What the Papers Say, July 24, 2013

Kommersant

1. Yelena Chernenko et al. report headlined "Iranian president to be tested for nuclear reaction" says President Vladimir Putin is planning to visit Iran on Aug. 12. He is to discuss the Iranian nuclear program, prospects for the construction of additional facilities at the Bushehr power plant and Russian arms supplies; pp 1, 6 (751 words).

2. Sergei Mashkin article headlined "Anatoly Serdyukov scheming even during questioning" says former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has done his best to deny his family's involvement in the illegal privatization of a historical building in St. Petersburg; pp 1, 4 (516 words).

3. Kirill Melnikov and Anna Solodovnikova article headlined "Rosneft to re-program shelf" says the Russian government is going to give up a state-funded program to develop an oil shelf. The oil giant Rosneft backs the plans; pp 1, 9 (589 words).

4. Anna Pushkarskaya article headlined "Bankers attracted by cabaret" says Yuri Kovalchuk, co-owner of Rossia Bank, is investing in a cabaret in St. Petersburg. A well-known designer, a television show director and a restaurant manager are also taking part in the project; pp 1, 7 (607 words).

5. Sofia Samokhina article headlined "Entrepreneurs not freed from prison" says only 13 people have been freed since the start of the economic amnesty. Business ombudsman Boris Titov notes that jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky and opposition activist Alexei Navalny will not be able to use the amnesty; p 2 (498 words).

6. Maxim Ivanov article headlined "One round of voting predicted for Moscow mayoral election" says that, according to the VTsIOM state public opinion research center, 54 percent of Muscovites are ready to vote for incumbent mayor Sergei Sobyanin. Opposition candidate Alexei Navalny is second with 9 percent; p 3 (564 words).

7. Sergei Goryashko et al. report headlined "Entire Russia to help Sergei Sobyanin" says that acting Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has asked the Central Electoral Commission to borrow electronic ballot boxes from Russian regions to equip all polling stations in the city with them to make the voting more transparent; p 3 (608 words).

8. Taisia Bekbulatova article headlined "Region fails to outstrip city" looks at the candidates for Moscow region governor who have the last day to submit their documents for registration; p 3 (605 words).

9. Maria Plyusnina article headlined "Civil Platform tries to become second party" says Alexei Kudrin's Civil Initiatives Committee has analyzed regional election campaigns and come to the conclusion that the Civil Platform party is becoming the second choice party in regional elites; p 3 (569 words).

10. Maria Plyusnina article headlined "Chekists to check Yevgeny Roizman's telephone" says the Federal Security Service directorate for Sverdlovsk Region has launched a probe into the publication of anti-narcotics campaigner Yevgeny Roizman's telephone conversations; p 4 (650 words).

11. Nikolay Sergeyev report "Anna Politkovskaya's murder to be heard without her children" says that since the jury to hear the case of prominent Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya has been formed without the participation of the victims in the case, they decided to ignore the trial; p 5 (650 words).

12. Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "Pentagon ready to fight in Syria" comments on the Pentagon's decision to make the plans of military intervention in Syria public. However, neither the U.S. military nor secret services back the plan as it does not guarantee that Bashar Assad's regime will fall; p 6 (513 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Only 'bla bla bla' so far" says Russia lacks a well-thought-out procedure for deporting migrants, so senior officials are only talking about the plans to pass tougher restrictions on migrants breaking the Russian law; pp 1, 3 (1,092 words).

2. Anastasia Bashkatova article headlined "Working elderly people to keep their pitiful pensions" says the Russian authorities have decided to keep pensions for elderly people who continue working. The move makes the pension reform practically pointless, the article says; pp 1, 4 (847 words).

3. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Secret services dismiss Serdyukov from his post" reports on new criminal cases launched as part of the investigation into corruption at the Defense Ministry under Anatoly Serdyukov; pp 1-2 (884 words).

4. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Bolotnaya [square disturbances] case turns into TV show" says the court has watched the video of mass disturbances on Bolotnaya square on May 6, 2012. The defendants' lawyers believe that police cordons caused the clashes; pp 1-2 (561 words).

5. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Opposition promises '100,000 Vradiyevkas' to authorities" says the clashes between the local people and the police in the Ukrainian village of Vradiyevka a month ago risk growing into a civil war. New clashes are expected in Kiev during the celebration of the 1,025 anniversary of Christianity, the author notes; pp 1, 6 (939 words).

6. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "Chinese leadership to discuss party reform at resort" says Chinese leadership gather for an unofficial summit in the Beidahe resort; pp 1-2 (639 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Moscow talks round territory of influence " sees no prospect for the Russian peace keeping mission in Dniestr Region; p 2 (528 words).

8. Yevgenia Novikova article headlined "American 'hawks' ready for intervention in Syria" says the U.S. Congress has allowed President Obama to arm Syrian rebels, while the U.S. military cannot guarantee the success of a possible military intervention; p 6 (634 words).

Vedomosti

1. Bela Lyauv et al. report headlined "Andrei Sharonov to leave Moscow" says deputy mayor of Moscow Andrei Sharonov is leaving his post. He may become head of Skolkovo business school or appointed deputy economic development minister; pp 1, 4 (677 words).

2. Mikhail Overchenko article headlined "Banks better than oil" says U.S. banks were listed first in the Financial Times rating of 500 companies with largest market capitalization; pp 1, 14 (700 words).

3. Editorial headlined "Magic mortgage" analyses the Russian mortgage loans market and notes that banks ease requirements for money borrowers in an attempt to attract more clients; pp 1, 6 (383 words).

4. Another editorial headlined "Revolt of intelligentsia" says recent protests against guilty sentence to prominent opposition activist Alexei Navalny has shown that civil society is emerging in Russia; p 6 (390 words).

