What the Papers Say, June 27, 2013

Kommersant

1. Yelizaveta Kuznetsova and Yevgeny Timoshinov article headlined "Arkady Rotenberg to load Sheremetyevo" says that businessman Arkady Rotenberg has bought a stake in the air freight terminal of Sheremetyevo Airport and a controlling stake in a project to build a new air freight terminal; pp 1, 7 (584 words).

2. Khalil Aminov and Anna Pushkarskaya article headlined "Judgment day awaits government" says that the president's property department has suggested leaving some part of the property owned by the Supreme Court and the Supreme Arbitration Court in Moscow to inferior courts after the superior courts move to St. Petersburg; pp 1, 10 (700 words).

3. Maxim Ivanov et al. article headlined "Final countdown starts for Sergei Stepashin" says that candidates for the Audit Chamber head are to be presented to President Vladimir Putin on 1 July. The parliamentary opposition considers the current head to be the best candidate, whereas the United Russia party is intriguing, the article notes; pp 1-2 (613 words).

4. Yury Barsukov article headlined "Andrei Belousov leaves creative heritage" looks at a program to revive the Investment Fund, which has been idle over the past few years. The program is drafted by the former economic development minister, Andrei Belousov; pp 1-2 (572 words).

5. Anna Pushkarskaya article headlined "Senators and deputies mistaken over status" says that it has turned out that a new version of the law on the status of Federation Council senators and State Duma deputies bans lawmakers from holding posts in the boards of state-run corporations, whereas other federal laws envisage this; p 2 (426 words).

6. Irina Nagornykh article headlined "Rivals stored for Sergei Sobyanin" says that United Russia has called on its municipal deputies to give their signatures in support of other candidates for the Moscow mayoral election "in order to ensure rivalry"; p 3 (599 words).

7. Vyacheslav Kozlov article headlined "Human rights activists to come out as second Golos" says that the Justice Ministry has stopped the operations of the election monitoring NGO Golos during the next six months for its refusal to register as a foreign agent. Now, the organization has an opportunity to challenge the decision in all courts, including the European Court of Human Rights, the article says; p 3 (453 words).

8. Viktor Khamrayev et al. article headlined "Objections expressed against economic amnesty" says that the Liberal Democratic Party, the Communist Party and the Interior Ministry have opposed the president's bill on granting amnesty to businessmen convicted of economic crimes. United Russia leader Dmitry Medvedev has backed the idea; p 3 (639 words).

9. Pavel Korobov interview with the head of the Russian Catholic Church Pavel (Paolo) Pezzi, headlined "Nothing hampers meeting between Pope and Russian patriarch", who speaks about his relationship with the Orthodox Church and the Russian authorities; p 4 (2,298 words).

10. Alexander Zheglov article headlined "Glonass lays routes for searches" says that searches have been carried out at the flats of the former heads of an AFK Sistema subsidiary as part of the probe into large-scale embezzlement of funds allocated for a state program to develop the Glonass navigation system; p 5 (536 words).

11. Maria Yefimova interview with the Algerian foreign minister, Mourad Medelci, who has paid a visit to Moscow, headlined "Geneva-2 would be better than Geneva-3," who speaks about Algeria's stance on Syria and prospects for the Geneva-2 international peace conference; p 6 (564 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Trial of Stalinism delayed" says that a project to de-Stalinize Russia will acquire a status of a federal targeted-development program and will receive state funding; pp 1-2 (756 words).

2. Ivan Rodin and Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Front members go to power one by one" says that a Federation Council senator has suggested that a mixed system of elections be changed in such a way that 25 percent of candidates for regional parliamentary elections are elected from party lists and 75 percent of candidates are elected from single-seat constituencies. Now the proportion is fifty-fifty, the article notes; pp 1, 3 (1,149 words).

3. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Russia's nuclear industry develops at snail's pace" says that at a meeting with the IAEA head, Putin has said that energy production by nuclear power plants is planned to be increased in the near future. However, Russia has repeatedly tried to make a breakthrough in the development of peaceful atom, but no striking results have been achieved so far; pp 1, 4 (761 words).

4. Darya Tsilyurik article headlined "Japan builds rocket bypassing constitution" says that Japan plans to build ballistic missiles having a range of up to 500 kilometers to defend the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea and features a Russian expert's comment on the issue; pp 1, 8 (580 words).

5. Editorial headlined "Russia prepares for war on its territory" says that the withdrawal of the coalition forces from Afghanistan threatens the West with a shame as it has failed to change the situation in the country for the better, whereas real and serious threats are looming over post-Soviet countries, including Russia; p 2 (496 words).

