What the Papers Say, Mar. 18, 2013

Kommersant

1. Tatyana Yedovina et al. report headlined "Writing off for sake of salvation" says that Cyprus will have to impose a one-time tax on the deposits in the country if it wants to get the EU's 10bn-dollar loan, and looks at the consequences; pp 1, 6 (1,276 words).

2. Kirill Belyaninov and Yelena Chernenko article headlined "USA changes location of missile defense" says that Moscow is not overjoyed at Washington's decision to scrap phase four of the European missile shield in Poland; pp 1, 8 (887 words).

3. Vladislav Novyy article headlined "Sergey Kalugin being returned to Rostelekom" says that the founder of the National Cable Systems company Sergey Kalugin may substitute the incumbent president of the biggest telecommunications operator Rostelekom; pp 1, 12 (751 words).

4. Aleksandra Bayazitova and Anastasiya Gorshkova article headlined "Additional emission possible" says that the State Duma will soon consider a bill which will facilitate the attraction of major investors for joint-stock companies via additional emission of shares; pp 1, 10 (681 words).

5. Viktor Khamrayev et al. report headlined "Andrey Isayev tells off newspaper" says that in response to the article headlined "Political prostitution changes gender" published in Moskovsky Komsomolets on 16 March the State Duma deputy, One Russia member, Andrey Isayev, promised that the editor and the journalist would face tough consequences. Meanwhile, the newspaper's editor in chief said he would ask the Prosecutor-General's Office to check if the warning contained extremism; p 2 (735 words).

6. Taisiya Bekbulatova article headlined "Governors to run in election as achievers and non-achievers" looks at a new rating of regional heads' political survival made by the Petersburg Policy foundation; p 2 (445 words).

7. Andrey Krasnov article headlined "Ramzan Kadyrov finds minister in blog" says that head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has set up a new ministry aimed to ensure the government's interaction with civil society; p 2 (378 words).

8. Aleksandr Chernykh et al. report headlined "Reader granted access to Schneerson's library" says that the Russian authorities have decided to hand over the Schneerson's collection of books to Russian Chasids to be kept in the Museum of Tolerance; p 4 (726 words).

9. Article by politician and businessman Mikhail Prokhorov headlined "Rules of game" says that the decision of the Cypriot authorities to forcefully take 6-10 per cent of the amount of bank deposits and exchange them for shares of Cypriot banks on the verge of bankruptcy is a real financial mine for the EU; p 6 (478 words).

10. Roman Yanushevskiy and Mariya Yefimova article headlined "Israel to miss American millions" says that due to the cuts in the US budget the financing of Washington's military aid to Israel will also be curtailed; p 7 (351 words).

11. Aleksey Bragov article headlined "China appoints those responsible for special way" looks at the challenges the new Chinese leadership is faced with; p 7 (691 words).

12. Maksim Yusin opinion column headlined "Price of issue" says that the situation in Syria is becoming absurd as France and the UK are ready to supply arms, including ground-to-air missiles to Bashar al-Asad's opponents whereas the USA is going to conduct pinpoint elimination of leaders of radical Islamist groups among the Syrian opposition using drones; p 8 (347 words).

13. Anatoly Maksimov article headlined "Syrian opposition being prepared for decisive battle" says that the EU may soon split over the Syrian conflict as France and the UK insist on lifting embargo on arms supplies to Bashar al-Asad's opponents, which Germany and several more countries oppose; p 8 (570 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Sergey Rogov article headlined "Barack Obama shows flexibility on missile defence" says that Washington will deploy additional strategic interceptors to Alaska to prevent a potential attack from North Korea; pp 1-2 (900 words).

2. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "New battle reserve of Supreme Commander" says that President Putin will soon sign a decree to create forces of special operations in Russia; pp 1, 4 (700 words).

3. Aleksandra Samarina article headlined "Party of real men" says that the conflict between State Duma deputy Andrey Isayev and the Moskovskiy Komsomolets newspaper has turned into a war between the One Russia party and journalists and bloggers; pp 1, 3 (600 words).

4. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Federation Council gives go-ahead for witch-hunt" looks at a new bill enabling deputies and senators to clear the parliament off political opponents; pp 1, 3 (850 words).

5. Yuriy Roks article headlined "Baku gets offended with Ankara" says that Azerbaijan wants Turkey to explain why there are direct flights from Turkey to Armenia; pp 1, 6 (850 words).

6. Yuriy Paniyev article headlined "Tax imposed on deposits in Cyprus" says that Russian depositors may lose up to 1.9bn dollars due to the decision of the Cypriot authorities to impose a tax on deposits; pp 1, 5 (750 words).

Vedomosti

1. Yevgeniya Pismennaya et al. article headlined "Budget took leftovers" says the government had spent the money allocated for the emergency fund, but ministries and departments will need even more; pp 1, 4 (600 words).

2. Olga Kuvshinova article headlined "Person of week: Elvira Nabiullina" says that Elvira Nabiullina's candidacy for the Central Bank head is a compromise which suits virtually everyone; p 7 (365 words).

