What the Papers Say, Oct. 1, 2012

Kommersant

1. Vladislav Novy article headlined "Rostelekom to Be Switched to Vadim Semenov" says the Russian government is changing the management of the Rostelekom communications company. Vadim Semenov, currently director general of the Svyazinvest communications company, who used to study in the same university with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, is expected to take the post; pp 1, 12 (883 words).

2. Darya Nikolayeva et al. report headlined "40 — 20 — 40 — 20" says the Russian Labor Ministry has drafted a new pension formula requiring 40-year-long work experience from a person willing to retire; pp 1, 6 (857 words).

3. Alexei Dospekhov and Afsati Dzhusoyti article headlined "Championship of Various Types" reviews the list of 11 Russian cities to host the World Cup in 2018; pp 1, 16 (1,099 words).

4. Kirill Melnikov article headlined "TNK-BP to Pay for Itself" says Russian shareholders within the TNK-BP joint venture are raising money to buy the British stake in the company. Rosneft is also interested in buying the stake; pp 1, 11 (662 words).

5. Sergei Goryashko and Natalya Bashlykova article headlined "Governors Make Progress" reports on a recent survey by a group of experts giving excellent marks for their work to 14 governors and labeling four regional heads as failures; p 2 (600 words).

6. Ilya Barabanov et al. report headlined "Emergency Situation at Regional Level" says municipal elections in a number of Moscow region towns, namely Khimki, are likely to become a challenging test for new governor Sergei Shoigu; p 2 (1,700 words).

7. Musa Muradov article headlined "Yunus-Bek Yevkurov Ready to Leave Ingushetia" says a statement by Ingush head Yunus-Bek Yevkurov about his hesitation over the participation in the next presidential election in the republic shows that Moscow is looking for a candidate to replace him; p 3 (840 words).

8. Maxim Ivanov and Maria-Luiza Tirmaste article headlined "For Motherland! For Putin!" says the Motherland Party is being revived to enlist the support of the nationalist electorate for President Putin; p 3 (1,052 words).

9. Alexander Voronov and Ivan Safronov article headlined "Defense Ministry Calls to Join Its Autumn Campaign" says the Russian Defense Ministry plans to call up 140,000 conscripts this autumn; p 5 (569 words).

10. Alexander Chernykh and Pavel Korobov article headlined "New Apologies Brought Against Punk Band" says that a Moscow court is due to consider an appeal from the Pussy Riot punk band's lawyers. Earlier the Russian Orthodox Church publicly addressed the court asking for mercy on the girls in case they repent; p 5 (700 words).

11. Roman Yanushevsky and Alexander Reutov article headlined "Jewish Refugees Reach UN" says the UN General Assembly has discussed the destiny of Jewish refugees who were forced to flee from Arabic countries; p 7 (537 words).

12. Olga Allenova article headlined "Georgian Confrontation Comes Up Against West" says the current parliamentary elections have become a test for Georgian society. The opposition is expected to wind up democratic reforms if they get the majority in the parliament; p 7 (894 words).

13. Maxim Yusin article headlined "Swing States Move Toward Democrats" says U.S. presidential Republican candidate Mitt Romney is supported by fewer voters in the so-called swing states, which have no political affiliation either with the Republicans or Democrats; p 8 (563 words).

14. Article by Sergei Strokan in opinion column headlined "Price of Issue" says the future of Russian-U.S. relations is unlikely to be affected by the U.S. presidential election campaign, as the two countries' ties are weak anyway; p 8 (376 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Stand-In Being Chosen for United Russia" says the Motherland party congress held in Moscow on Sept. 29 showed that the authorities are looking for a substitute for United Russia, which is losing the support of the electorate. Motherland is expected to merge with the All-Russia People's Front movement to be reshaped into a political party; pp 1, 3 (895 words).

2. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Conventional Combat Readiness" says the Russian authorities lack a single vision of the military training problem, as the Armed Forces are expected to lack 30 percent of conscripts after the autumn call-up; pp 1-2 (919 words).

3. Mikhail Sergeyev article headlined "Anton Siluanov's Mystery" says five European countries have asked Russia for financial support, the Finance Ministry reported; pp 1, 4 (651 words).

4. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Fuel Prices Become Leaders" says the hike in petrol prices has exceeded official inflation by seven times in Russia; pp 1, 4 (744 words).

5. Anton Khodosevich article headlined "Belarussians Afraid of Devaluation" says Belarussians are getting increasingly worried about the economic situation in the country, while the authorities pledge to avoid devaluation of the national currency; pp 1-2 (601 words).

6. Yury Paniyev article headlined "Syrian Knot of World Politics" says the 67th session of the UN General Assembly has turned into a discussion of the situation in Syria. Moscow has called on the West to stop toppling the regimes they do not support; pp 1, 6 (764 words).

7. Editorial headlined "About Possibility of Personal Repression" comments on a number of repressive laws recently passed by the State Duma and notes that the laws are likely to be used for repression against individual opposition activists; p 2 (476 words).

8. Alexander Deryabin article headlined "Non-Bookkeeping Case" says journalists of the Yekaterinburg website Ura.ru believe that the criminal case was opened against the website due to political reasons; p 3 (471 words).

9. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "New Leaders Will Rule China Starting From November" comments on the struggle for power in China, where senior official Bo Xilai is standing trial; p 6 (533 words).

10. Nikolai Surkov article headlined "Russia Being Made International Scapegoat" says Moscow's backing Bashar Assad's regime threatens Russia's international image as the country is criticized for its stance on Syria; p 8 (543 words).

11. Yevgeny Bazhanov article headlined "Mitt Romney's Windmills" criticizes the foreign policy of U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney who does not take into consideration the fact that the world has changed since the 1990s; p 9 (1,575 words).

Vedomosti

1. Olga Kuvshinova article headlined "2% Left" says the Russian government is backing a strategy reducing the cumulative part of pensions down to 2 percent; pp 1, 3 (780 words).

2. Roman Shleynov article headlined "Business on Orbit" says nobody will need Russian satellites, as it will soon be cheaper to rent any Western satellite channel. The author looks into the high cost of Russian space technologies; pp 1, 12 (1,723 words).

3. Anastasia Golitsina et al. report headlined "Facebook Gives Likes to Russia" says that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is to be received by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev today; pp 1, 11 (764 words).

4. Editorial headlined "Ideological Legality" says the repressive laws recently passed by the State Duma show that the authorities are ignoring civil society developing in Russia; pp 1, 4 (549 words).

5. Commentary by Konstantin Sonin headlined "Rules of Game: How Obama Does Not Believe Experts" analyzes U.S. President Barack Obama's economic policy; p 4 (434 words).

6. Anastasia Kornya article headlined "Less Non-Achievers" says that governors of four Russian regions have been labeled as failures in a recent survey by a group of experts and have the highest chances for early retirement. Previously the number of governors with low ratings equaled 11; p 2 (400 words).

7. Another editorial headlined "Price of Mantle" compares the Russian court system and wages of judges with their European colleagues; p 4 (374 words)

8. Yekaterina Kravchenko interview with leading U.S. expert on innovations and adviser to the U.S. Secretary of State John Kao speaking on Russia's investment potential and prospects for the development of innovation in the country; p 5 (1,871 words).

Izvestia

1. Anastasia Kashevarova et al. report headlined "Kremlin Looking for Article for Internet Slanderers and Extremists" reports on a bill against the spread of defamatory and extremist information on the Internet drafted by the State Duma; p 1 (739 words).

2. Alexander Yunashev and Anastasia Kashevarova article headlined "Russia Raises 'Finnish Issue' in PACE" says the Russian delegation is to raise the problems of Russian families with children born in Finland at the PACE session; p 1 (527 words).

3. Anna Akhmadiyeva article headlined "Public TV to Strip Rivals of 1% of Audience" outlines the concept for the work of the Russian Public TV; p 1 (390 words).

4. Irina Kezon article headlined "Igor Sechin Unlikely to Launch Project in Venezuela on Time" says experts are skeptical about Rosneft's plans to start oil extraction in Venezuela in two years. A five-year term looks more realistic; p 2 (519 words).

5. Vladimir Zykov article headlined "Pirate Party to Be Set Up in Russia by New Year" says the Party of Pirates currently being set up in Russia is expected to have around 5,000 members; p 3 (559 words).