6. Vladimir Mukhin article published in the Carte Blanche regular column headlined "Shanghai spirit of rivalry in Bishkek" says that secret rivalry between Russia and China for influence in Central Asia will grow after the withdrawal of the coalition forces from Afghanistan given that China has stepped up its military and economic activity in the region allegedly as part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's programs; p 3 (756 words).

8. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "'Occupy' revives near United Russia" says that mothers of many children continue hunger strike near the office of the United Russia party in Moscow. Having already spent a month in a camp built there, they plan to continue the strike until their demands are satisfied; p 3 (638 words).

9. Mikhail Sergeyev article headlined "Business Russia organizes antimonopoly front" looks at the Business Russia forum in Moscow attended by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev; p 4 (601 words).

10. Andrei Batalin article headlined "Gazprom tears Ukraine away from Customs Union" looks at an international conference called "Russian-Ukrainian relations: Reality and prospects", held in Moscow, during which the future of bilateral relations has been discussed; p 5 (802 words).

11. Andrei Kirillov article headlined "Billions on maps" says that the Audit Chamber has revealed large-scale violations when checking the use of budget funds by one of the programs implemented by the Federal Registration, Cadastre and Cartography Service (Rosreestr); p 6 (2,295 words).

12. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Deportation from Russia threatens Ukrainians" quotes Federal Migration Service head Konstnatin Romodanovsky as saying that Russia may expel 700,000 Ukrainians and ban them from entering its territory for three years. The move may complicate bilateral relations, Kiev says; p 8 (1,071 words).

13. Yevgenia Novikova article headlined "Geneva-2 on brink of wrecking" says that Russia and the U.S. have failed to come to terms on the Geneva-2 peace conference on Syria at the trilateral consultations in Geneva on 25 June. Meanwhile, the situation in the Middle East is worsening; p 8 (674 words).

Vedomosti

1. Timofey Dzyadko and Irina Kezik article headlined "PKN Orlen longs for Rosneft's wing" says that PKN Orlen wants to conclude a long-term agreement on oil supplies via the Druzhba oil pipeline with the Russian oil company Rosneft; pp 1, 12 (670 words).

2. Editorial headlined "BRICS afire" says that protests in Russia, Turkey, Brazil, India, South Africa and Indonesia are directly linked to their economic underdevelopment; pp 1, 6 (458 words).

3. Maria Zheleznova and Anastasia Kornya article headlined "Patriotism not to save" says that the Justice Ministry has submitted to the State Duma a bill which gives additional grounds for unplanned checks of NGOs; p 2 (664 words).

4. Alexei Nikolsky article headlined "Registration in Sheremetyevo" says that U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden may stay in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport as long as he wants since Russian laws permit this; p 2 (417 words).

5. Maxim Tovkaylo and Yelena Khodyakova article headlined "Gazprom to be left without future" says that the government may give up plans to make equal domestic and export prices on gas supplies by the gas giant Gazprom; p 4 (512 words).

6. Margarita Papchenkova et al. article headlined "Offshore areas necessary" says that Russian companies will not be banned from using offshore areas; p 5 (481 words).

7. Alexei Zakharov article headlined "Cause and effect: From morals to politics" says that the main lesson of the 2011-12 protests in Russia is that any concessions from the current political regime will most likely be a temporary measure, which will be turned back at the first opportunity; p 7 (726 words).

Izvestia

1. Marina Davydova article headlined "Dzhokhar Tsarnayev gets 16 wounds upon detention" looks at a medical assessment report on the health of Dzhokhar Tsarnayev, who together with his brother has been charged in the U.S. with organizing the Boston marathon terror attack; pp 1, 4 (441 words).

2. Article by the Investigative Committee's official spokesman Vladimir Markin headlined "'Your public progress causes interest...'" criticizes federal state channels for showing criminal series, which are untrue and delude television viewers; pp 1, 3 (550 words).

3. Anastasia Kashevarova article headlined "Auditor Sergei Ryabukhin, who revealed frauds in Skolkovo, to become senator" says that Audit Chamber member Sergei Ryabukhin ranks third in a list of United Russia candidates for the Ulyanovsk Region legislative assembly election this autumn. Some time later he will be nominated for the post of a Federation Council senator from the region, the article says; pp 1-2 (461 words).

