What the Papers Say, July 27, 2012

Kommersant

1. Anastasia Gorshkova and Natalya Skorlygina article headlined "Yukos Case Brings Dividends" says that the Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal has found Russia liable for expropriating the investment of a minority shareholder of the now defunct oil giant Yukos and obliged it to pay $2 million in compensation and the interests accrued over five years; pp 1, 9 (893 words).

2. Alexei Dospekhov article headlined "Third Will Not Be One Too Many" looks at the chances of the Russian team at the London 2012 Olympics; pp 1, 12 (966 words).

3. Dmitry Butrin et al. report headlined "One Not to Get Education in One Day" says that the Finance Ministry has hampered Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's plan to quickly get the government to approve the bill on education as it opposed the amendments made as part of a compromise with the education lobby; pp 1-2 (858 words).

4. Olga Shestopal et al. report headlined "Outflow Denied" says that the capital flight that the banking system was accountable for in 2011 totaled $23 billion. The majority of Russian subsidiaries of foreign banks deny they supported their head structures; pp 1, 8 (985 words).

5. Maxim Ivanov article headlined "Russians Loyal to Vertical Chain of Command" says that 55 percent of Russians polled by the Levada Center are sure that the most important decisions are made in the presidential administration. Moreover, the majority of those polled do not think that it is the parliament that should make the most important decisions; p 2 (466 words).

6. Alexei Shapovalov article headlined "Investors Lose Interest in Russia" looks at the statistics published by the Central Bank, which show that direct foreign investment in Russia decreased in the first quarter of 2012; p 2 (576 words).

7. Viktor Khamrayev article headlined "Officials' Foreign Deposits to Be Posted on Internet" says that United Russia Deputy Sergei Zheleznyak and A Just Russia Deputy Ilya Ponomarev have tabled a bill with the State Duma to oblige all parliamentarians and state officials of all levels to officially declare their deposits in foreign banks as well as foreign property and shares of foreign companies; p 2 (494 words).

8. Natalya Bashlykova and Sergei Goryashko article headlined "United Russia Demands Apologies From Smolensk Region Governor" looks at the conflict between the Smolensk region governor, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Alexei Ostrovsky, and the regional United Russia's branch; p 3 (793 words).

9. Grigory Tumanov article headlined "Protest Against Outcome of Protest" says that some 2,500 people took part in a rally in Moscow on July 26 to support those who had been arrested during an investigation into clashes with police on May 6. The protesters demanded an amnesty for the arrested and closure of the criminal cases; p 3 (575 words).

10. Vasily Golovnin interview with Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba, who is visiting Russia today, headlined "South Kurils, Humanitarian Problem" where he speaks about ways to solve the territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands between the countries; p 6 (522 words).

11. Maria Yefimova article headlined "Turkey on Verge of War" says that Turkey is getting ready to invade Syria in order to weaken the positions of Kurdish separatists who have taken under control the northeast of Syria; p 6 (471 words).

12. Kirill Melnikov article headlined "Natural Resources Ministry Backs Bashneft and LUKoil" says that Bashneft and LUKoil may get back the license for development of the Trebs and Titov oil fields; p 9 (465 words).

13. Maxim Yusin article headlined "Arabs to Bypass Veto" says that Saudi Arabia plans to appeal to the UN General Assembly and seek approval of the resolution calling for a political transition and establishment of a democratic government in Syria. The move is aimed at moving the discussion to a broader area and showing Moscow's and Beijing's international isolation there; p 6 (397 words).

14. Sergei Strokan interview with the Foreign Minister of Cyprus, Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis, headlined "Russian Companies Also Take Part in Tender for Offshore Companies" where she speaks about the development of oil fields off Cyprus; p 6 (516 words).

15. Dmitry Tratas article headlined "Rules of Game" looks at the crisis unfolding in the euro zone; p 7 (393 words).

16. Pavel Belavin report "Moscow Gets in News" says that the Moscow city government will buy radio frequency 105,2 FM from the founder of Next FM, Yulia Yakovleva; p 7 (500 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Olga Shulga article headlined "In Hope of Politically Stable Autumn" says that polls conducted by Levada Center have shown that some 30 percent of those polled expect that the political situation in autumn will worsen. However, only 13 percent believe that it will result in the early resignation of the president; pp 1, 3 (600 words).

2. Svetlana Gamova article headlined "War of Monuments Unfolds in Moldova" says that Moldovan veterans of the World War II have asked the presidents of CIS countries to help protect the monuments to the servicemen who perished during the war which the Moldovan parliament included in the blacklist of symbols of the totalitarian past; pp 1, 6 (600 words).

3. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Judges With Prosecutor's Accent" says that double standards in the Russian justice system are destroying society because tough sentences on successful businessmen and unreasonably lenient sentences on corrupt officials and criminals have become an alarming trend; pp 1, 3 (700 words).

4. Nikolai Surkov article headlined "Bashar Assad Has to Hurl All Efforts Into Aleppo" says that the Syrian authorities are deploying troops to the city of Aleppo to push insurgents out of the country's economic center. Meanwhile, the opposition prepares to set up a "Syrian Benghazi" and form a transition government; pp 1, 7 (600 words).

5. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Bolotnaya Investigation Spins Up" says that law enforcers have arrested two more participants in the May 6 protests. In addition, Moscow's Basmanny Court has refused to return the money seized during a search from Ksenia Sobchak's flat under the pretext that she financed unrest during the rally; pp 1, 5 (600 words).

6. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Olympic Sochi Being Switched to Kerosene and Batteries" says that infrastructure-related problems are worsening in Sochi as the infrastructure's wear and tear has reached 80 percent; pp 1, 4 (600 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Electricity and Democracy" says that the government's ambitious plans for overall spread of digital TV, Internet and telephone access are doomed as it is impossible to combine the rigidly centralized state with up-to-date information technologies; p 2 (400 words).

8. Andrei Melnikov article headlined "Ukraine Meets Patriarch With Open Heart" looks at the visit of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia to Ukraine; p 2 (600 words).

9. Igor Naumov article headlined "Medvedev Does Not See Himself in Presidium" says that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has changed the format of the government's work; p 4 (450 words).

10. Yury Roks article headlined "Georgia Being Split Up" looks at the pre-election confrontation in Georgian society, which may affect the church as well; p 6 (600 words).

11. Oleg Vladykin article headlined "Landing Fist Created" says that Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Vice-Admiral Viktor Chirkov has explained at a news conference why five Russian ships with marines aboard set off for the Syrian shore; p 2 (600 words).

12. Oleg Nikiforov article headlined "Gazprom's Stake on Football" says that Gazprom's management keeps sticking to the inefficient policy and ignoring the real situation on the gas market; p 3 (500 words).

13. Viktoria Panfilova article headlined "Hour of Quiet in Gorno-Badakhshan" says that the moratorium on military actions in the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region in Tajikistan has been prolonged. Experts, however, are sure that the conflict is far from being over; p 6 (650 words).

14. Darya Tsiryulik article headlined "Kids of Russian Spies Stir U.S.A. Up" says that former and current U.S.officials have leaked information about the Russian spy network exposed in the U.S.A. in 2010. According to them, the spies planned that their children, who had been born in the U.S.A., would follow suit; p 7 (500 words).

Vedomosti

1. Margarita Lyutova and Filipp Sterkin article headlined "Tax on Scheme" says that tax officers have found a way to fight money laundering: by imposing income tax on the amounts that fly-by-night companies remit to people's cards; pp 1, 3 (656 words).

2. Anastasia Golitsyna article headlined "Facebook Faces Trouble" says that after Facebook's share prices dropped on July 24, investors started reassessing the entire sector of social networks; p 1 (445 words).

3. Maria Zheleznova et al. report headlined "In the Name of Bastrykin" says that opposition activist and blogger Alexei Navalny has said in his blog that head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin not only had a share in a company based in the Czech Republic, but the deals with this share had been conducted based on forged letters of attorney; pp 1-2 (771 words).

4. Editorial headlined "To Increase, Not to Cut Savings" criticizes the plans to reduce the cumulative part of retirement pensions as the cumulative part should be increased rather than curtailed; pp 1, 4 (571 words).

5. Polina Khimshiashvili article headlined "'Be Proud of Present'" says that the parliamentary election campaign has been launched in Ukraine; p 2 (458 words).

6. Editorial headlined "Domestic Reputation" looks at a new scandal involving head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin's property in the Czech Republic, which reflects a new round of struggle between law enforcers inside the ruling elite; p 4 (358 words).

7. Yevgenia Pismennaya article headlined "Between Medvedev and Putin" says that economists have called on Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to revise the budget policy he established as the head of state because with such high expenses in the defense industry he will not be able to fulfill the task to develop education and healthcare that President Vladimir Putin has set; p 3 (857 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Vladislav Kulikov article headlined "Rent Briefcase. Cheaply" says that the Justice Ministry has drafted rules on officials' rotation; pp 1 5 (600 words).

2. Tatyana Smolyakova article headlined "Neither Two nor One and Half" says that Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets has suggested that the cumulative part of retirement pensions be reduced; pp 1-2 (600 words).

