What the Papers Say, June 26, 2013

Kommersant

1. Alexandra Bayazitova and Nina Vlasova article headlined "Pyramids have foundation undermined" says the Finance Ministry has drafted a number of amendments that impose criminal punishment on the organizers of financial pyramids in Russia. The people, who invest in illegal schemes, will face fines; pp 1, 8 (689 words).

2. Maria-Luiza Tirmaste and Viktor Khamrayev article headlined "Go out without personal belongings" gives details of the economic amnesty announced by President Vladimir Putin. It will be applied to 5,000-6,000 people serving terms for economic crimes; pp 1-2 (799 words).

3. Nikolay Sergeyev and Khalil Aminov article headlined "IKEA becomes source of continuous supply" says that the firms belonging to entrepreneur Konstantin Ponomaryov have received 25 billion rubles ($760 million) from IKEA following settlement without court and are suing the company again; pp 1, 4 (840 words).

4. Yelena Kiseleva et al. report headlined "Matthias Warnig takes steel portfolio" says that Nord Stream head Matthias Warnig is buying the shares of Russian steel-makers. The bank Rossia has bought the shares of Metalloinvest and Severstal for the businessman for $5 million in 2012; pp 1, 7 (701 words).

5. Dmitry Butrin et al. report headlined "Alexei Ulyukayev invited to maneuver" says new Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev is to choose between several development courses; p 2 (980 words).

6. Vyacheslav Kozlov article headlined "Enough room on bench for Bolotnaya square" reports on the beginning of the court hearing of the so-called Bolotnaya case over disorders at a Moscow rally on May 6, 2012, in which 12 people are on trial; p 4 (552 words).

7. Anna Pushkarskaya report "Anonymous comments to be checked for compliance with constitution" says that the Constitutional Court will take a decision as to website owners' responsibility for their users; p 5 (850 words).

8. Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "They ask to give Edward Snowden away by good will" says that the U.S. authorities are threatening Russia with grave consequences if Moscow does not extradite CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden to Washington; p 6 (411 words).

9. Kirill Belyaninov interview with Ariel Cohen, expert from the Heritage Foundation, speaking on the Snowden scandal and the U.S. having no possibility of affecting Russia in this issue; p 6 (435 words).

10. Mikhail Serov report "Gazprom blocks Ukraine's border" says that Russia's gas giant Gazprom has blocked the attempt of a German company and its Ukrainian partner to reverse Russian gas to Ukraine from Slovakia; p 9 (600 words).

11. Newspaper publishes brief letters of greeting of Sergei Aleksashenko, the Higher School of Economics director for macroeconomic research, and actor Sergei Yurskiy, who congratulate former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovskyon his 50th birthday; p 5 (150 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Alexandra Samarina and Ivan Rodin article headlined "President will personally amnesty entrepreneurs" says the presidential bill on economic amnesty has been submitted to the State Duma. Putin is trying to improve Russia's image, article says; pp 1, 3 (1,050 words).

2. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Viktor Yushchenko to be tried for gas contracts" says that former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is facing trial over disrupted gas talks with Russia back in 2008; pp 1, 7 (1,184 words).

3. Anastasia Bashkatova article headlined "Pension calculator counts victims" says that people with low wages and housewives will be hit hard by the new pension reform; pp 1, 4 (1,122 words).

4. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Non-childish fight of State Duma" says the State Duma has postponed until autumn a bill on obligatory preservation of citizenship by orphans adopted by foreign couples; pp 1, 3 (805 words).

5. Anton Khodasevich article headlined "Belarusian businessmen against Customs Union" says Belarusian sole traders are to go on strike against the technical regulations of the Customs Union which affect their business; pp 1, 7 (690 words).

6. Darya Tsilyurik article headlined "Cold war for three" says that a scandal caused by CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden has grown into a war of words between the U.S., China and Russia; pp 1-2 (736 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Spiritual society unit" criticizes the concept of the family policy drafted by the State Duma as it is out of date; p 2 (499 words).

8. Yevgeny Minchenko report "Parties decline, movements flourish" says that political struggle in Russia is being carried out "not for access to communications channels, but for production of more attractive content"; p 5 (1,800 words).