4. Petr Kozlov article headlined "Upper chamber argues with State Duma about exculpation of Nazism" says that the Federation Council is displeased with the explanation of the notion "exculpation of the Nazism" in amendments to the Criminal Code drafted by the State Duma; pp 1, 4 (456 words).

5. Dmitry Yevstifeyev article headlined "New embezzlement worth 1.2 billion rubles revealed in Rosagrolizing case" says that criminal proceedings have been instituted against the head of a Stavropol Territory company on suspicion of misappropriating 1.2 billion (some $36.4 million at the current exchange rate) allocated by the Rosagrolizing company for the purchase of cattle and farm machinery; pp 1, 4 (917 words).

6. Sergei Podosenov article headlined "Central Electoral Commission and Moscow Region electoral commission argue about candidates' right to canvass" says that the Moscow Region electoral commission has opposed election campaigning by the governor nominees who have not yet got registered, whereas the Central Electoral Commission has an opposite view on the issue; p 2 (508 words).

7. Yulia Tsoi article headlined "President's human rights council members ready to stand up for Edward Snowden" says that the president's human rights council is ready to ask Putin to grant political asylum to U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden; p 2 (473 words).

8. Ivan Cheberko article headlined "Flat of non-profit partnership Glonass head Gurko searched" says that searches have been carried out at the flats of the non-profit partnership Glonass head, Alexander Gurko, and the co-owner of the M2M Telematika company, Igor Grushelevsky, as part of the probe into large-scale embezzlement of funds allocated for a state program to develop the Glonass navigation system; p 3 (573 words).

9. Tigran Oganesyan and Konstantin Volkov article headlined "Yerevan asks Moscow to explain arms supplies to Baku" says that Armenia has become concerned about Russian arms supplies to Azerbaijan as it fears that this may change the balance of forces in the region for the benefit of Baku; p 7 (492 words).

10. Maria Gorkovskaya article headlined "Obama goes to win over Africa from China" says that U.S. President Barack Obama has gone on an African tour and features a Russian expert's comment on the issue; p 7 (532 words).

11. Political analyst Boris Mezhuyev article headlined "Incredible adventure of U.S. citizen in Russia" contemplates Russia's steps as regards U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden who has been staying in the transit zone of a Moscow airport for three days; p 9 (790 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Yulia Krivoshapko interview with Regional Development Minister Igor Slyunayev, headlined "Not to run into tariffs", who explains how ministry will control a rise in housing utilities tariffs; pp 1, 4 (839 words).

2. Tamara Shkel article headlined "Did not expect" says that the Justice Ministry will be given more grounds for unscheduled checks of NGOs under a new bill drafted by the State Duma, p 3 (350 words).

3. Natalya Kozlova article headlined "Lady's happiness" says that a new episode in the fraud by former head of the Defense Ministry's property relations department Yevgenia Vasilyeva has been revealed; p 7 (434 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta (weekly)

1. Mikhail Barshchevsky interview headlined "Law per capita" with Talia Khabryeva, the director of the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the government, who speaks about her appointment as the vice-president of the Academy of Sciences and about lawmaking process in Russia; p 8 (1,054 words).

2. Vladislav Vorobyev article headlined "Agent-2013" says that CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden has become more popular than the prominent fictitious character James Bond; p 12 (400 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Mikhail Rostovsky article headlined "Honey, I shrunk prime minister" contemplates weak points of the current Russian government led by Dmitry Medvedev given the recent reshuffles in the economic team of the Russian authorities; pp 1, 3 (600 words).

2. Melor Sturua article headlined "Snowden not found in Sheremetyevo" says that the U.S.'s soft criticism of Russia for its stance on U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden, who is reportedly staying at a Moscow airport, is attributed to the fact that Washington needs Moscow's cooperation on certain issues, such as Syria, Iran and Afghanistan. Moreover, some observers say that the Snowden scandal helps improve relations between Russia and China; pp 1, 3 (850 words).

3. Natalya Rozhkova article headlined "How Navalny and Yabloko quarrel" says that the opposition candidate for Moscow mayor, Alexei Navalny, has accused a municipal deputy from the Yabloko party of extorting money for his signature in support of Navalny; p 2 (320 words).

4. Ignat Kalinin and Dmitry Katorzhnov article headlined "Judge and defendants do not hear each other" gives an update on the Bolotnaya case trial; p 2 (400 words).

5. Mikhail Zubov article headlined "Lev Ponomaryov to find door of his office locked" says that the president's human rights council has discussed the recent scandal involving the movement For Human Rights, leaseholders and policemen and suggested lecturing policemen on human rights and obliging them to pass corresponding tests; p 2 (250 words).

