What the Papers Say, Aug. 28, 2012

Kommersant

1. Oleg Sapozhkov and Dmitry Butrin article headlined "Wrong Time for Repairs" says the Russian government has postponed the implementation of the federal program for modernization of the public utilities sector in the country; p 1 (710 words).

2. Alexander Chernykh article headlined "Lyubov Glebova Takes Single State Exam" says that Lyubov Glebova, head of the Rosobrnadzor education watchdog, is to resign to become a Federation Council member; pp 1, 5 (563 words).

3. Sergei Mashkin article headlined "Man Extradited to Russia Gives New Evidence" says that Ilya Pyanzin, extradited by the Ukrainian authorities to Russia, has accused his dead accomplice of plotting an attack on Vladimir Putin; p 1, 4 (738 words).

4. Khalil Animov and Anna Pushkarskaya article headlined "Historic Facilities Made Restricted Ones" says the Russian Culture Ministry wants to ban implementation of developers projects on the land located near historical facilities; pp 1, 7 (532 words).

5. Ivan Safronov article headlined "Roskosmos to Arm Itself With Gen Frolov" says deputy head of the Federal Service for Defense Contracts Oleg Frolov will be appointed new head of the Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos); p 2 (501 words).

6. Musa Muradov article headlined "Ramzan Kadyrov and Yunus-bek Yevkurov Meet on Border" says that the heads of Chechnya and Ingushetia want Moscow to demarcate the border between the two republics; p 2 (564 words).

7. Maxim Ivanov and Sergei Petunin article headlined "There Is No Such Party" says Vladimir Ryzhkov's Republican Party has not been allowed to take part in the local election in Barnaul as local authorities refused to believe that the party's registration was renewed; p 3 (631 words).

8. Natalya Bashlykova report "Broad Choice Outlined for Kaliningrad and Khimki" looks ahead at the elections in the two cities; p 3 (700 words).

9. Natalya Gorodetskaya article headlined "Officials Not to Be Allowed to Become Members of Presidential Council" looks at the work on the new structure of the presidential human rights council, where 190 people have been nominated for 13 seats; p 5 (601 words).

10. Maria Yefimova article headlined "Egypt Closes Underground Tunnels in Gaza" says the Egyptian authorities have agreed with Hamas over destruction of underground tunnels used by Palestinian smugglers; p 6 (477 words).

11. Pavel Tarasenko article headlined "Hugo Chavez Does Not Work Enough at Refineries" says that a deadly blast at the oil refinery in Venezuela will affect the political future of President Hugo Chavez; p 6 (582 words).

12. Maxim Yusin article headlined "Order Beyond Libya's Power" reports on a political crisis in Libya as the country's law-enforcement agencies are incapable of maintaining public order; p 6 (466 words).

13. Kabai Karabekov article headlined "There Is No One to Sign Agreements With Russia" says that the signing of strategic cooperation agreements between Russia and Kyrgyzstan may be delayed due to a political crisis in Bishkek; p 6 (546 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Igor Naumov article headlined "Agricultural Sector to Calculate Losses in Autumn" says the Russian authorities will have to suspend grain export and even use grain reserves as harvest this year is expected to be small due to drought; pp 1, 4 (775 words).

2. Artur Blinov article headlined "Isaac Spoils Festival for Republicans" says the Isaac hurricane has affected Republicans' plans regarding their congress in Florida, which is to nominate Mitt Romney for president; pp 1, 6 (650 words).

3. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Self-Defense in Greenhouse" says that opposition MP Dmitry Gudkov has published information about the businesses and revenues of United Russia deputies on his website in response to the ruling party's threats to strip him of his deputy seat due to his business activity; pp 1, 3 (1,107 words).

4. Tatyana Dvoynova article headlined "Open Port Vladivostok Closed" says local businessmen are bearing losses due to shipment restrictions during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, while the residents of Russky Island have sued the authorities over problems with access to the island; pp 1-2 (573 words).

5. Olga Shulga article headlined "Russians Prefer Officials' Fate" says that most Russians believe the work of officials to be the best, although the image of officials is associated with corruption and bribery; pp 1, 3 (614 words).