8. Yevgenia Novikova article headlined "Syrian rebels get promised weapons" gives an update on the Syrian conflict and looks at the three-party consultations to prepare the international conference on Syria; p 8 (656 words).

Izvestia

1. Alena Sivkova article headlined "Rosmolodezh to hold Seliger in America" says the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs plans to hold the pro-Kremlin youth camp, Seliger, near the U.S. city of Seattle in September 2013; pp 1, 4 (498 words).

2. Interview headlined "Richest territory taken away from Moscow Region" with Moscow Region acting governor Andrei Vorobyev speaking on his plans to win the governor election this September and projects to be implemented in case of his victory; pp 1, 3 (2,174 words).

3. Denis Telmanov article headlined "Defense Ministry pays extra 88 billion rubles to officers" says the Audit Chamber has found out that the Defense Ministry has allocated 88 billion rubles (about $2.6 billion) more for the salaries of officers than it was required by the number of the military personnel in 2012; pp 1-2 (486 words).

4. Alexander Yunashev article headlined "Vladimir Putin tells Finns about Snowden and NGOs" says that Putin has said at a news conference in Finland that CIA whistleblower Snowden was staying in the transit zone of Sheremetyevo airport; p 2 (691 words).

5. Anton Mordasov article headlined "Human rights council to support Lev Ponomaryov" says the presidential human rights council is to support Lev Ponomaryov and his NGO For Human Rights, which has been evicted from its office in Moscow; p 5 (651 words).

6. Konstantin Volkov article headlined "Afghanistan's authorities fail security test" looks at the situation in Afghanistan and features comment by the secretary of the Federation Council group for cooperation with the Afghan national assembly, Vyacheslav Nekrasov; p 7 (600 words).

Rossiyskaya Gazeta

1. Tamara Shkel article headlined "Pardon request" gives details of the economic amnesty to come into effect in Russia next week; pp 1, 6 (700 words).

2. Tatyana Zykova and Alena Uzbekova article headlined "Import ready for hike" says the cost of imported goods is to grow by 10 percent in Russia in two months; pp 1, 5 (550 words).

3. Olga Kondreva article headlined "Package to Tatarstan!" says Kazan has become the first Russian city where residents have free access to 19 digital TV channels ahead of the World Students Games; pp 1, 4 (700 words).

4. Viktor Feshchenko article headlined "Jaded by Snowden" says the Foreign Ministry has said that CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden has not crossed the Russian border and Moscow has nothing to do with his route; p 8 (600 words).

5. Article by Fedor Lukyanov, chairman of the presidium of the foreign and defense policy council, headlined "Self defense of open society" says the Snowden scandal has shown that secret services are becoming real opponents of liberals defending private secrecy; p 8 (800 words).

Vedomosti

1. Igor Tsukanov article headlined "Mobile justice" says the conflict between MTS and Alfa Group over Kyrgyz mobile phone assets is over. Alfa Group will control the assets, but it will return MTS $150 million it previously invested; pp 1, 16 (1,100 words).

2. Olga Kuvshinova article headlined "Fairy tale pensions" says the so-called "pension calculator" unveiled by the Pension Fund and the Labour Ministry does not show the amount of pensions people will earn; pp 1, 5 (809 words).

3. Another editorial headlined "It is prohibited to doubt" says that persecution of experts, who have examined the Yukos case and the bill on the World War II legacy, shows that soon people will not be allowed to question any official theory of events in Russia; pp 1, 6 (423 words).

4. Alexei Nikolsky article headlined "Cyprus instead of Syria" says that Russian military personnel have left Syria; they will maintain the Mediterranean squadron from Cyprus; p 2 (515 words).

5. Another editorial headlined "Target not being determined" says former Soviet republics have better positions in international business ratings than Russia; p 6 (352 words).

6. Comment by Andrei Kolesnikov headlined "Political economy: Khodorkovsky- freedom better than non-freedom" compares economic expert Sergei Guriev, who has left Russia, with jailed businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky and notes that they both remain free in their views; p 6 (432 words).