6. Viktoria Prikhodko article headlined "Tandemonstration: Medvedev criticizes Putin's ideas" says that at the Business Russia forum in Moscow, Medvedev has criticized Putin's initiative to grant amnesty to businessmen convicted of economic crimes and the idea to combine the Supreme Court and the Supreme Arbitration Court; p 2 (410 words).

7. Mikhail Zubov article headlined "Authorities prepare Russia for Khodorkovsky's release" says that laws passed by the State Duma this year have secured the authorities against any economic or political risks that the release of the former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky may have; p 2 (200 words).

8. Pavel Chuvilyayev article headlined "Amnesty through clenched teeth" criticizes the idea of granting amnesty to businessmen convicted of economic crimes; p 3 (400 words).

9. Marina Lemutkina interview headlined "Historians cannot come to terms about perestroika" with Alexander Chubaryan, head of the World History Institute at the Academy of Sciences, who speaks about a single history book to be published in Russia; p 4 (1,400 words).

RBC Daily

1. Alexander Litoy report "Justice Ministry loses Golos" says that the Justice Ministry has suspended the activities of the Golos election-monitoring NGO because it has refused to register itself as a "foreign agent". Because of that, the head of the NGO, Lilia Shibanova, cannot use contributions donated by Russian citizens, article says; p 1 (400 words).

2. Katerina Kitayeva report "Children can sleep calmly" says that Nikolay Kartozia, head of the television channel Pyatnitsa, part of the holding company Prof-Media, has decided to remove reality show "Holiday in Mexico"; p 1 (450 words).

3. Yulia Sinyayeva interview with Regional Development Minister Igor Slyunyayev, who speaks about the Olympics in Sochi, among other things; p 5 (2,300 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Vera Moslakova interview headlined "They want to strangle me with municipal filter" with Gennady Gudkov, former opposition member of the State Duma, who has submitted documents to the Moscow Region electoral commission to stand in the Moscow Region governor election; pp 1-2 (1,100 words).

2. Valentina Shakhova report "Vacuum process" says that trials in the so-called Bolotnaya case continue in Moscow. The people, charged with involvement in public unrest on Moscow's Bolotnaya square on 6 May 2012, are kept in severe conditions; pp 1-2 (800 words).

3. Yulia Savina report "Main thing is to preserve dignity" says that the government has tabled a bill with the State Duma stipulating grounds for unscheduled checks of NGOs. In fact, the bill gives law enforcers a free hand. Meanwhile, the international community is calling on the Russian authorities to stop persecution of human rights activists; p 2 (600 words).

4. Brief unattributed report says that according to a Levada Center poll, one-third of Russians are for release on parole for former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky; p 2 (100 words).

5. Tamara Remeshevskaya report "Breaking away" says that acting Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin standing in the mayoral election set for September, has collected the required number of signatures of municipal deputies and decided to stop gathering them; p 5 (650 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Viktor Baranets brief report "Defense Ministry to present a new arms program" says that a draft of Russia's new state arms program for 2016-25 will be presented in July 2015; p 2 (150 words).

2. Yelena Chinkova report "King salmon jumping into paws of grizzly bear" says that U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden is staying in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport. WikiLeaks does not rule out that he will remain in Russia; p 4 (800 words).

3. Alexander Grishin article headlined "What kind of information did Snowden 'seize with him' if Washington is still in hysterics?" says that the U.S. has threatened Russia and China that their relations with America will worsen over fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden; p 4 (400 words).

4. Viktor Baranets report "Russian servicemen leave Syria" says that the personnel of Russia's logistics facility in Tartus, Syria, have left the home station; p 4 (500 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Alexander Gerasimov report "Belarusian registration of air base" looks at Russia's first air base in Belarus and says it will begin to operate this year; p 1 (300 words).

2. Viktor Ruchkin report "When they move along two tracks" says that during consultations in Geneva, Russia, the U.S. and the UN have failed to agree on the terms of holding the international conference on Syria; p 3 (700 words).

Moskovskye Novosti

1. Yury Bogomolov report "Life and trends" looks at the main trends on Russia's television and says that obscurantism, anti-liberalism and anti-Americanism are the main tendencies of our TV programs; pp 16-17 (600 words).

Related articles:

• What the Papers Say, June 26, 2012
• What the Papers Say, June 25, 2012
• What the Papers Say, June 24, 2012