices are showing an ‘untraditional’ rise this month thanks to higher fuel taxes and the ban on Euro-2.  The State Duma has ‘overwhelmingly passed’ the first reading of a bill that would grant regional assemblies the right to abolish direct elections for governors, effectively allowing President Vladimir Putin to choose candidates instead.  German Gref wants Russian-owned banks to be exempted from legislation that prohibits state officials from keeping their money in foreign bank accounts.  Anti-smoking campaigners are hoping that a bill to ban smoking in public will be signed into law.