What the Papers Say, June 25, 2013

Kommersant

1. Dmitry Butrin article headlined "Left to raise GDP" comments on a reshuffle in the government and the presidential administration: Putin appointed former deputy chairman of the Central Bank Alexei Ulyukayev new economic development minister, whereas current minister Andrei Belousov was made Putin's aide. Belousov is to look for new stimuli for the economic growth, while Ulyukayev is facing the task of reducing state expenses and at the same time maintaining the economic growth; pp 1-2 (845 words).

2. Maria Plyusnina and Irina Nagornykh article headlined "People of labor do not succeed in work on congress" says the movement To Protect Man of Labour, set up by the presidential envoy to the Urals, Igor Kholmanskikh, has postponed its congress due to difficulties with merging with People's Front for Russia, another pro-Putin's movement; pp 1-2 (552 words).

3. Ilya Barabanov and Natalya Korchenkova article headlined "NTV and Russian Investigations Committee to mark Mikhail Khodorkovskiy's anniversary" says experts who took part in the expert examination of the second Yukos case have been summoned by the Investigations Committee for questioning. Meanwhile, NTV broadcast a show alleging that former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovskywas involved in the murder of Nefteyugansk mayor Vladimir Petukhov back in 1998; pp 1, 3 (660 words).

4. Yegor Popov and Yevgeny Timoshinov article headlined "Government to reload carriages" says the government is to allocate subsidies to the railway carriages manufacturers as demand for the product is falling. 12.8 billion rubles (around $388 million) worth of funding is to be allocated; pp 1, 9 (621 words).

5. Natalya Pavlova and Artur Asafyev article headlined "Rustem Khamitov heads Bashkortostan United Russia branch" says Bashkortostan head Rustem Khamitov will be on top of United Russia ticket at the parliamentary election in the republic; p 2 (440 words).

6. Alexei Sokovnin article headlined "Life sentence extended for Leonid Nevzlin" says former Yukos shareholder Leonid Nevzlin has been sentenced to six years in absentia for illegal acquisition of the shares of some companies in 1998; p 3 (570 words).

7. Taisia Bekbulatova article headlined "Sergei Sobyanin to be checked by 100 percent" says the Moscow city electoral commission is going to check all of the signatures of supporters gathered by independent candidates including acting mayor Sergei Sobyanin; p 3 (510 words).

8. Maria Yefimova article headlined "Syria closer than motherland for Hezbollah" says the Syrian conflict in which the Hezbollah movement got involved risks growing into a civil war in Lebanon itself as clashes between Sunnis and Shias broke out in the south of the country; p 6 (521 words).

9. Kirill Belyaninov et al. report headlined "He escapes faster than aircraft" says CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden was to fly from Moscow to Havana on 24 June, journalist who bought tickets to the same flight did not find Snowden on board the plane; p 6 (784 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Police to be rebuilt again" says First Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Gorovoy has spoken about the shortcomings of the current law on police. Neither the public, no experts are satisfied with the police reform carried out by former President Dmitry Medvedev; pp 1-2 (550 words).

2. Anastasia Bashkatova article headlined "Yet another pension formula transfers people to labour days" comments on new changes in the pension reform announced by the Pension Fund and the Labour Ministry; pp 1, 4 (1,020 words).

3. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Durability test for top-down command structure" says Rostov Region deputies have come up with an initiative to make the regional branches of the federal bodies report on their work to the local parliamentarians; pp 1, 3 (637 words).

4. Mikhail Sergeyev article headlined "Secondary car market falls slightly faster than primary one" says the sale of second-hand vehicles in Russia fell by 4.5 percent in January-May 2013, the sale of new cars also reduced by 4 percent; pp 1, 3 (451 words).

5. Anton Khodosevich article headlined "Plague for two union houses" says Belarus can ban fodder supplies from Russia due to the African pig plague outbreak in the country; pp 1, 6 (622 words).

6. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "Intercontinental voyage without passport and visa" says CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden is getting ready to fly to Ecuador from Moscow despite the U.S. demands that he should be extradited; pp 1, 7 (672 words).

7. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Generals focused on Afghan direction" says heads of the military headquarters of the Collective Security Treaty Organization member states gather for a meeting to discuss security in Central Asia; p 2 (649 words).