3. Kira Latukhina article headlined "Not to Let Anybody Offend" looks at the meeting to discuss the fulfillment of the state defense program in Sochi chaired by Putin; p 2 (600 words).

4. Sergei Ptichkin article headlined "Get Washed Away After Alert" says that experts have warned that there are some 5,000 facilities in Russia that may cause a disaster; p 3 (800 words).

5. Yelena Kukol article headlined "Russians Coming!" says that U.S. trade unions have sent a letter to Congress to warn about "a possible expansion of Russian companies" on U.S. markets; p 4 (650 words).

6. Yekaterina Zabrodina article headlined "Not a Step Back" says that the struggle for Aleppo may become a turning point in the Syrian conflict; p 8 (500 words).

Izvestia

1. Dina Ushakova article headlined "Early Pensions for Doctors and Teachers to Be Cancelled" looks at the changes awaiting the pensions system; pp 1, 4 (718 words).

2. Pyotr Kozlov article headlined "Bailiffs Look for Berezovsky's 3.3 billion rubles" says that the Federal Bailiff Service has seized the accounts and property owned by tycoon Boris Berezovsky in Russia to compensate for more than 3.3 billion rubles (roughly $102 million) Berezovsky owes to Aeroflot and the Samara region government under a court ruling; pp 1, 4 (500 words).

3. Anastasia Novikova and Olga Tropkina article headlined "Tkachyov Not to Be Sacrificed to Public Opinion" says that Krasnodar region Governor Alexander Tkachyov will not lose his post over the recent disastrous flood in the region; pp 1, 3 (626 words).

4. Igor Yavlyansky interview with Foreign Minister of Cyprus Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis headlined "Cyprus Ready to Accept Europeans Evacuated From Syria" where she speaks about the role Cyprus may play in the settlement of the Syrian conflict; p 5 (681 words).

5. Olga Tropkina article "Supporters Begin to Leave Mikhail Prokhorov" says that a split may occur among supporters of businessman and former presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov; p 2 (450 words).

6. Dmitry Drobnitsky report "Oh Sport, You Are Politics!" looks at the history of the Olympic movement and at the Olympic games opening in London today; p 8 (800 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Tatyana Artyukhova report "Masha, Olympic Games Are Ours!" looks at the Russian team taking part in the Olympics; p 1 (200 words).

2. Darya Fedotova report "Sobchak Remains Without Money" says that Moscow's Basmanny Court has refused to force investigators to return the money seized from TV host Ksenia Sobchak's flat; pp 1, 3 (600 words).

3. Yeva Merkacheva interview headlined "Terrible Stress Killed Magnitsky" with Dmitry Kratov, former doctor of the Butyrka remand center where Hermitage Capital fund lawyer Sergei Magnitsky died; pp 1, 4 (1,000 words).

4. Dmitry Popov report "Navalny Is Ally of United Russia Member" looks at blogger Alexei Navalny making accusations against chairman of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin; p 1 (400 words).

5. Igor Subbotin report "Leader's Singing Wife" looks at the wife of the North Korean leader; p 3 (300 words).

6. Stanislav Belkovsky report "Vladimir Putin: Results of Super Season" looks at the current political situation in Russia; p 3 (800 words).

RBK Daily

1. Ivan Petrov et al. report "Pan Bastrykin" says that the Russian authorities will not react to Navalny's statements accusing Bastrykin of having assets in the Czech Republic. It is not ruled out that criminal proceedings over defamation will be instituted against Navalny himself; pp 1, 2 (600 words).

2. Yulia Kalachikhina report "To Earn From Olympics" says that Britain hopes that the expenses incurred because of the games will be repaid; pp 1, 3 (900 words).

3. Katerina Kitayeva interview with Demyan Kudryavtsev, former head of the holding company Kommersant; p 4 (1,300 words).

Moskovskiye Novosti

1. Oleg Shamonayev report "Giving Up Principles" says that Russia needs victories rather than simple participation in the Olympic games in London; p 1 (600 words).

2. Yulia Khomchenko report "Goodbye, America" says that Russia has threatened to suspend ratification of the agreement on adoption with the U.S.A.; p 3 (500 words).

Trud

1. Unattributed report "Murzilki Conquers London" says that Russia's Avtoradio will set up a studio in London during the Olympic games; p 5 (300 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Newspaper publishes several articles under the headline "Great Russian Fence" looking at the Russian authorities' desire to shut down the Internet in the country; pp 2-3 (1,900 words).

July 27, 2012/BBC Monitoring/©BBC