What the Papers Say, May 13, 2013

Kommersant

1. Ilya Barabanov et al. report headlined "Vladislav Surkov withdraws as deputy prime minister" comments on the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov who is said to have seen no prospects for personal development on the post; pp 1-2 (1.838 words).

2. Ivan Safronov article headlined "Oboronservis presented for reduction" says the Russian military prosecutor's office wants defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to sack Oboronservis head Sergei Khursevich for failing to ensure the above-board operations of the company; pp 1, 3 (1,016 words).

3. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "David Cameron plays away game" says the Syrian conflict was the main topic on the agenda at talks between President Putin and British Prime Minister David Cameron who visited Sochi; pp 1, 7 (1,062 words).

4. Yekaterina Gerashchenko article headlined "Builders allowed to enlarge" says the Moscow mayor's office has started selling plots of land surrounding commercial buildings to the owners of the real estate; pp 1, 9 (550 words).

5. Unattributed article polls officials and politicians commenting on Surkov's resignation; p 2 (411 words).

6. Dmitry Butrin et al. report headlined "Chair with dirty trick" comments on a Cabinet reshuffle that will follow Surkov's resignation and notes it will be hard to find a candidate to replace Surkov; p 2 (713 words).

7. Natalya Bashlykova et al. report headlined "United Russia bets on locomotives" says United Russia will put forward State Duma deputies and Federation Council senators as its nominees in regional elections in Ryazan and Smolensk regions, where its positions are weakest; p 3 (566 words).

8. Sergei Goryashko article headlined "Communists become philanthropists" says United Russia remains leader as regards political spending and fund-raising among Russian political parties, according to figures published by the Central Elections Commission published on the first quarter of 2013; p 3 (535 words).

9. Nikolay Sergeyev article headlined "Commissioner appears in case on journalist's murder" says police have arrested a Moscow businessman, Pavel Sopot, on suspicion of his involvement in the contract killing of journalist Igor Domnikov back in 2000; p 4 (682 words).

10. Ivan Sergeyev article headlined "Coming to take leaflets from Alexei Navalny" says several hundred leaflets and newspapers were seized during searches at the Kirov supporter headquarters for opposition activist Alexei Navalny. A criminal case may be opened if they are found to have extremist content; p 5 (386 words).

11. Pavel Korobov article headlined "Russian Orthodox Church mastering Chinese literacy" reports on Patriarch Kirill's of Moscow and All Russia visit to China; p 5 (464 words).

12. Maria Plyusnina article titled "Special forces free rapper" says a new criminal case involving the City Without Drugs foundation has been opened in Yekaterinburg, as investigators believe that a 26-year-old musician was being held here against his will; p 5 (300 words)

13. Olga Mordyushenko and Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "Declaration of gas independence" says the U.S. is poised to change the global energy market as Congress is set to consider the unrestricted export of shale gas; p 6 (692 words).

14. Tatyana Yedovina article titled "Cyprus deems Russians foreigners" says restrictions on account transactions for foreign clients of two subsidiaries of Russian banks — Russian Commercial Bank and a Promsvyazbank affiliate — have been lifted; p 6 (450 words).

15. Yelena Chernenko article headlined "Sergei Lavrov reports on Syrian inquiry" reports on Russian Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov's talks with his German and Polish counterparts in Warsaw, where the Russian diplomat had to answer difficult questions on arms supplies to Syria and on pressure on Russian NGOs; p 7 (700 words).

16. Olga Kuznetsova and Maxim Yusin article headlined "Extremely timely explosions" says Turkey has accused the Syrian secret services of carrying out two explosions on Turkish territory; p 8 (430 words).

17. Sergei Tamilin article headlined "Vote while you are alive" says former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has managed to win the national election thanks to a record high turnout; p 8 (615 words).

18. Sergei Strokan article in opinion column headlined "Price of issue" says the current election in Pakistan has shown that the country is ready for democracy despite economic and security problems; p 8 (348 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Government put in its place" examines the theories on the reasons for the resignation of Vladislav Surkov. One is that he used to finance the opposition via the Skolkovo innovation fund and left his post after the Investigative Committee found out about this; pp 1, 3 (1,023 words).

2. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Emomali Rakhmon's starred-and-striped cards" says that Dushanbe's stance on Russian troops' presence in Tajikistan may get in the way of Russia's efforts to protect its borders following the U.S. troops withdrawal from Afghanistan; pp 1-2 (636 words).

3. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Special detention center for teenagers" says the Russian Interior Ministry has proposed setting up special pretrial detention centers for minors amid growing juvenile crime rates; pp 1, 6 (526 words).

4. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Russia running late for Asian gas market" says the Russian government's expectations for increasing gas exports are unlikely to come true as the European economy is in stagnation and Russia has missed the boat on liquefied natural gas supplies; pp 1, 4 (875 words).

5. Anastasia Bashkatova article headlined "Ben Bernanke sees new risks" says US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has hinted at the possibility of reducing state support for the country's economy, which some experts say will have a major adverse impact on the global economy; p (714 words).

6. Yury Paniyev article headlined "Moscow to help Damascus to protect itself from air strikes" says the Israeli prime minister is to visit Russia this week to discuss Moscow's support, including arms supplies, to official Damascus. The visit proves that the West is stepping up its work on finding a diplomatic solution to the crisis, the article says; pp 1, 8 (687 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Surkov's resignation as change of paradigm" analyzes recent trends in the Russian politics which resulted in the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov; p 2 (478 words).

8. Viktor Litovkin article headlined "We will be where the US sixth fleet is" outlines plans of the Russian Navy's plans for a permanent presence in the Mediterranean; p 2 (904 words).

9. Commentary by political analyst Leonid Polyakov titled "Political reform as national interest" comments on public response to authorities' initiatives on political reform; p 2 (600 words).

10. Another commentary by pundit Alexei Mukhin on Vladislav Surkov's resignation titled "Spring thunder amid clear skies"; p 3 (1,000 words).

11. Alexei Gorbachev article titled "Attempt to bring back 'Occupies'" says opposition activists believe the public is ready to see Occupy-type protest camps in Moscow again; p 3 (400 words).

12. Vladimir Skosyerva article headlined "Pakistan returns overthrown prime minister to power" says a former Pakistani prime minister who was ousted from the country by the military back in 1999, Nawaz Sharif, has managed to win the national election in Pakistan; p 8 (557 words).

13. Yury Paniyev article headlined Lavrov, Westerwelle and Sikorski strike bargain" reports on a meeting between the Russian, German and Polish foreign ministers to discuss visa-free travel with Russia; p 8 (726 words).

14. Darya Tsilyurik article headlined "Rafsanjani goes for third term" says Iranian ex-President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been registered as candidate for the Iranian presidential election. He has good chances of winning the polls, experts say; p 8 (545 words).

Vedomosti

1. Lilia Biryukova article headlined "Surkov loses advisory vote" says Deputy Prime Minister Surkov's resignation shows that the Kremlin holds him responsible for failing to bring to life presidential decrees and supporting the opposition; pp 1, 3 (1,068 words).

2. Editorial headlined "Light lobbyism" links plans to introduce an official school uniform in Russia as an attempt to support the domestic textile industry; pp 1, 6 (372 words).

3. Yelizaveta Nikitina article headlined "Russia does not see beer" says the ban on beer sale in kiosks and a hike in excise duties has resulted in a decline in beer consumption in Russia; pp 1, 19 (560 words).

4. Svetlana Bocharova article titled "Ivanov and Kikot on check-up trail" says the new laws on control over the assets of officials vest greater inspection powers in the presidential administration than the prosecutor's office had; p 2 (450 words).

5. Polina Khimshiashvili article titled "Netanyahu versus S-300" looks ahead to an expected visit to Russia by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to persuade Russia to stop arms supplies to Syria; p 2 (400 words).

6. Maxim Tovkailo article headlined "State companies to pay extra" says that in a bid to raise money for the budget, the Finance Ministry is planning to oblige state companies to pay out at least 35 per cent of their net profit as dividends; p 4 (350 words).

7. Editorial titled "West wants to live" considers the history of social unrest in the West; p 6 (400 words).

8. Kirill Kharatyan article headlined "Man of the week: Vladislav Surkov" comments on Surkov's resignation and considers the possible impact of his departure; p 7 (393 words).