6. Sokhbet Mamedov article headlined "Wrong Aliyev to Visit Tehran" says that Azerbaijan will be represented by a special envoy at the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran; pp 1, 5 (409 words).

7. Darya Garmonenko and Olga Shulga article headlined "Philanthropists and Everybody" looks at the list of public figures nominated for the Russian presidential council for human rights; p 2 (406 words).

8. Editorial headlined "Moldovans Ask Putin for Help" says residents of a Moldovan village have asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to support their Russian-language school that risks being closed. The article notes that Russia would improve its international image if it started defending its citizens; p 2 (477 words).

9. Viktor Litovkin article headlined "Instinct of Confrontation" says that Russia's dissatisfaction with U.S. plans to set up a base in Uzbekistan is groundless as Russia lacks resources to replace Washington in the region; p 3 (870 words).

10. Nikolai Surkov article headlined "U.S.A. Breaks Arms Records" says the arms race in the Persian Gulf has allowed the USA to sell $66 billion of weapons to the region, mainly Saudi Arabia; p 6 (533 words).

11. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "Indian Air Force to Get Supersonic Missiles" says the Indian government is to approve equipping Su-30MKI fighters with supersonic missiles manufactured together with Russia. The country, however, is diversifying its arms supplies and plans to buy French fighters as well; p 6 (436 words).

Vedomosti

1. Ksenia Dokukina and Filipp Sterkin article headlined "Privatization in Sechin's Way" says Rosneftegaz is planning to buy Viktor Vekselberg's KES Holding company, one of Russia's largest energy companies; p 1 (627 words).

2. Natalya Bianova article headlined "Flat for Old Age" says the Agency for the Restructuring of Mortgages has started giving elderly people money against the security of flats they live in; pp 1, 9 (679 words).

3. Maxim Tovkailo et al. report headlined "Abstract Thousands of Billions" says the Economic Development Ministry has published innovation development plans for state-control companies that plan to spend 4,200 billion rubles (around $131 billion) up to 2020; pp 1, 3 (749 words).

4. Editorial headlined "Border Without Rush" comments on Chechen head Ramzan Kadyrov's plans to carry out the demarcation of the republic's border with Ingushetia. The issue may increase tensions in the North Caucasus, the article warns; pp 1, 4 (585 words).

5. Maria Zheleznova report "Selected Defenders" looks at the process of electing candidates to the presidential human rights council; p 2 (500 words).

6. Lyudmila Sergeieva report "Currently Important Repression" looks at a public opinion poll that has shown that Russians believe that Stalinist repression should be discussed and condemned. Some 25 percent of the population believes that the current fight against the opposition is also repression; p 2 (500 words).

7. Margarita Lyutova article headlined "To Bargain Over Natural Resources" says that Putin wants licenses for mineral resources extraction to be sold at special auctions. He has already drafted a relevant bill; p 3 (562 words).

8. Another editorial headlined "Gray Colonels" looks at prospects for Russia's accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; p 4 (296 words).

9. Sergei Guriyev report "Democratic Crisis" looks at Russia's current political system; p 4 (900 words).

10. Konstantin Simonov report "Without Virtual Wonders" looks at the role of the Internet in Russia; p 4 (600 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Tatyana Bateneva article headlined "Contract? There Is Contract" says that the trade unions of public sector employees have expressed dissatisfaction with the planned reform of salary payment system, as the salaries will depend on effectiveness of each employee; pp 1, 3 (778 words).

2. Lidia Grafova article headlined "Who Pushes Her Under Train?" looks at the state migration policy and slams the mass media trying to form a negative image of migrants among Russians; p 2 (1,047 words).

3. Leonid Radzikhovsky article headlined "Space Prospects" looks at the problems of the Russian space sector; p 3 (796 words).

4. Ivan Yegorov report "Minister on Island" says that Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev has arrived in Vladivostok to check the readiness of the local police for the APEC summit; p 3 (500 words).

5. Viktor Feshchenko article headlined "Tehran Renews Movement" says Tehran has proposed a peace plan for Syria at the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement taking place in Iran; p 8 (485 words).