7. Lilia Biryukova report "Reduced amnesty" says that three articles of the Criminal Code has disappeared from the final version of amnesty for businessmen that has been submitted by Putin to the State Duma. Thus, the amnesty will be applied to 20,000 people, article says; p 2 (800 words).

8. Maria Zheleznova report "He has got enough of imprisonment" says that according to a poll by Levada Center, one Russian in three is for release on parole of Mikhail Khodorkovskiy; p 3 (550 words).

9. Ksenia Boletskaya report "Block for instigators" says that the websites of the federal mass media outlets, Gazeta.ru and Komomolskaya Pravda, have been blocked in Russia for the first time; p 10 (700 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Commentary by Alexander Minkin headlined "Russia, Zhepardieu [world coined from Gerard Depardieu's name] and Berlusconi" says a recent traffic accident involving French actor Gerard Depardieu in Moscow shows that people ignore traffic regulations like the authorities; pp 1, 4 (607 words).

2. Marina Ozerova article headlined "Amnesty with strange details" says that neither Mikhail Khodorkovskiy, nor Platon Lebedev will be able to benefit from the economic amnesty announced by Putin; pp 1-2 (739 words).

3. Ignat Kalinin article headlined "Yarovaya function of authorities" criticises lawmaking activity of United Russia lawmaker Irina Yarovaya as she is used to voice the trends and policies shaped by the Kremlin; pp 1, 3 (540 words).

4. Article by political scientist Stanislav Belkovsky headlined "Truth in guilt" says during years in custody former Yukos company head Mikhail Khodorkovsky has become one of the most famous people in Russia and has proven his moral values; p 3 (1,199 words).

5. Unattributed article "Sobyanin passes first stage of election race" looks at the Moscow mayoral election campaign; pp 1, 3 (300 words).

6. Natalya Rozhkova report "Udaltsov barred from mayoral campaign because he is not in prison" says that the Moscow city electoral commission has refused to accept the documents of Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov to register him as a mayoral candidate; p 3 (500 words).

7. Anatoly Baranov report "Do not create idol" looks at former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky who marks his 50th birthday today; p 6 (900 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Valery Butayev interview with new Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev; p 3 (350 words).

2. Alexander Kots article headlined "Identification of Snowden" comments on the intrigue surrounding former CIA contractor Edward Snowden; p 4 (300 words).

3. Anna Mikhaylova article headlined "There will be no artificial barriers for Moscow mayoral candidates" looks at preparations for the Moscow mayoral election set for 8 September and features positive comments by pundits; p 7 (800 words).

4. Oleg Fedorov interview with Farida Ismailova, the wife of Nefteyugansk mayor Vladimir Petukhov who was killed in 1998 allegedly over a conflict with the oil company Yukos and its then head Mikhail Khodorkovskiy; p 15 (500 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Yelena Masyuk interview with Yevgeny Royzman, president of an anti-drug foundation in Yekaterinburg, speaking on his political ambitions, persecution by the law-enforcement agencies and fight against drug addiction; pp 13-15 (4,137 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Valentina Shakhova interview with lawmaker Pavel Krasheninnikov, speaking on conditions of economic amnesty which is expected to free around 6,000 people serving sentences for economic crimes; pp 1, 3 (599 words).

2. Gennady Savchenko article headlined "Enigma person" comments on the intrigue surrounding CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden whose future residence plans are unknown; p 2 (436 words).

3. Yulia Savina article headlined "Even espionage in favor of Martians can be incriminated" looks at recent developments surrounding the Yukos case, which the author says are seen by many experts as an attempt to prevent Yukos ex-boss Mikhail Khodorkovskiy's release in 2014; p 2 (500 words).

RBC Daily

1. Alexander Litoy article headlined "From opposition into candidates" says membership in the opposition Coordination Council has resulted in numerous problems for Moscow mayoral candidate Alexei Navalny and the opposition candidate for Moscow Region governor, Gennady Gudkov; p 2 (300 words).

Related articles:

• What the Papers Say, June 25, 2012
• What the Papers Say, June 24, 2012
• What the Papers Say, June 21, 2012