9. Interview with Marat Khusnullin, deputy mayor of Moscow in charge of housing construction, about urban development plans in the city; p 8 (3,870 words).

10. Timofei Dzyadko article headlined "Sechin returning to energy" says Rosneft president Igor Sechin may return to his post as chairman of the board of the directors of state power producer Inter RAO; p 10 (550 words)

11. Irina Kezik and Yelena Khodyakova article "Gazprom's five years" says the Audit Chamber has started a large-scale audit of Gazprom, the first in five years; p 13 (500 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Irina Nevinnaya interview with Pavel Krasheninnikov, chairman of the State Duma legislation committee, speaking on amendments to the Civil Code that are carried by Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the state gazette, today; pp 1, 6 (800 words).

2. Article by Yakov Mirkin, expert from the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, headlined "Summer: cold finances" looks at short and medium-term trends in the global economy trends, which do not bode well for Russia; pp 1, 4 (1,200 words).

3. Kira Latukhina article titled "What is better seen from helicopter" comments on the visit to Russia by British Prime Minister David Cameron; p 2 (900 words)

4. Vladislav Vorobyev article headlined "Troika, Damascus, S-300" says the Russian, German and Polish foreign ministers are happy with talks on Syria they had in Warsaw, although they acknowledge that differences in their stances on the problem remain; p 3 (500 words).

5. Anna Zakatnova article titled "Show yourself" previews a United Russia party project forum opening in Moscow this week; p 4 (450 words).

6. Anna Fedyakina article headlined "Winner proposes losers sit down" says a high turnout in the national election in Pakistan has shown that there is public fear of the Taliban has subsided; p 8 (350 words).

7. Marina Alyoshina article headlined "Hot traces of cold calculation" says the Russian Foreign Ministry believes Damascus is not interested in a deterioration of relations with Turkey, so the Syrian secret services cannot be behind recent bombings in the country; p 8 (400 words).

Izvestia

1. Denis Telmanov article headlined "Military receipt to be taken away from defense Ministry" says that according to an Izvestia source, the Russian defense Ministry will lose its powers to control the quality of arms bought for the Russian Armed Forces. Rosoboronpostavka, the federal agency in charge of arms supplies, will take over this work; pp 1, 4 (490 words).

2. Tatyana Shimanova and Anastasia Alexeyevskikh article headlined "US officials' pensions to be invested in our real estate" says California Public Employees Retirement System private pension fund has asked the Russian Antimonopoly Service to approve the purchase of a stake in Metropolis retail and entertainment center in Moscow. Metropolis belongs to US bank Morgan Stanley; pp 1, 4 (416 words).

3. Yulia Tsoi article headlined "Xenophobes to be banned from state posts" says the Regional Development Ministry has come up with an initiative to dismiss officials who make xenophobic statements; pp 1, 3 (548 words).

4. Oleg Vorobyov article titled "Alrosa to triple in price during privatization" comments on privatization plans of Russian diamond producer Alrosa; pp 1, 4 (750 words).

5. Ivan Cheberko article titled "Roskosmos changes industry reform scenario" says the Russian Space Agency Roskosmos has been asked to present a set of proposals on industry reform; pp 1, 4 (500 words).

6. Svetlana Subbotina article headlined "LDPR proposes taking away Russians' dollars" says an LDPR deputy has drafted a bill banning Russians from buying US dollars and opening dollar deposits in Russian banks. The parliamentarian expects the move to protect Russians from the collapse of the US economy which he believes may happen by 2017; p 2 (612 words).

7. Alexander Yunashev article headlined "British prime minister envious of Olympic park in Sochi" reports on British Prime Minister David Cameron's visit to Sochi where he was impressed by Russian Olympic facilities; p 2 (675 words).

8. Maxim Sokolov article headlined "On the dismissal of esteemed V.Y. Surkov" says the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov was expected as he could not turn into a rank-and-file official and the project he was backing, Skolkovo, was having hard times; p 3 (453 words).

9. Svetlana Subbotiva and Pyotr Kozlov article headlined "Dvorkovich to carry out Surkov's duties" says Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich will look after Vladislav Surkov's duties following his resignation; p 3 (562 words).

