What the Papers Say, Apr. 15, 2013

Kommersant

1. Yegor Popov and Ivan Safronov article headlined "Shipyard upside down" says the management of the United Shipbuilding Corporation may be replaced following the criticism of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin; pp 1, 6 (1,020 words).
2. Oleg Sapozhkov and Vladislav Novyy article headlined "Import does not care" says Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov has backed a proposal to authorize the import of brand goods without the permission of their manufacturers; pp 1, 6 (925 words)
3. Olga Shestopal article headlined "Audit for tax collectors" says the Finance Ministry has drafted a bill obliging auditors provide tax collectors with confidential information on companies they checked; pp 1, 10 (578 words).
4. Yulia Orlova article headlined "Cypriot percent goes up" says a number of companies have started offering a new service — the withdrawal of funds from troubled Cypriot banks for the charge of 40 percent of the sum. Lawyers are skeptical about the lawfulness of the measure; pp 1, 10 (613 words).
5. Article attributed to the paper's political section headlined "Porsche Cayenne with trailer" report on income declarations made public by Russian senior officials; p 2 (1,163 words).
6. Maxim Ivanov and Taisya Bekbulatova article headlined "Communists look for ones to vote no confidence" says the Communists may call for the resignation of the Russian Cabinet after Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's report in the State Duma; p 2 (585 words).
7. Maxim Yusin article headlined "Bashar al-Asad to be replaced together with Syria" says the U.S. secret services predict the collapse of Syria after Bashar Assad's regime falls; p 8 (366 words).
8. Kirill Belyaninov et al. report headlined "Full stop not placed in Magnitsky list" says the U.S. administration made it clear that the Magnitsky list may be extended as the US authorities are monitoring the situation with human rights in Russia; p 8 (815 words).
9. Pavel Tarasenko article headlined "National disagreements" reports on the presidential election in Venezuela; p 8 (699 words).
10. Yelena Chernenko interview with Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja speaking on his country's relations with Russia and prospects for visa-free travel; p 8 (660 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Anastasia Bashkatova article headlined "Government finds who to blame for low pensions" says Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets has accused people receiving gray wages and avoiding paying taxes of the low living standards of pensioners; pp 1, 4 (835 words).
2. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Communication session with electorate" says President Putin's phone-in session is to be held on April 25. Anti-corruption fight is to be the main topic on the agenda; pp 1-2 (1,103 words).
3. Yury Panyev article headlined "Moscow hits list with list" says the exchange of lists of unwanted people between Russia and the U.S. happened in the worst possible time as U.S. President Barack Obama's adviser Thomas Donilon is visiting Moscow; pp 1-2 (1,050 words).
4. Igor Naumov article headlined "Our ministers like real estate in Italy and Spain" reviews the results of the income declaration campaign held among top Russian officials; pp 1, 3 (822 words).
5. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Netherlands repent for Dolmatov" says an investigation has found that the Netherlands migration authorities showed negligence when dealing with the case of Russian opposition activist Alexander Dolmatov who committed a suicide; pp 1, 3 (387 words).
6. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Kiev demands revision of Black Sea Fleet agreements" says economic disagreements between Moscow and Kiev affect the two countries' military cooperation as Ukraine accuses Russia of developing a new navy base in Novorossiisk in the prejudice of the Crimea; pp 1, 4 (793 words).
7. Editorial headlined "Navalny's trial like political short-sightedness" slams the Russian authorities' policy towards the opposition saying that they do not leave room for a dialogue but make the opposition more radical; p 2 (504 words).
8. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Federation Council reports on 2012 income" says nearly 25 percent of the Federation Council senators have foreign property, the income declaration campaign has shown; p 3 (723 words).
9. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "China may increase its nuclear potential" says the current North Korean crisis will cause an arms race in the region; p 6 (551 words).
10. Viktoria Panflova article headlined "Uzbekistan to remain Russia's partner for four more years" reviews the results of Uzbek President Islom Karimov's visit to Moscow; p 6 (706 words).
11. Artur Blinov article headlined "War of nerves on Korean Peninsula" says that the crisis on the Korean Peninsula has helped the USA to built four antimissile barriers in the Pacific Ocean; pp 9, 11 (1, 200 words).
12. Vladimir Skosyrev interview with Ambassador of India to Russia Ajai Malhotra speaking on the prospects of Indian-Russian relations and cooperation; pp 9-10 (1,400 words).

Vedomosti

1. Anfisa Voronina et al. report headlined "Galitsky's 'faultless machine-gun'" says the Magnit company became a new Russian food retail trade leader in the first quarter of 2013; pp 1, 19 (738 words).
2. Olga Kuvshinova and Maxim Tovkaylo article headlined "Recession predicted" says the Russian Economic Development Ministry does not rule out the possibility of a recession in the second half of 2013 if the domestic economy is not supported with state investment; pp 1, 4 (564 words).
3. Editorial headlined "Charm of modesty" says the fact that a large number of top officials declared their real estate abroad can be explained by the new law which does not prohibit foreign property ownership. The article predicts two trends in officials' behaviour: one is openness in an attempt to legalize their assets, another one is secrecy to conceal information about illegal wealth; pp 1, 6 (418 words).
4. Lilia Biryukova et al. article headlined "Kremlin's treasury" looks into income declarations of the Russian senior officials for 2012; p 2 (1,300 words).
5. Yevgenia Pismennaya and Maxim Tovkaylo article headlined "Designer for Putin" says the Kremlin is looking for a candidate to become President Putin's economic adviser. Several candidates for the post are discussed; p 4 (766 words).
6. Another editorial headlined "Space festival" reports on President Putin's plans to set up a space ministry to develop the domestic space sector; p 6 (303 words).
7. Filipp Sterkin article headlined "Person of week: Igor Shuvalov" reports on Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov's plans to bring back his money to Russia; p 7 (373 words).
8. Yekaterina Kravchenko interview with WTO director-general Pascal Lamy speaking on Russia's rights and duties within the World Trade Organization; pp 8-9 (2,547 words).

