What the Papers Say, June 4, 2013

Kommersant

1. Alexander Chernykh article headlined "Tricky Single State Exam" reviews scandals with the state exam in mathematics as the test results were found on-line and some teachers were reportedly selling them; pp 1, 5 (981 words).

2. Irina Nagornykh article headlined "Regional fighter courses" says Russian regional heads are to be received by President Vladimir Putin in Moscow Region in mid-June right after the congress of the All-Russia People's Front movement. The president is to instruct the governors to make their work more effective, the article notes; pp 1-2 (555 words).

3. Viktor Khamrayev article headlined "State Duma brings itself to agenda" says the State Duma wants to pass a special constitutional bill regulating its work. However, experts are sceptical about the plans as they are unlikely to make the parliament look more legitimate for the electorate; pp 1, 3 (792 words).

4. Kirill Melnikov article headlined "Petrol stations ordered to adds gas" says the Russian government wants to develop the fuel market and will oblige all petrol station owners to set up special facilities for gas fuel; pp 1, 9 (608 words).

5. Article attributed to the paper's political section headlined "Regional elections turn into political instability" says the September regional elections may affect political stability in the regions. Former Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov's resignation affected United Russia's rating, a recent study has shown; p 2 (659 words).

6. Taisia Bekbulatova article headlined "European parliament to be shown view of Bolotnaya square" says Russian opposition activist Mikhail Kasyanov is to deliver a report on the trial of people charged with rioting during the 6 May protest in 2012. The article notes that the Russian opposition expects the EU to pass a resolution condemning human rights violations in Russia; p 2 (551 words).

7. Alexei Sokovnin article headlined "Extra information found, important one not found in Anna Politkovskaya case" says as the Moscow City Court has started the preliminary hearing ahead of the trial of five men charged in connection with the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya in October 2006, the lawyers of the defendants asked to return the case to the prosecutor's office for an additional investigation; p 5 (547 words).

8. Sergei Mashkin and Nikolay Sergeyev article headlined "Life sentence asked for Makhachkala mayor" says former Makhachkala mayor Said Amirov is to face life in prison over charges with killing an investigator he even did not know personally; p 6 (534 words).

9. Galina Dudina article headlined "Europe to violate visa free regime" says the EU member states' plans to set up border control in some countries to stop the influx of illegal migrants from Africa will affect the Russia-EU talks on visa free travel; p 7 (652 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Ivan Rodin and Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Federation Council without complexes" criticizes the current principles of forming the Federation Council as the absence of senators' elections makes their work illegitimate; pp 1, 3 (1,250 words).

2. Igor Naumov and Mikhail Sergeyev article headlined "Economists call for deportation" says there is no agreement among some experts on the need to bring more labor force into Russia. While some experts are calling for more labor migrants to be invited, others believe that Russia has no shortage of domestic labor force; pp 1, 4 (1,100 words).

3. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "RF-EU: Monologues instead of dialogues" says Russia and the EU cannot reach an agreement on any serious topics as the EU delegation wants to discuss human rights violations in Russia at the summit in Yekaterinburg. The EU also sees no progress in visa free travel talks due to Russian officials' VIP passports, the article says; pp 1, 3 (800 words).

4. Yevgenia Novikova article headlined "Turkey takes to the streets to defend Ataturk ideas" says anti-government protests continue in Turkey; pp 1, 8 (700 words).

5. Viktoria Panfilova article headlined "South and North get ready for war with Bishkek" says that locals have blocked the road linking Bishkek with Osh in Kyrgyzstan demanding that their favorite governor be freed; pp 1, 7 (600 words).

6. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Bridge to Sakhalin to be supported with billions" says Far Eastern Development Minister Viktor Ishayev is lobbying the project to build a bridge to Sakhalin. The cost of the future project, which has not even begun, grew from R400bn to R560bn in a year; pp 1, 4 (700 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Negative account being reduced to nothing" says the case of economic expert Sergei Guriev, who has left Russia, shows that not only the opposition, but also people in power mistrust the Russian legal system; p 2 (600 words).

8. Yury Panyev interview with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy speaking on the topics raised at the Russia-EU summit; p 6 (1,100 words).

9. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "Russia and USA have common enemy" says US congressman Dana Rohrabacher, who has recently visited Russia, has called on Moscow to join efforts with the U.S. in the fight against common enemy, radical Islam; p 8 (700 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Andrei Yashlavsky and Renat Abdullin article headlined "We are Turks, not Arabs" looks at the latest anti-government mass protests in Turkey; pp 1, 3 (700 words).

2. Yekaterina Petukhova and Darya Fedotova article headlined "Festival following arrest" says Makhachkala residents are celebrating the arrest of their mayor Said Amirov; pp 1-2 (600 words).

2. Yulia Kalinina article headlined "Board on complaints about press fails to find offenses in article about female deputies" says the public board on complaints about the press has not found any offenses in the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets's article on female MPs, despite the State Duma criticism of the paper; pp 1-2 (300 words).

IzvestiaVedomosti

1. Tatyana Tyutyunnik et al. report headlined "Expert on terrorist attacks to deal with Makhachkala ex-mayor case" says Alexei Serdyukov, one of the most experienced investigators of the Investigative Committee specializing in terrorism, will be in charge of the case of the former Makhachkala mayor; pp 1, 5 (992 words).

2. Petr Kozlov article headlined "United Russia left without Bilalov money" says the head of the Krasnodar branch of United Russia has sacked former head of the North Caucasus Resorts Akhmed Bilalov's brother Magomed from the post of the party's public fund head. He used to be in charge of raising money for the party, the article notes; pp 1, 4 (433 words).

3. Yelena Teslova and Yekaterina Panina article headlined "Law-enforcement agencies want to ban software hiding user in internet" says the Federal Security Service wants to ban the use of so-called anomizers, software hiding the date and IP-address of users, as the software allows people to visit even blocked websites; p 2 (401 words).

4. Anna Akhmadyeva and Vladimir Zykov article headlined "Russia Today channel gathers billion of visits on YouTube" says a billion users have watched Russia Today news channel video content on the YouTube website; p 2 (381 words).

5. Yury Matsarsky article headlined "He is not our mayor, he is gang leader" says that Dagestan's residents are still strongly affected by the arrest of the former Makhachkala mayor, Said Amirov; p 5 (1,100 words).

1. Natalya Bianova and Yulia Gribtsova article headlined "First failure of Sberbank" says VTB-24 has for the first time outstripped Sberbank in the volume of loans given to buy vehicles; pp 1, 15 (643 words).

2. Yekaterina Sobol and Vitaly Petlevoy article headlined "Pilot project found in Skolkovo" comments on Boeing's plans to set up a piloting school within the Russian Skolkovo foundation. Experts are sceptical about the plans; pp 1, 12 (414 words).

3. Editorial headlined "Honest extortion" comments on the Russian authorities' plans to set up special advisory boards within penal colonies to collect money for better conditions of prisoners. The article notes that the boards approved by the government will replace NGOs and human rights activists; pp 1, 6 (402 words).

4. Another editorial headlined "Lag of machines" comments on the Defense Ministry's plans to develop robotic arms; p 6 (296 words).

5. Alexander Kynev article headlined "Said Amirov's arrest: Simple decision, challenging regions" says the arrest and the trial of Makhachkala head Said Amirov may further destabilize the situation in Dagestan; p 6 (760 words).

6. Lilia Biryukova and Alexei Nikolsky article headlined "Wrong weather to cancel visas" says no agreement on visa free travel is expected to be reached at the Russia-EU summit due to worsening relations between Russia and the West; p 2 (557 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Vladislav Kulikov article headlined "Official with sober head" says a proposal to oblige Russian officials to undergo regular tests for drug and alcohol use has caused controversy in the State Duma; pp 1, 6 (727 words).

2. Elmira Ashirova article headlined "Russia Today sets record" says Russia Today channel has gathered one billion visits on its YouTube webpage; p 4 (450 words).

3. Timur Alyev article headlined "'The Iron' not to be long in coming?" says that Dagestan's deputies have asked the authorities to release the Former Mayor Amirov, also called "Iron Said", on pledge not to leave town; p 7 (550 words).

4. Oleg Kiryanov article headlined "Kim Jong-un orders to pass" says that according to the South Korean media, a North Korean delegation is expected to visit Moscow soon to seek Russia's support and prepare for the visit of the country's leader Kim Jong-un; p 8 (353 words).