10. Anastasia Dulenkova article titled "Moscow asking government for 155 billion rubles for 2018 Football World Cup" looks at Moscow's plans for the construction of facilities for the 2018 Football World Cup that Russia will be hosting; p 3 (600 words).

11. Konstantin Volkov and Igor Yavlyansky interview with acting Foreign Minister of Israel Ze'ev Elkin, speaking on the Syrian conflict and Israeli relations with the Palestinian Authority; p 7(669 words).

12. Konstantin Volkov article headlined "US Secretary of State gets conference instead of sanctions in Moscow" comments on the fruits of US Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to Moscow; p 7 (548 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Mikhail Rostovsky article headlined "How president got fed up with ministers or the political landscape after Surkov's resignation" says Deputy Prime Minister Surkov's resignation shows the weakness of Dmitry Medvedev's government and a lack of balanced decision-making in the Kremlin; pp 1-2 (912 words).

2. Ilya Baranikas article titled "Not the first killing by Tsarnaevs?" outlines suspicions that the Boston bombing suspects may have been involved in a triple murder in 2011; p 2 (200 words)

3. Comment piece by analyst Anton Barbashin titled "Will Putin save the Muslim Brotherhood?" contemplates Egyptian President Morsi's attempt to get money from Russia; p 3 (800 words).

4. Andrei Yashlavsky article headlined "Will blasts in Turkey result in intervention?" wonders who could be the real beneficiaries of the recent explosions in Turkey, which Ankara accused Damascus of staging; p 3 (459 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Yelena Chinkova article titled "Patriarch told about 'Chinese dream'" reports on Patriarch Kirill's visit to Beijing; p 2 (300 words).

2. Israel Shamir article headlined "Quite the outcome! Syrian rebels become Zionists' best friends" says the alleged Israeli air strike attack on Syrian facilities has destroyed all belief in the noble intentions of the Syrian armed opposition; p 9 (600 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Konstantin Poleskov article titled "Who are 'Khomyachki'?" features the results of a journalistic investigation into the Khomyachki (Russian for hamsters) — a group of hackers who claimed responsibility for carrying out DDoS attacks on a number of Russian liberal media outlets on May 9; p 2 (900 words).

2. Maria Yepifanova article titled "Self-defense up to closing ourselves" features comments by leading Russian NGOs as to how they see the possible impact of the checks campaign on their work; p 3 (700 words).

3. Deputy editor Sergei Sokolov's article titled "This is not the commissioner" comments on the arrest of businessman Pavel Sopot in connection with the 2000 murder of Novaya journalist Igor Domnikov; p 5 (500 words).

4. Irek Murtazin article titled "Who orders musician" looks at the latest scandal at Yekaterinburg's City Without Drugs foundation, headed by opposition activist Yevgeny Roizman, with the removal by force of a young man who was undergoing treatment there; p 6 (550 words).

5. Semyon Novoprudsky article headlined "Year of the python" examines the first year of Vladimir Putin's third term as president; pp 10 (900 words).

6. Political editor Andrei Kolesnikov's article titled "Surkov's last word" comments on the resignation of the eminence grise of Russian politics; p 12 (300 words).

RBK Daily

1. Ivan Petrov article titled "Dismissal with consequences" says the Moscow prosecutor's office has proposed checking the conduct of officials who are dismissed or who resign to make sure they were not involved in any corrupt practices while in office; pp 1-2 (550 words).

2. Yulia Yakovleva article headlined "Surkov's message" says that with the departure of Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov, all hopes for a government that is independent of the Kremlin, have been lost; p 2 (450 words).

Moskovskiye Novosti

1. Svetlana Babayeva article headlined "In implementing decree number 2018" looks at Vladimir Putin's recent meeting with the cabinet at which he outlined priorities for the government's work for the next five years; pp B2-B4 (1,300 words).

2. Alexandra Beluza article titled "A different country at the end" considers the likelihood that President Vladimir Putin's instructions from his meeting with government ministers will be executed; p B5 (600 words).

3. Valery Volkov and Marina Khabarova article titled "At zarina" says Russia and the U.S.A. could improve their ties through a shared approach to international conflicts; pp B6-B8 (1,200 words)

Related articles:

• What the Papers Say, May 8, 2012
• What the Papers Say, May 7, 2012
• What the Papers Say, May 6, 2012