Izvestia

1. Alexandra Yermakova article headlined "Transportation Ministry Accuses Domodedovo Owners of Sabotage" says the Transportation Ministry has accused the owners of Moscow's Domodedovo Airport of refusal to build a new takeoff strip, which was previously planned; pp 1, 3 (850 words).

2. Olga Zhermeleva article headlined "Parliamentary Opposition to Go Into Battle With United Russia in State Duma" says the opposition wants to change the voting procedure in the State Duma allowing smaller factions to block the decisions of United Russia; pp 1, 3 (662 words).

3. Marina Davydova article headlined "Bastrykin Asked to Open Case Against Dorenko" says that people from the North Caucasus have appealed to the Russian Investigative Committee asking to open a criminal case against radio host Sergei Dorenko who allegedly insulted people from the North Caucasus; p 2 (466 words).

4. Svetlana Subbotina report "Russian Orthodox Church to Carry Out Monitoring of All Its Websites Because of Hackers" says that the content of the Internet resource of the Moscow city diocese that has been deleted by hackers will be restored in the near future; p 2 (400 words).

5. Oleg Shvetsov and Igor Yavlyansky article headlined "France Demands Access to Syrian Territory" says France is ready to provide Syria with humanitarian aid. At the same time the country demands resignation of Bashar Assad; p 4 (744 words).

6. Alexei Bayev report "Indian Nuclear Weapons Have Strategic Goals" says that India continues to support international efforts regarding universal nondiscriminatory disarmament; p 4 (600 words).

7. Dmitry Drobnitsky report "Thought About False Things" looks at the political situation in Russia and at the Pussy Riot case, in particular; p 5 (700 words).

8. Leonid Zlotin report "Wind Sowing Campaign" looks at the split in Russian society and at the role of the Orthodox Church; p 5 (700 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Ignat Kalinin article headlined "Hamster in Danger" says negative comments on the paper's articles on rights activists or opposition figures show that the secret service has already started using the Internet to shape the public opinion in the Russian blogosphere, so Internet users have to learn to mistrust blogs the way they disbelieve TV; pp 1-2 (495 words).

2. Anastasia Rodionova report "Rebellious Just Russia Members Show 'Golden Pretzel'" says that State Duma deputies from the Just Russia faction have begun to take revenge on United Russia for the campaign against Gennady Gudkov; p 2 (600 words).

3. Vasily Mironov report "I Would Become Official, Let Them Pay Me Like This" looks at the salaries of the government staff and presidential administration employees; p 2 (600 words).

4. Alina Fadeyeva report "Shoigu vs Chirikova: Find 100 Differences" looks at the upcoming election of mayor of Khimki in the Moscow region; p 2 (600 words).

5. Igor Savelyev article headlined "Mortgage for Impotent Man" looks at the problems of expensive housing in Russia and calls on the authorities to build social blocks of flats to allow young families to resolve their housing problems; p 3 (1,198 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Vera Moslakova article headlined "100 Days of Premiership" looks at how political experts assess Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's first 100 days in office; p 2 (402 words).

2. Margarita Alyokhina article headlined "Performance and Punishment" says that a play about the Pussy Riot court trial was staged at Moscow's Teatr.doc theatre on Aug. 27; p 5 (150 words).

Moskovskiye Novosti

1. Irina Novikova article headlined "In Search of Deputies' Business" looks into the business activities of State Duma deputies; pp 1, 4 (600 words).

2. Interview with Dmitry Badovsky, deputy head of the internal policy directorate of the Russian presidential administration, speaking on his resignation and new role as head of the Institute for Social, Economic and Political Studies. The official also speaks about the Kremlin's policy toward the opposition; pp 1, 7 (1.300 words).

RBK Daily

1. Tatyana Kosobokova and Anna Reznikova article headlined "100 Days as if Last Ones" polls experts on the work of Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev's cabinet during its first 100 days; p 2 (500 words).

Aug. 28, 2012/BBC Monitoring/©BBC

Related articles:

• What the Papers Say, August 27, 2012
• What the Papers Say, August 24, 2012
• What the Papers Say, August 23, 2012