What the Papers Say, Apr. 16, 2013

Kommersant

1. Alexei Shapovalov et al. report headlined "Conversation in ranks" says the government ministries, the presidential administration officials and independent experts are to hold a meeting to discuss the macroeconomic situation in Russia. The meeting is expected to strengthen positions of Medvedev's Cabinet; pp 1, 6 (1,172 words).
2. Yegor Popov and Mikhail Serov article headlined "Icebreakers fail to reach government" says the Russian Finance Ministry wants to cut financing for the construction of atomic-powered icebreakers. In case the plans are approved, the Rosatom corporation will have to look for 56 billion rubles ($1.8 billion) in funding for the ships; pp 1, 12 (953 words).
3. Pavel Tarasenko article headlined "Hugo Chavez's case wins with slightly more than half [of votes]" says Hugo Chavez's successor Nikolas Maduro has won a narrow victory at the Venezuelan presidential election. The position of Chavez supporters became much weaker after the death of their leader; pp 1, 8 (680 words).
4. Vitaly Gaydayev article headlined "Sudden metal" reports on an unexpected fall in the price of gold as it is becoming cheaper; pp 1, 10 (681 words).
5. Sofia Samokhina article headlined "Terms chosen for offense of religious feelings " says the State Duma, considering the bill on the protection of religious feelings in the second reading, has reduced the possible prison term for the offense down to one year; p 2 (465 words).
6. Anna Pushkarskaya et al. report headlined "St. Petersburg property handed over to classmate of Gazprom head" says the former classmate of Gazprom head Alexei Miller, Mikhail Mokretsov, who used to hold senior posts before, has been appointed St. Petersburg deputy governor in charge of property and land resources; p 2 (573 words).
7. Article attributed to the paper's political section headlined "One Russia first in billions" reviews income declarations by State Duma deputies; p 3 (1,080 words).
8. Vyacheslav Kozlov article headlined "Prosecutor General's Office refuse to discuss NGOs checks" says the Prosecutor General's Office has not sent its representatives to the meeting of the human rights council under the president which has discussed the checks of Russian NGOs; p 5 (552 words).
9. Yelena Chernenko article headlined "Russia and U.S. digress from reading lists" comments on President Putin's meeting with U.S. president's adviser for national security, Thomas Donilon. Moscow and Washington are going to improve their relations and resume the meetings of the two countries' foreign and defense ministries; p 8 (513 words).
10. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "Removal of fanaticism from region" reports on President Putin's talks with Uzbek President Islom Karimov where the heads of the countries have discussed the aftermath of the NATO forces withdrawal from Afghanistan; p 8 (695 words).
11. Maria Yefimova interview with Tara Sonenshine, U.S. undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, speaking on the role of the internet in relations of the two countries; p 8 (584 words).
12. Sergei Sobelev article headlined "Income prescribed to broadcasters" estimates advertising revenues of Russian TV channels; p 13 (800 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Svetlana Gamova et al. report headlined "Stricter entry regime to Russia for CIS citizens to ruin commonwealth" says the CIS member states are displeased with the proposal by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin to prohibit the entrance of CIS citizens to Russia with their national documents; pp 1, 6 (1,522 words).
2. Igor Naumov article headlined "There is no-one to die in country" explains positive trends in Russia's demographic policy with a population gap caused by World War II; pp 1, 4 (865 words).
3. Anastasia Bashkatova article headlined "Russia — leader in military spending growth" says Russia has the world's third largest military budget amounting to $91 billion, the money, however, is spent ineffectively; pp 1, 4 (1,001 words).
4. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Checx of NGOs already resulted in termination of their funding" says the human rights council under the Russian president has criticized the law enforcement agencies for NGO checks and spoken out for a Krasnodar activist arrested for misuse of foreign funds; pp 1, 3 (570 words).
5. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Justice Ministry to fight folding beds for prison inmates" says the Russian Justice Ministry is to improve the conditions in country's pre-trial detention centres; pp 1, 3 (646 words).
6. Darya Tsilyurik article headlined "DPRK replaces military parade with orchids" says the U.S. has hinted on the possibility of resuming direct contacts between Washington and Pyongyang in case North Korea gives up its nuclear plans. Observers have welcomed the DPRK decision to replace a military parade by a flower festival to mark the birthday of Kim Il-sung; pp 1, 7 (715 words).
7. Editorial headlined "Service priorities change" comments on problems with recruiting contract servicemen in the Russian armed forces; p 2 (543 words).
8. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Hit parade of State Duma billionaires and millionaires" reviews income declarations of State Duma deputies; p 3 (778 words).
9. Yury Paniyev article headlined "Maduro dedicates his victory to Chavez" reports on Nicolas Maduro's victory in the Venezuelan presidential election; p 7 (592 words).