4. Alexander Gasyuk and Anna Fedyakina article headlined "Are we their friends or foes?" comments on U.S. congressman Dana Rohrabacher's rhetoric calling for cooperation between Russia and the U.S. in the fight against international terrorism; p 8 (762 words).

RBC Daily

1. Svetlana Makunina report "Gift for anniversary" says that the law on the Federal Assembly may be passed before the end of 2013; p 2 (700 words).

2. Alexander Litoy report "Getting tired within 40 minutes" says that the party of opposition activist Alexei Navalny's supporters People's Alliance has amended its charter and will try again to get registered with the Justice Ministry; p 2 (700 words).

Novye Izvestia

1. Anna Alexeyeva report "Reflecting Motorists' Federation" says that a court in Moscow Region has ruled not to arrest Vadim Korovin, an activist with the Russian Motorists' Federation. Korovin failed to give way to a VIP vehicle with flashing lights and then allegedly struck a police officer with his car; pp 1, 5 (600 words).

2. Nadezhda Krasilova report "Visa free summit" looks at the Russia-EU summit in Yekaterinburg and says that the signing of an agreement on simplified visa regulations between Russia and the EU has been postponed; p 2 (750 words).

3. Vera Moslakova report "Hot summer in Moscow Region" says that former State Duma deputy Gennady Gudkov intends to give up his share in a foreign company to be able to stand in the Moscow Region governor election in September; p 2 (700 words).

4. Veronika Vorontsova report "Cell premises" says that Moscow's Basmannyy court has ruled to arrest Makhachkala mayor Said Amirov. He is waiting for charges to be brought against him at the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center; p 5 (450 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Mikhail Yuzhny report looks at Makhachkala mayor Said Amirov who has been arrested; pp 1, 4 (850 words).

2. Alexander Kots brief report "Moscow and Washington reduce their nuclear shields and Beijing increases it" says that Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has published a report saying that in 2013, Russia had more warheads than the U.S.; p 2 (200 words).

3. Alexander Kots interview headlined "Amirov slipped on watermelon rind" with political commentator Yulia Latynina who speaks about the arrest of Makhachkala mayor Said Amirov; p 4 (400 words).

4. Alexander Gamov interview headlined "No clans, there are mafia groups" with acting head of Dagestan Ramazan Abdulatipov who comments on the arrest of Makhachkala mayor Said Amirov and fight against corruption in the republic; p 4 (405 words).

5. Yelena Chinkova report "Does Arab Spring reach Turkey?" looks at mass disorder in Turkey; report is followed by political analyst Sergei Markov's comment on the situation in Turkey; p 6 (500 words).

6. Tatyana Reut report "Like economy, like labour migrants" looks at the problem of migration in Russia and features experts' comments on the issue; p 8 (1,300 words).

7. Andrei Baranov interview with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso who speaks about Russia-EU relations; p 10 (1,800 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Viktor Ruchkin report "According to tried and tested scenarios" says that Russia and the U.S. are taking active steps to prepare the international conference on Syria to begin in Geneva on 5 June; pp 1, 3 (1,300 words).

Trud

1. Sergei Frolov report "Dagestan's octopus, part one" says that the arrest of Makhachkala mayor Said Amirov is the Kremlin's most important signal over a year of the fight against corruption; pp 1-2 (1,200 words).

2. Alexander Protsenko report "He would like to live and die in Paris" looks at the decision of prominent liberal economist Sergei Guriev to emigrate from Russia. At the same time, Sberbank's shareholders' meeting has elected him a member of the bank's board of directors; p 2 (900 words).

3. Sergei Bednov report "Good people, help me if you can!" says that in Russia, TV often asks money from viewers and looks at the new channel Public TV and Leonid Parfenov's program on Dozhd TV; p 5 (800 words).

Tvoy Den

1. Maria Vystavkina report "Loop of despair" says that there has been an attempt to kill in prison a key witness against former Makhachkala Mayor Said Amirov; pp 4-5 (500 words).

Related articles:

• What the Papers Say, June 3, 2012
• What the Papers Say, May 31, 2012
• What the Papers Say, May 30, 2012