What the Papers Say, Jan. 29, 2013

Kommersant

1. Maxim Ivanov et al. report headlined "Only Kremlin can be better than mountains" says that Madomedsalam Magomedov, who has resigned from the post of Dagestan's head, will work in the Russian presidential administration; pp 1-2 (1,200 words).

2. Pyotr Netreba et al. report headlined "Regional Development Ministry receives big wallet" says the Regional Development Ministry receives a record large budget as part of the reform aiming to make regions more financially independent; pp 1-2 (800 words).

3. Irina Nagornykh et al. report headlined "Interface changed for Public Chamber" looks at the bill to reform the Russian Public Chamber submitted to the State Duma; pp 1, 3 (1,000 words).

4. Yevgenia Pertseva article headlined "Merger prescribed to pharmacies" says the owners of the 36.6 and A5 pharmacies networks plan to merge their businesses; pp 1, 10 (800 words).

5. Ivan Buranov article headlined "Vladimir Putin puts Moscow on rails" says that President Vladimir Putin has approved the financing from the federal budget for commuter trains development in Moscow as a way to resolve transport problems in the city; p 2 (600 words).

6. Anton Arsenyev et al. report headlined "Vladimir Lukin follows trails of mobile ballot boxes" says that Russian ombudsman Vladimir Lukin has sued the electoral commissions in St Petersburg, Stavropol Territory and Tambov Region after they refused to provide him with information on the use of mobile ballot boxed during the presidential election. Opposition activist Sergey Parkhomenko complained to the ombudsman about the violation of the electoral law in the regions; p 3 (750 words).

7. Ivan Safronov report "There is much military secret in Russian expenditure" looks at the report by Transparency International on corruption in the defence sector worldwide, including Russia; p 3 (600 words).

8. Maksim Varyvdin interview with the chairwoman of the Moscow city court, Olga Yegorova, speaking on foreign adoption of Russian orphans, the Oboronservis case, and the work of Moscow judges; p 4 (3,400 words).

9. Vladislav Trifonov report "Lawyers to be appointed in Sergey Magnitskiy case" says that Moscow's Tverskoy court intends to involve appointed lawyers in Sergey Magnitskiy's case; p 5 (500 words).

10. Georgiy Dvali article headlined "Georgian Patriarch accused of spiritual betrayal of motherland" says that Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's supporters have criticized the Georgian Patriarch for his visit to Moscow; p 6 (450 words).

11. Sergey Strokan article headlined "Egypt shifts to state of emergency" says that protesters do not hurry to leave streets of Egyptian cities despite the fact that the authorities have declared the state of emergency in three cities; p 6 (450 words).

12. Alexander Reutov article headlined "Malian scenario prepared for Congo" says the African Union summit has failed to resolve the Congo conflict, as the signing of the relevant agreement was disrupted; p 6 (450 words).

13. Yelena Chernenko report "Pentagon prescribes high feeding to computers" says that Pentagon plans to increase by five times the number of personnel of the United States Cyber Command; p 6 (600 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Ukraine between default and social explosion" says the Ukrainian government will have to raise gas and public utilities tariffs in order to secure another IMF loan; pp 1, 6 (1,164 words).

2. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Sergei Shoigu to give new moral image to Armed Forces" says a new personnel department in charge of education and morale of the Armed Forces is to be set up within the Russian Defense Ministry; pp 1-2 (635 words).

3. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Electoral pureness of domestic Themis" says the Moscow city court has started preliminary hearings in the tax evasion criminal case against Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Moscow remand center in 2009. The relatives of the man refuse to take part in the trial; pp 1, 3 (696 words).

4. Viktoria Panfilova article headlined "Space tensions above Baykonur" outlines Kazakhstan's claims to the Baykonur space centre; pp 1, 6 (978 words).

5. Sergey Kulikov article headlined "Problem of Cyprus to hit Russia" says the Cypriot financial problem may hit the Russian economy hard; that is why Moscow is speaking about the need for financial assistance to the country. Meanwhile, the EU refuses to allocate money to Cyprus without the full revision of its banking system; pp 1, 4 (834 words).

6. Andrei Serenko article headlined "Mayor being chosen for hero city" says that deputy prime minister of the Volgograd Region government Vasily Galushkin is expected to become a new city manager of Volgograd; pp 1, 5 (624 words).

7. Velimir Razuvayev article headlined "Gone to Kremlin of his own free will" says that One Russia MP Ramzan Abdulatipov has replaced Magomedsalam Magomedov as Dagestan's president. The latter will work in the Russian presidential administration; p 2 (557 words).