8. Editorial headlined "Political storms in Brazil and Turkey" analyses anti-government protests spreading in Turkey and Brazil and compares the reaction of the authorities of the two countries to the new challenges; p 2 (515 words).

9. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Third criminal case as present" says while Mikhail Khodorkovsky supporters are going to stage rallies in his support as the jailed businessman is turning 50, NTV broadcast a film on his alleged involvement in the murder of Nefteyugansk mayor; p 3 (618 words).

Vedomosti

1. Timofey Dzyadko et al. report headlined "Rosneft's new aim" says the oil giant Rosneft plans to takeover the Bashneft oil company; pp 1, 12 (672 words).

2. Editorial headlined "Sobyanin's reconstruction" says the demolition of historical buildings in the center of Moscow is to resume as the city authorities have developed new regulations for construction companies; pp 1, 6 (389 words).

3. Another editorial headlined "Harmful participation" slams the bill on volunteers work drafted by the State Duma; p 6 (302 words).

4. Ksenia Boletskaya and Maxim Tovkaylo article headlined "Channel One to pay less" says Channel one is to pay smaller dividends to its shareholders than other state-controlled corporations, only 5 percent of revenues instead of 25 percent recommended by Dmitry Medvedev; p 18 (612 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Yulia Krivoshapko and Yelena Kukol article headlined "Banking investments" says experts believe that following the reshuffle of the economic ministers, the views of the government and the Central Bank on the country's economy are to be very close; pp 1, 7 (796 words).

2. Yury Gavrilov article headlined "Rejected in accordance with list" reports on changes in the medical examination of young people to be called up to the Armed Forces; pp 1, 8 (807 words).

3. Alexander Gasyuk article headlined "Run, Snowden, run" reports on the "detective story" of CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden who stopped in Moscow on his way to Ecuador; p 6 (566 words).

4. Vladislav Kulikov article headlined "Don't get het up" comments on a new bill which, if adopted, will broaden the security services' methods of work with people suspected of extremist activities; p 8 (320 words).

Izvestia

1. Maria Kunle and Anastasia Alexeyevskikh article headlined "Five deputies of Belousov may leave Economic Development Ministry" predicts that deputy economic development ministers will leave the cabinet following their chief Andrei Belousov; pp 1, 4 (1,037 words).

2. Alena Sivkova article headlined "Ex-governor of Vladimir region aims at Federation Council" says former Vladimir region governor Nikolay Vinogradov is to be on top of the Communist Party list at the regional election to be later sent to the Federation Council; pp1, 4 (467 words).

3. Taras Podrez article headlined "Russian officials give Obama and his subordinates presents for $12,700" says the U.S. audit has shown that Russia presented US President Barack Obama souvenirs for $12,700 in 2010; pp 1, 7 (1,636 words).

4. Alexandra Yermakova article headlined "Embezzlement worth 2.5 billion rubles uncovered in Rosreestr" says that large-scale embezzlement has been uncovered in the Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography; pp 1-2 (800 words).

5. Yelena Teslova article headlined "Gennady Gudkov and Alexei Navalny to engage in crowd funding" says opposition activist Alexei Navalny standing for Moscow mayor and former State Duma lawmaker Gennady Gudkov planning to take part in the Moscow Region governor election are raising money for their campaigns; p 2 (743 words).

6. Sergei Podosenov article headlined "Political experts forecast gay revolution in Russia" says Russian organizations of homosexuals financed from abroad may try to organize a revolution to bring country to chaos of the 1990s, a report by the Centre of Political Information says; p 5 (821 words).

7. Maria Gorkovskaya article headlined "Moscow not afraid of row with USA over Snowden" says Washington has demanded that Moscow extradite CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden, otherwise the U.S. threatens Russia with worsening of their relations; p 7 (561 words).

8. Eduard Limonov article headlined "Will Spit at America" comments on the CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden story; p 9 (450 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Alexei Smirnov article headlined "Kudrin's Alexei" comments on the replacement of "statesman" Andrei Belousov by "liberal" Alexei Ulyukayev in the cabinet; pp 1-2 (831 words).

2. Alexander Minkin article headlined "Rape of history" criticizes the bill drafted by United Russia lawmaker Yarovaya as its ambiguous wordings will allow to punish not only those who support Nazism, but also anyone who questions the official theory of World War II; p 1-2 (969 words).

3. Yulia Kalinina article headlined "Fight of worlds without Z: Snowden instead of Brad Pitt" reports on the intrigue with CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden leaving Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport; pp 1, 3 (583 words).