Vedomosti

1. Dmitry Kazmin et al. report headlined "Oil cheaper than $100" says: as oil is becoming cheaper and the Russian stock market is on the decline, Russia is facing a tough choice. Its economy can survive short-term problems, but to overcome serious challenges the country needs radical reforms; pp 1, 5 (687 words).
2. Viktoria Andreieva article headlined "Nesis sells Uralkaly again" says businessman Alexander Nesis is selling his stake in Uralkaly; pp 1, 12 (437 words).
3. Editorial headlined "Not to see trade for century" says a lack of knowledge by Russian officials does not allow the country to use benefits of the WTO membership; pp 1, 6 (442 words).
4. Another editorial headlined "Sanitary cordon" slams the Russian authorities' plans to set up sanitary cordons with Tajikistan as these measures cannot replace a well-thought-out migration policy; p 6 (253 words).
5. Maxim Glikin article headlined "Mass media party: Success and risx" notes the growing role of independent media in Russia and warns some journalists against turning into political figures as they would not be able to do their work properly; p 6 (768 words).
6. Ksenya Boletskaya article headlined "Yandex almost like Channel One" says the revenues of the Yandex search engine have reached the level of Channel One TV and continue growing; p 11 (516 words).

Izvestia

1. Alexander Grigoryev and Tatyana Tyutyunnik article headlined "Sberbank brings Bilalov to criminal case" gives details of criminal proceedings launched against Magomed Bilalov, brother of the former head of the North Caucasus Resorts company, pp 1, 4 (800 words).
2. Alyona Sivkova article headlined "Governors to be evaluated in accordance with tolerant calmness" says ethnic relations in republics will become another criterion used by Moscow to evaluate the effectiveness of regional heads; pp 1, 3 (450 words).
3. Anastasia Kashevarova article headlined "Kadyrov refuses to meet Ban Ki-moon in New York" says Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov refused to go to the UN headquarters long before the U.S. blacklisted him along with a number of other Russian officials; pp 1, 3 (400 words).
4. Anastasia Kashevarova and Yulia Tsoi article headlined "Vladimir Kirillov to leave post of Rosprirodnadzor head" reports on the planned dismissal of the head of Rosprirodnadzor (natural recourses watchdog), Vladimir Kirillov; pp 1-2 (600 words).
5. Svetlana Povoraznyuk article headlined "FSB wants to carry out probe into poaching cases" says the Federal Security Service wants its investigators to have a right to launch criminal proceedings in cases of illegal fishing and illegal extraction of mineral resources in Russian shelf areas; pp 1-2 (400 words).
6. Anna Akhmadyeva article headlined "Public TV to become state channel" says the Public TV will be financed by the state in Russia, as private funding was not found for the channel; pp 1, 4 (700 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Sergei Alexandrov article headlined "Thei open their wallets" reports on income declarations of some regional heads and their spouses; pp 1-2 (1,389 words).
2. Viktor Feshchenko article headlined "Hugo's man" says the Russian relations with Venezuela will not change as Chavez's successor Nikolas Maduro was elected new president; pp 1, 8 (791 words).
3. Alexander Yemelyaninkov and Sergei Ptichkin article headlined "Fourth Borei to be similar to first one" says Russian nuclear submarines of 955A (Borei) project will be armed with 16 ballistic missiles instead of 20; p 6 (468 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Alexander Minkin article headlined "Should I create something beautiful for you?" mocks the education ministry's plans to spend nearly a million dollars on an alternative rating of Russian universities; pp 1-2 (591 words).
2. Marina Ozerova article headlined "Zhirinovsky divorces: This conclusion can be made from his income declaration" reports on income declarations of State Duma deputies and notes that LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky must have divorced as he did not provide any information on his wife; pp 1-2 (592 words).
3. Renat Abdullin article headlined "Will Venezuelan opposition accept Nikolas Maduro's victory?" says no serious clashes between the pro-government forces and the opposition are expected in Venezuela following Nikolas Maduro's victory at the presidential election; p 3 (421 words).
4. Alexander Nevzorov's article headlined "God's resignation" comments on the State Duma's bill on the protection of religious feelings and comes to a conclusion that the document serves to protect the interests of the Russian Orthodox Church; p 3 (1,140 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Galina Sapozhnikova article headlined "Avocado revolution" looks at results of the presidential election in Venezuela; p 6 (350 words).
2. Pundit Georgy Bovt article headlined "Navalny to prison? Khodorkovsky out. And nothing will change" comments on the upcoming trial of opposition leader Alexei Navalny; p 10 (300 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Vera Moslakova article headlined "Preparatory position" says discrepancies between income and expense declarations of State Duma deputies will likely lead to more of them giving up their seats; pp 1-2 (750 words).
2. Sergei Manukov article headlined "Maydan's ghost under palm" comments on results of the presidential election in Venezuela; p 2 (350 words).

RBK daily

1. Vladimir Pavlov article headlined "Chavez's last victory" comments on the presidential election in Venezuela; p 4 (400 words).

Trud

1. Sergei Frolov article headlined "Dear guests, aren't you tired of hosts?" comments on recent rallies against illegal migration that took place in Moscow ahead of the Uzbek president's visit; p 2 (500 words).

Apr. 16, 2013/BBC Monitoring/©BBC

Related articles:

• What the Papers Say, Apr. 15, 2012
• What the Papers Say, Apr. 12, 2012
• What the Papers Say, Apr. 11, 2012