6. Dmitry Ustinov article headlined "Armed Forces Suffer Non-Battle Casualties" says one conscript was killed and two others badly injured during the recent exercise Caucasus 2012; p 7 (455 words).

7. German Petelin interview with Aksana Panova, editor-in-chief of the Ura.ru information website, speaking on persecution by local authorities and a criminal case fabricated against the website management; p 7 (544 words).

8. German Petelin interview with Sverdlovsk region Governor Yevgeny Kuivashev and Deputy Prosecutor General Yury Ponomaryov speaking on the persecution of Ura.ru website management; p 7 (484 words).

9. Mikhail Vignansky and Konstantin Volkov article headlined "Georgia Getting Ready for Elections and Reckless Schemes" comments on the election campaigns of the current Georgian government and opposition; p 5 (400 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Yelena Kukol article headlined "Ruble Against Barrel" reviews the draft of the Russian federal budget and notes that it is not linked to world oil prices for the first time; p 1 (1,093 words).

2. Yury Gavrilov article headlined "Short-Term Call-Up" reports on the beginning of the autumn call-up in Russia; p 1 (470 words).

3. Anna Zakatnova article headlined "Everybody to Court" says that a proposal that new political parties should be registered within the Constitutional Court has been voiced during an international conference in the Russian Constitutional Court; p 2 (600 words).

4. Galina Bryntseva interview with Russian children's ombudsman Pavel Astakhov criticizing the Finnish authorities for the scandal over the family of a Russian woman whose four children have been taken from her; p 5 (1,102 words).

Moskovsky Komsomlets

1. Nikolai Vardul article headlined "Politicians? Vampires!" reviews the draft of the federal budget submitted to the State Duma; pp 1-2 (527 words).

2. Dmitry Popov article headlined "Dmitry Rogozin's 'Star Landing Force'" comments on a proposal by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin to prohibit men who avoided military service to become officials; pp 1-2 (389 words).

3. Irina Finyakina article headlined "How to Make Imperturbable Finn Out of Russian Rebel" comments on the scandal with the removal of children from the family of a Russian woman in Finland over alleged abuse; pp 1-2 (753 words).

4. Anastasia Rodionova article headlined "Will Rodina Become Authorities' 2nd Leg?" looks into a founding congress held by the newly set up Rodina party and says it might become a substitution to the party of power in the future; p 2 (350 words).

5. Alexander Nevzorov article headlined "Orthodoxy or Life" says the Russian Orthodox Church is unable to respond to the challenges of life today and prefers to defend itself by repressive laws; p 3 (1,151 words).

6. Ilya Baranikas article headlined "Investor Without Complexes" says U.S. Republican candidate Mitt Romney used to invest money in Russian companies' shares despite his tough anti-Russian rhetoric; p 4 (595 words).

7. Igor Obolensky article headlined "It Is Sunny in Georgia. And Uncomfortably" says that Georgia is due to elect its new parliament today; however, most people are likely to vote not "for" but "against" the candidates taking part in the election; p 2 (700 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Irina Gordiyenko article headlined "Georgian History to Be Made Today" reports on the parliamentary election campaign in Georgia; pp 12-13 (2,416 words).

RBK Daily

1. Anastasia Sotnikova article headlined "Rosgeologia Finds Extraction" says the Rosgeologia state holding plans to get engaged not only in prospecting but also in oil and gas extraction; p 1 (460 words).

2. Tatyana Kosobokova interview with Dmitry Badovsky, former deputy head of the presidential administration's domestic policy directorate, and current CEO of the Institute of Socioeconomic and Political Studies, speaking on Putin's policy, the Russian middle class and research the fund is to carry out for the Kremlin; p 5 (2,500 words).

Moskovskiye Novosti

1. Iolanta Kachayeva and Mikhail Moshkin article headlined "Mosque Outside Window" says that Muscovites are opposing the construction of new mosques in the city; pp 6-8 (1,350 words).

2. Alexandra Beluza article headlined "Pipe, Passport, Twitter" provides experts' comments on whether it will be difficult to "close the country" and restrict relations with the West; pp B4-B5 (850 words).

Oct. 1, 2012/BBC Monitoring/©BBC? 

Related articles:

• What the Papers Say, Sept. 28, 2012
• What the Papers Say, Sept. 27, 2012
• What the Papers Say, Sept. 26, 2012