Izvestia

1. Alexei Mikhaylov article headlined "Russian navy scraps legendary Shchukas" says the Russian Navy will decommission nuclear submarines of 671 RTM (Shchuka, or Pike) project until 2015; pp 1, 4 (460 words).
2. German Petelin and Vladimir Barinov article headlined "Serdyukov allocates millions for advertising sales" says the investigation has found documents proving that former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov used to allocate 2 billion rubles (around $64.5 million at current exchange rate) for advertising the sale of the ministry's property; pp 1, 4 (726 words).
3. Anastasia Kashevarova and Yulia Tsoi article headlined "Turchak sells real estate in Nice" says Pskov Governor Andrei Turchak has sold his flat in Nice fulfilling his promise to Izvestia newspaper; pp 1-2 (695 words).
4. German Petelin article headlined "Colony far from Moscow to be chosen for opposition blogger" tries to predict which penal colony opposition activist Alexei Navalny could be send if found guilty of fraud with state assets; p 3 (673 words).
5. Dmitry Yevstifeyev interview with Petr Ofitserov, director-general of Vyatskaya Lesnaya Kompania, speaking on charges brought against him and Navalny as part of the Kirovles company case; p 3 (875 words).
6. Konstantin Volkov article headlined "Advocate of compromise with West may replace Ahmadinejad" says Hassan Rouhani, who used to be Iran's chief nuclear negotiator from 2003 to 2005, is going to stand for the president; p 7 (619 words).
7. Konstantin Volkov interview with Federation Council Senator Alexander Torshin speaking on the U.S. Magnitsky list and Russia's response to it; p 7 (506 words).
8. Anastasia Kashevarova article headlined "Minister of Natural Resources Donskoi nominates his deputy for post of Federal Forestry Agency's head" says that Deputy Natural Resources Minister Vladimir Lebedev might take office of the head of the Federal Forestry Agency instead of Viktor Maslyakov; p 2 (300 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Vitaly Petrov et al. report headlined "Declarations of personalities" reviews the income declarations of Russian top officials; pp 1, 3 (2,700 words).
2. Yelena Kukol article headlined "To save money not to spend" says Russians seem to be saving more money as the amount of bank deposits has recently grown by 3.4 percent in Russia; pp 1, 6 (450 words).
3. Vladislav Vorobyev article headlined "Russia and U.S. go over lists" says the visit of U.S. President Barack Obama's adviser Thomas Donilon to Moscow is unlikely to yield positive results as the U.S. has published the Magnitsky list; p 3 (600 words).
4. Olga Dmitryeva article headlined "Her song is finished" reports on anti-Thatcher mood among some representatives of British society after the death of the former prime minister; p 5 (600 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Sergei Yegorov and Pavel Chuvilyayev article headlined "23,528 rubles [$758 at current exchange rate] more" compares income declarations of Russian officials from the presidential administration, government and parliament; pp 1-2 (600 words).
2. Andrei Yashlavsky article headlined "Moscow-Washington: 18 by 18" looks into the Russian and U.S. lists of unwanted officials and tries to predict who may be included in the "secret part" of the document; pp 1, 3 (1,006 words)
3. Article by opposition politician Gennady Gudkov headlined "Cold shower for opposition" says recent public opinion polls show that despite economic and corruption problems most Russians still support United Russia; p 3 (1,151 words).

Moskovskye Novosti

1. Alexandra Neluza interview with the dean of the sociology and politology department at the Russian government's Financial University, Dr. Alexander Shatilov, who looks at the state the "Russian elite " is in , its problems and future; pp B2-B3 (1,500 words)

RBK daily

1. Alina Fadeyeva article headlines "Finnish light" says that Russia finds it profitable to import electric energy from its immediate neighbor, Finland; p 1 (600 words).
2. Svetlana Makunina article "Roman holidays of authorities" says it has emerged that Russian senior officials and senators love to buy real estate in Italy; p 2 (800 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Alexander Panov article headlined "Americans have counted change" reports on the Magnitsky list published by the U.S. and published the open part of the list consisting of 18 names; p (1,710 words).
2. Vera Chelishcheva article headlined "Now show your papers" says that in Moscow's Tverskoi court, where the Magnitsky trial is in progress, the judge is "telling tales" while he defendants are away; p 11 (600 words).
3. Leonid Nikitinsky article headlined "Dutch concert" says the Navalny case is gives an idea of "two truths" that co-exist in the country — the official one, one disseminated by state media and the independent one that is told by rare experts and reporters ; pp 14-15 (300 words).
4. Vladimir Pastukhov's commentary on the Alexei Navalny and Kirovles case hearings due to start on April 17 that is bound to become another high-profile trial, like the on-going Khodorkovsky and Magnitsky sagas; pp 14-15 (1,200 words).
5. Olga Prosvirova article "Pressure makes people go mad" looks at pressure on the Russian election monitoring NGO, Golos, caused by recent checks; pp 7-8 (1,000 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Margarita Alekhina article headlined "Silly campaign" reports on the on-going campaign against NGOs in Russia, where some activist were beaten up during NGOs checkups; pp 1-5 (821 words).

Apr. 15, 2013/BBC Monitoring/©BBC

Related articles:

• What the Papers Say, Apr. 12, 2012
• What the Papers Say, Apr. 11, 2012
• What the Papers Say, Apr. 10, 2012