5. Maria Zheleznova article headlined "Verdict heard in Moscow" looks at the latest VTsIOM's ranking of Moscow mayoral candidates and says after the guilty verdict in KirovLes case Alexei Navalny's rating has gone up; p 2 (500 words).

6. Anton Filatov and Yelena Vinogradova article headlined "British to make money from prince" says the birth of the royal baby is not only a national holiday in Britain but also an event which might boost the economy by bringing as much as $800 million to the U.K.; p 18 (400 words).

Izvestia

1. Ivan Cheberko article headlined "Non-profit organization Glonass not to get 12.3 billion rubles [around $372 million] from state companies" says that, following the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov who was engaged in the promotion of the Glonass navigation system, a large-scale project to implement Glonass in Russia may not be implemented; pp 1, 4 (509 words).

2. Vadim Taktarov and Andrei Gridasov article headlined "Cases against Navalny split among investigators" says that, following the verdict in the KirovLes case, other criminal cases against opposition activist Alexei Navalny have been distributed among several investigators; pp 1, 4 (571 words).

3. Petr Kozlov article headlined "Olga Golodets to head Russian language council" says the Russian Language Council to promote Russian culture abroad will be set up within the government; pp 1, 3 (572 words).

4. Denis Telmanov article headlined "Defense Ministry to dispose of missiles worth 1.5 billion rubles" looks at the Defense Ministry's plans to dispose of 12.3 million missiles; pp 1, 4 (400 words).

5. Natalya Savisko article headlined "Snowden may leave transit zone of Sheremetyevo" says lawyer Anatoly Kucherena has not ruled out that CIA whistle-blower Edward Snowden may leave the transit zone of Sheremetyevo already on 24 July; p 5 (410 words).

6. Anton Mardasov article headlined "For working in Sochi Cossacks to get 25,000 ruble salary" says some 400 Cossacks will assist Russian police in maintaining public order during the upcoming Sochi Olympics; p 5 (450 words).

7. Mikhail Vignansky article headlined "USA evaluates Russian policy of Georgian Dream" says the U.S. backs the new Georgian authorities' policy aimed at improving relations with Russia; p 7 (502 words).

8. Yevgenia Pishchikova article headlined "Little Prince" comments on the birth of the royal baby boy and says that, unlike Britain, in Russia family traditions are neglected, despite government efforts to change the situation; p 9 (900 words).

Rossiiskaya GazetaMoskovsky Komsomolets

1. Mikhail Falaleyev article headlined "We will sort it out without court" says Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev has issued an instruction to policemen to respond to any complaints by people. The move is expected to improve police work; pp 1, 3 (600 words).

2. Yevgeny Shestakov article headlined "'Doves' saving Damascus" says the Pentagon is trying to persuade American politicians not to begin a military operation in Syria; p 8 (510 words).

3. Article by Fedor Lukyanov, chairman of the presidium of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy, headlined "Symbol of eternity" analyses reasons for the popularity of monarchies in Europe; p 8 (800 words).

4. Olga Dmitryeva article headlined "They were sitting on golden potty..." looks at the education principles of the British Royal Family and notes that the new-born prince is to be raised in a more democratic atmosphere; p 9 (1,300 words).

1. Daria Tyukova article headlined "How is life? She has given birth to baby!" comments on the publicity over the pregnancy of Duchess of Cambridge and the birth of her son; pp 1, 3 (589 words).

2. Zurab Nalbandyan article headlined "What is my name, little prince?" says the ordinary British are trying to guess the name of a new-born Prince of Cambridge; p 3 (350 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Irek Murtazin article headlined "How killers' chief gets hold of wiretapping" says the Federal Security Service has proven that the police were wiretapping telephone conversations of head of Yekaterinburg anti-drug fund Yevgeny Roizman; p (827 words).

2. Alexander Panov article headlined "Transit-boy" reviews the attitude of Americans to whistle-blower Edward Snowden; p (1,067 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Margarita Alekhina interview with Yelena Panfilova, head of the Russian branch of Transparency International, on the Oboronservis corruption case pp 1, 5 (668 words).

2. Sergei Manukov article headlined "Very special infant" comments n the birth of the crown price in the U.K.; p 2 (557 words).

RBC Daily

1. Alexander Litoy and Yulia Yakovleva article headlined "Conducted competition" reports on the use of the so-called municipal filter, a certain number of municipal deputies' signatures, gubernatorial candidates have to gather. The procedure is used by the authorities to control the voting; pp 1, 3.

2. Svetlana Makunina article headlined "Navalny's 20 percent" polls experts who predict that opposition activist Alexei Navalny may get no more than 20 percent of votes at the Moscow mayoral election; p 2.

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Unattributed article headlined "How do you think Oboronservis case will end?" features comments by various well-known Russians on the case of the Oboronservis defence company; p 3 (300 words).

2. Asya Khovanskaya article headlined "USA ready to strike on Syria?" quotes Russian researcher Pavel Zolotarev as saying the U.S. is not interested in waging a new war now; p 5 (200 words).

3. Mikhail Ozerov article headlined "Blue fountains play in London in honor of little prince" reports on the birth of the royal baby in the U.K., saying the nation has shown great patriotism in connection with the event; p 11 (900 words).

Argumenty i Fakty

1. Politics Department article headlined "Jailed for wood" features numerous comments on the guilty verdict in the KirovLes fraud case against opposition politician Alexei Navalny; p 7 (1,000 words).

2. Vitaliy Tseplyayev and Aleksandr Kolesnichenko article headlined "Why do we need Snowden?" focuses on CIA whistle-blower Edward Snowden's stay in Russia; p 8 (1,000 words).