4. Article by rights activist Lyudmila Alexeyeva headlined "Non-freedom, inequality, slavery" says that the Russian authorities are leaving people without protection from the arbitrariness of officials as they persecute human rights NGOs; p 3 (1,038 words).

5. Ilya Baranikas and Igor Subbotin article headlined "Slap in Face to Washington" reports on the escape of Edward Snowden from the U.S. secret services; p 3 (1,026 words).

RBC Daily

1. Yevgeny Krasnikov report "Odnoklassniki go to Twitter" says that the number of weekly users of social networks has decreased. The number of Mail.ru Group users decreased from 27.1 per cent in 2011 to 20.4 per cent in 2012 and the number of VKontakte users dropped from 55.9 per cent in 2011 to 55.3 per cent in 2012, article says; pp 1, 8 (750 words).

2. Yulia Yakovleva report "Gravity added to extremism" says that the government has submitted a bill to the State Duma to toughen punishment stipulated in four articles of the Criminal Code dealing with extremism; p 2 (700 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Yulia Savina interview with Marina Khodorkovskaya, mother of jailed businessman Mikhail Khodorkovskiy, speaking on her son's life in prison and his plans for the future. The interview is followed by a brief article saying that the authorities' attitude to Khodorkovsky is irrational; pp 1-2 (908 words).

2. Gennady Petrov report "Snowden goes underground" says that the trace of Edward Snowden, who has exposed U.S. special services, has been lost in Moscow. Journalists, who waited for him at Sheremetyevo airport, were disappointed, article says. He arrived in Moscow, but did not go to Cuba as planned and his whereabouts is unknown; p 2 (700 words).

3. Yulia Zabavina report "Staff processing" says that Alexei Ulyukayev has been appointed economic development minister, Elvira Nabiullina has become new head of the Russian Central Bank and Andrei Belousov has been appointed presidential aide. Russia's economic policy is facing serious changes, article says; p 3 (800 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Dmitry Smirnov report "'I know that you are ready to work in government'" looks at the appointment of Alexei Ulyukayev as economic development minister; p 2 (550 words).

2. Alexander Grishin report "One may get five years in prison for justification for Nazism and blackening Red Army" says that United Russia lawmaker Irina Yarovaya has submitted a bill to the State Duma introducing criminal punishment for justification of Nazism and criticism of the Soviet army during World War II. This has caused hysterics among liberals, article says; p 3 (450 words).

3. Yelena Chinkova report "Give Snowden for us to tear him apart!" looks at U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden, who was supposed to fly from Moscow to Cuba on 24 June, but did not turn up for the flight. The article is followed by a brief comment by a Russian pundit; p 6 (700 words).

4. Adam Yermash report "Guy's trace lost..." looks at Edward Snowden's disappearance at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport; p 6 (500 words).

5. Alexander Grishin report "Human rights activist believes in wonder until OMON arrives" says that rights activist Lev Ponomaryov's For Human Rights NGO has been evicted from its office in Moscow with a scandal; p 7 (750 words).

6. Oleg Potapov report "Big oil to go to China" says that Russia's oil company Rosneft is ready to supply oil to China during 25 years; p 8 (1,100 words).

7. Article by general director of the institute for foreign policy studies and initiatives and Public Chamber member Veronika Krasheninnikova looks at functioning of NGOs in the world and says that the "Western funds, which organizations authorized by Washington are distributing in various countries, involve many small public organizations that know nothing about the goals of this financing"; pp 12-13 (1,900 words).

8. Alexander Gamov interview with Igor Kholmanskikh, presidential representative in the Urals Federal District; pp 18-19 (1,700 words).

Trud

1. Unattributed article "What Mr Snowden blew up" looks at former CIA employee Edward Snowden; pp 1, 4 (950 words).

2. Sergei Frolov report "Alexei Ulyukayev receives portfolio" looks at the appointment of Alexei Ulyukayev as economic development minister; p 1 (450 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Alexander Alexanderov interview headlined "Task is to create effective control body" with Lt-Gen Alexander Studenikin, chief of the Collective Security Treaty Organization Joint Staff; pp 1, 3 (1,500 words).

Related articles:

• What the Papers Say, June 24, 2012
• What the Papers Say, June 21, 2012
• What the Papers Say, June 20, 2012