The RBC television channel has held a gala reception at Gostiny Dvor in Moscow to celebrate its third birthday.

Guests were being welcomed at the front door by General Director of RosBusinessConsulting Yury Rovensky. Among them were SUAL Vice President Iosif Bakaleynik, Alfa-Bank Board of Directors member Alexander Gafin, Rosprirodnadzor deputy chief Oleg Mitvol, head of the Federal Agency for Special Economic Zone Management Yury Zhdanov, Public Chamber member Leonid Roshal, Moscow Chief Architect Alexander Kuzmin, honorary VimpelCom President Dmitry Zimin, Mirax Group CEO Sergei Polonsky, former Antimonopoly Policy Minister and current Chairman of NOMOS-Bank's Supervisory Board Ilya Yuzhanov, and other government officials and businesspersons. At the front door everyone was asked to leave a business card, which would later be used in sweepstakes when dinner is served.

"We are glad that our friends whom we are already used to seeing on TV as experts have finally managed to get together and engage in live dialogue," Mr. Rovensky said as he greeted the "live" party. Holding their cognac glasses and smoking Hoyo de Monterrey cigars, guests exchanged their impressions of vacation spots and discussed their children's and grandchildren's schools.

Tver Region Governor Dmitry Zelenin was sad that he could not be with his kids on their legitimate holiday, but assured his friends attending the event that he would make up for it at his daughter's birthday, which was coming up soon: "I have already prepared loads of gifts and can't wait to give them to her." During cocktails Zelenin won an airline ticket to London. Someone from the crowd commented, "Maybe this is a hint that it's time Zelenin fled to London?…" The Governor, on the other hand, was sincerely happy to accept the prize, as though he had no other means to afford a trip to London.

Fashion designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev was also pleased with his gift - he won an Audi A8 toy car and admitted that he was fond of all kinds of collector's items. Overall, Zaitsev and his colleagues, fashion designers Igor Chapurin and Helen Yarmak were especially popular among the younger crowd of "not-so-public" figures, who were trying to take advantage of the opportunity and get firsthand consultations from the designers about custom tailoring outfits for various fall-winter functions. The fashion designers skirted around giving free quick advice, resorting to laidback flirtations with no strings attached. "Don't you worry, girls, everything will look just beautiful," Chapurin assured them in his competent tone. He spent the longest time talking to the head of Microsoft's representative office in Russia, Olga Dergunova.

In light of the Moscow International Book Fair, another subject that came up a lot was literature. Mr. Zaitsev admitted that his favorite "book of books" was a collection of letters of the philosopher Seneca. "Some time, years ago, Margarita Terekhova gave me this book," he said. "It was later stolen from me. And recently I got it as a gift again, so now I never part with it. His philosophy, and especially his thoughts on the concept of time, are very akin to mine. Time is the only thing that belongs to each and every one of us from the time we are born. Nothing else is owned to us, so time is our only possession." Mr. Zaitsev's philosophical reasonings struck a chord with music business producer Bari Alibasov, who for the rest of the evening kept close to the fashion designer. He even sat down at his table at dinner. They must have been talking about Seneca.

Puffing away at his cigar, businessman Konstantin Borovoi was examining an espresso-making machine: "I've long been thinking of buying myself one of these state-of-the-art coffee machines, but can never make up my mind - it's a very complex-looking device. I do have a coffee maker at home, a rather small one…"

Meanwhile, the sweepstakes were not over yet. Television personality Nikolai Drozdov won a holiday getaway package at the Foresta Tropicana Hotel in a Moscow suburb, an ideal place for children and pensioners. Deputy Central Bank Chairwoman Tatiana Paramonova got an insurance policy from Oranta, the company which had insured RBC's reception for $1m (the channel's second anniversary a year ago was appraised at just $500,000). Nonetheless, Paramonova did not waste her time showing how overjoyed she was about receiving the prize, because she was engaged in a conversation with Deputy Finance Minister Alexander Yakovenko. They never parted for most of the evening and were so carried away talking to each other that barely touched any of the salads or appetizers. The Russian President's representative at the Constitutional Court, Mikhail Barshchevsky, despite his position, was somehow pessimistically inclined, admitting in conversations with other guests that he was not anticipating any good things to come during the next season. "Well, what do you expect?" he asked rhetorically. "This will be a pre-election year, after all!" Lawyer Anatoly Kucherena, who was indulging himself in appetizers, was politically correct not commenting on Barshchevsky's statement. Another lawyer, Pavel Astakhov, was talking to Wimm-Bill-Dann CEO David Yakobashvili: "What a shame! I just barely missed you in Monte Carlo. I left several days before you came." "Yeah, I travel there all the time," Yakobashvili replied matter-of-factly. "Well I'll see you soon then! Igor Trunov and I are planning a trip there for a couple of days," Astakhov said cheerfully. "See you there," Yakobashvili nodded.

During dinner, the guests were being entertained by Sergei Mazayev, who acted as a Knight of Rueful Countenance of sorts. His lyrical songs seemed to have spread sadness over the entire party. After him, Bolshoi Theater opera singers took the stage, inspiring artist Nikas Safronov to compliment ballet dancer Ilze Liepa by saying: "Who did you say was the principal singer of the Bolshoi? Our Ilze sings far better!" The performers were replaced by models on a catwalk with a fashion show of Helen Yarmak's fur-coat collection. However, what really excited the guests was a performance by long-legged blondes from the Assorti pop group.

The main surprise of the night was the appearance of the psychic healer Djuna Davitashvili. At first, guests were incredulously glancing at the legendary dame, but when Davitashvili got ready to leave, quite a few made their way to her with their business cards. Maybe they decided that Rovensky was only joking when he said that Djuna was not helping raise the channel's ratings, or maybe they became interested in her ideas in the area of chromosome genetics, which may outstrip stem cell treatment research by miles and miles soon. According to the psychic, it's not long until the secret of eternal beauty is revealed.