8. Editorial headlined "Reset ends, what is next?" looks at Russian-U.S. relations and pins hopes on the Russian-US summit, which could take place any time in the future as Moscow has invited U.S. President Barack Obama; p 2 (444 words).

9. Veniamin Popov report "Short road from Benghazi to (?Aminas)" says that a new front of confrontation between the West and the Islamic world has appeared; p 3 (600 words).

10. Alexander Karavayev report "Russia's defense: Will dreams come true?" says that Russia's military-industrial sector may absorb a considerable part of the country's economy; p 5 (850 words).

11. Nikolai Surkov article headlined "Middle East in fear of new Taleban" says that Israel and Jordan are getting ready for an operation against Syria as there is a risk of militants getting hold of chemical weapons in the country; p 7 (665 words).

12. Yury Paniyev article headlined "Americans ask Congress to pass 'Dolmatov list'" says around 30,000 people have signed a petition to the U.S. Congress to impose sanctions against the Dutch officials who drove Russian opposition activist Alexander Dolmatov to suicide; p 7 (710 words).

13. Darya Tsilyurik article headlined "War between north and south becoming imminent in Afghanistan" says the opposition movement is growing stronger in Afghanistan ahead of the presidential election. The security situation in the country is deteriorating; p 7 (622 words).

14. Brief unattributed report says that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will resign; p 7 (150 words).

15. Yulia Sveshnikova interview with an Iranian expert who speaks about Iran's nuclear program; p 14 (1,900 words).

16. Georgy Mirskiy report comments on the Iranian nuclear program and the USA's stance on it; p 14 (1,500 words).

17. Yury Solomonov report looks at a live link-up carried out by Russian TV presenter Vladimir Pozner with the participation of Russian and US civil activists; p 15 (3,900 words).

Vedomosti

1. Alexandra Terentyeva and Irina Reznik article headlined "Gold for his own people" says Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov is to sell a 38-per-cent stake in the Polyus Gold company to State Duma deputy Zelimkhan Mutsoyev and former co-owner of Vimm-Bill-Dann soft drinks company Gavriil Yushvayev; pp 1, 12 (556 words).

2. Maria Dranishnikova article headlined "Country of originals" says medicines are to go up in price in Russia as pharmaceutical companies will not be allowed to replace the original medicine with cheaper generics without additional tests; pp 1, 18 (473 words).

3. Editorial headlined "To seize and rebuild" says the Big Moscow project will allow the authorities to seize land from owners in Moscow Region. The article criticises the relevant bill submitted to the State Duma; pp 1, 6 (397 words).

4. Irina Novikova article called "From Dagestan to Kremlin" says that Magomedsalam Magomedov has lost the highest post in Dagestan; p 2 (600 words).

5. Editorial headlined "Crisis of patriotism" says President Vladimir Putin is ready to sacrifice budget revenues for the sake of financial patriotism as he orders the sale of state assets at the Moscow stock exchange alone; p 6 (283 words).

6. Sergei Guriyev report "Damned questions of 'Russian' Davos" looks at the results of the economic forum in Davos; pp 6-7 (1,400 words).

7. Anastasia Golitsyna report "Google steps up pace" says that the number of users of Google and Vkontakte is rising in Russia; p 16 (600 words).

Izvestia

1. German Petelin and Yelizaveta Mayetnaya article headlined "Person involved in Oboronservis case received tours and computers as bribes" says a new criminal case has been opened against Yekaterina Smetanova, suspected of fraud in the Oboronservis company. She is suspected of receiving bribes from businessmen; pp 1, 4 (823 words).

2. Maria Kiseleva article headlined "Russia to be cut into beneficial corridors" outlines measures to be taken to reduce customs barriers and turn Russia into a transit corridor for cargoes going from Asia to Europe; pp 1, 3 (544 words).

3. Vladimir Barinov article headlined "Police to have electric contact with trespassers" says the Russian Interior Ministry will spend R60m (around 2m dollars) on re-equipment of policemen; a large number of electric shockers will be bought for the Moscow police; pp 1, 4 (518 words).

4. Natalya Korchmarek article headlined "Bloggers to be checked for promotion of pedophilia" says blogs in the Russian section of the Internet will be checked for paedophilia content; pp 1, 4 (453 words).

5. Mikhail Rubin et al. report headlined "Magomedsalam Magomedov to deal with Caucasus strategy" says that former Dagestan's head Magomedsalam Magomedov has been offered a post in the Russian presidential administration, but he has no real powers there; p 2 (695 words).

6. Tatyana Sharapova interview with State Duma deputy Mikhail Starshinov, one of the authors of the controversial bill banning foreign citizens from working on the Russian federal TV channels, or the so-called anti-Pozner bill. Starshinov speaks on the bill and Vladimir Pozner's apologies for an offensive remark in one of his shows; p 3 (797 words).

7. Maria Gorkovskaya and Igor Yavlyansky article headlined "Army remains last hope for President Morsi" says the crisis in Egypt is growing as the opposition refuses to start talks with the authorities; p 7 (500 words).

8. Svetlana Sukhova interview with Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland, speaking on the Magnitsky Act and the Dima Yakovlev law and on the effect of the law on Russian-EU relations; p 7 (557 words).

9. Mikhail Delyagin report "Davos: Bride show of liberals" looks at the results of the Davos forum; p 9 (900 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Roman Markelov article headlined "If war starts tomorrow. Currency war" analyses a threat of a new global financial crisis; pp 1, 3 (807 words).

2. Timur Aliyev article headlined "Voluntary resignation" says that according to the Kremlin, Dagestan's head Magomedsalam Magomedov has resigned voluntarily from his post; pp 1-2 (800 words).

3. Yevgeny Shestakov article headlined "Reborn by revolution" says the Egyptian authorities cannot take the situation in the country under control; pp 1, 8 (559 words).

4. Natalya Kozlova article headlined "Barley place" analyses prospects for prosecution of former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, as the construction of a road to the summer cottage of his brother-in-law was financed from public funds; p 7 (628 words).

5. Natalia Yachmennikova report "Monkey flies to space" says that Iran has sent a monkey into space on board a rocket; p 8 (400 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Mikhail Rostovskiy article headlined "In accordance with Kremlin's hospitality laws" says the Kremlin has had to pay "ransom" for the dismissal of Dagestan's head Magomedsalam Magomedov; pp 1-2 (663 words).

2. Unattributed article headlined "Ramzan comes to Dagestan" looks at the career of Ramzan Abdulatipov appointed new acting head of Dagestan; p 2 (549 words).

3. Viktoria Prikhodko report "Putin may be provided with lodging in aluminium house" comments on rumours about Putin visiting Antarctica; p 2 (500 words).

Novyye Izvestia

1. Gennady Savchenko article headlined "Plant enriched with rumors" comments on the rumors about an explosion at a nuclear facility in Iran; p 2 (405 words).

2. Arfi Gevorkyan interview with the scientific supervisor of the Higher School of Economics, Yevgeniy Yasin, who speaks about the results of the economic forum in Davos and the development of business in Russia; pp 1, 3 (700 words).

3. Yuliya Savina article headlined "Unexpected replacement" comments on the appointment of Ramazan Abdulatipov as acting president of the Russian North Caucasus Republic of Dagestan; p 2 (600 words).

RBK Daily

1. Alexander Litoy article headlined "Electoral commissions without opposition" says opposition activists will manage to become members of electoral commissions only in Russia's largest cities, namely Moscow, St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. Meanwhile, One Russia will send its candidates to all of the commissions currently being formed in Russia; p 2 (350 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Yelena Krivyakina interview with One Russia MP Mikhail Starshinov headlined "Pozner apologizes to Duma". Starshinov comments on journalist Vladimir Pozner's apology for a slip of a tongue in one of his programs and the decision to drop a draft law restricting the right of journalists holding foreign passports to work on state television. The law was apparently directed against Pozner who is said to have three citizenships - French and US in addition to Russian; p 3 (430 words).

2. Alexander Gamov interview with Magomedsalam Magomedov, former head of the Republic of Dagestan, who speaks about his resignation and the appointment of Ramazan Abdulatipov; p 5 (400 words).

3. Alexander Grishin article headlined "Execution in the name of Obama" comments on a UN investigation launched to examine the legality of drone attacks; p 8 (900 words).

Trud

1. Sergei Frolov article headlined "True to the testament of Byzantium" comments on the resignation of Magomedsalam Magomedov and the appointment of Ramazan Abdulatipov as acting president of the Republic of Dagestan; p 1 (350 words).

Moskovskiye Novosti

1. Irina Granik interview with Russian business rights ombudsman Boris Titov, who speaks about the development of business in Russia; pp 4-5; (1,300 words).

Jan. 29, 2013/BBC Monitoring/©BBC