3. Polina Khimshiashvili and Aleksey Nikolskiy article headlined "Domestic missiles" says that the Pentagon has decided to give up the deployment of missile defence system in Europe and deploy additional ballistic missile interceptors to Alaska and California; p 3 (636 words).

4. Irina Kezik article headlined "Offices for Rosneft" looks at the integration of Rosneft and TNK-BP which is supposed to last one year; p 12 (485 words).

5. Mariya Zheleznova article headlined "Round the clock protest" says that the non-systemic opposition plans to stage a rally in Bolotnaya Ploshchad (square) on the anniversary of the protest which resulted in clashes with the police on 6 May 2012; p 2 (314 words).

6. Editorial headlined "They give birth not for money" says it is impossible to increase demographic growth by financial means only; p 6 (299 words).

7. Olga Proskurina et al. report headlined "'I am a pilgrim and want to enter it with other pilgrims' — Pope Francis" looks ahead at the enthronement of Pope Francis set for 19 March; p 8 (2,263 words).

8. Roman Shleynov article headlined "I am no defence minister" is dedicated to head of the presidential administration Sergey Ivanov; p 20 (3,353 words).

9. Yekaterina Kravchenko article headlined "Cyprus to pay with somebody else's money" says that the parliament of Cyprus is to make a major choice today: to deprive depositors of 5.8bn euros or to give up the EU's 10bn-dollar loan; p 4 (567 words).

10. Vladislav Inozemtsev article headlined " Contract with epoch" says that President Putin will have to adjust his domestic policy as the mechanism which used to be efficient is no longer working; p 6 (1,410 words).

11. Editorial headlined "Party restructuring" says that One Russia has suffered another series of blows and speculates about changes awaiting the country's political landscape; pp 1, 6 (438 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Tatyana Zykova article headlined "Island of distrust" says that the EU's recent decision to demand some part of all bank deposits in Cyprus in exchange for the allocation of a 10bn-dollar loan is bound to cause people to lose trust in the entire financial system of the European Union; pp 1, 3 (1,000 words).

2. Kira Latukhina article headlined "Union on Neva" says Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka held a meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State of Russia and Belarus. They approved the budget of the Union State and agreed to jointly organize scientific programmes in Antarctica; p 2 (700 words).

3. Konstantin Novikov article headlined "With speed of world" says that political analyst Nikolay Zlobin has set up the Centre on Global Interests to study Russian-US relations; p 2 (500 words).

4. Kira Latukhina article headlined "To return to family" says that President Vladimir Putin has met children's ombudsman Pavel Astakhov; p 2 (700 words).

5. Vitaliy Petrov article headlined "Without mixed feelings" says the head of the State Duma Constitutional Legislation Committee, Vladimir Pligin, has advocated the need for a mixed system of parliamentary election in Russia; p 4 (300 words).

6. Yekaterina Zabrodina article headlined "Fleeing Paris" says that the French president's approval rating has dropped down to 30 per cent due to his economic policy; p 5 (500 words).

7. Olga Dmitriyeva article headlined "Process does not start" says that the start of the trial over the former FSB officer Aleksandr Litvinenko's death in London has been postponed until 2 October; p 5 (100 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Marina Ozerova article headlined "MPs unhappy with R160,000 salaries" says that even the politicians expelled from the parliament have a right to a high pension; pp 1-2 (450 words).

1.Unattributed article headlined "Judges dismiss lethal road accident case with sportsman's participation" says that a Moscow court has refused to consider a lethal road accident case involving fighter Ruslan Abalayev; p 1 (383 words).

2. Editorial headlined "Andrey Isayev has Twitter exacerbation" looks at the exchange of blows between One Russia's MP Andrey Isayev and Moskovskiy Komsomolets staff over the article "Political prostitution changes gender" published by MK on 16 March; p 2 (738 words).

3. Andrey Yashlavskiy et al. report headlined "Euro commits suicide in Cyprus" looks at the consequences of the decision to impose an unprecedented all-out cut on Cypriot deposits; p 3 (1,233 words).

4. Andrey Yashlavskiy article headlined "Xi Jinping promises great revival of Chinese nation" says that in his inaugural address as president Xi Jinping laid out his vision of the Chinese Dream"; p 3 (428 words).

5. Yuliya Ruzmanova and Pavel Chuvilyayev article headlined "Unemployment in Russia begins growing" says that amid a slowdown in the country's economic growth unemployment has started growing in Russia; p 4 (1,524 words).

6. Mariya Rybakova article headlined "What Dmitriy Gudkov said in US Senate" features a translation of State Duma deputy Dmitriy Gudkov's speech delivered at the Freedom House's forum at the US Senate; p 4 (1,402 words).

Izvestia

1. Mikhail Rubin article headlined "Kremlin forming staff reserve from opposition" says that the parliamentary opposition has reached agreement with the presidential administration on forming a new staff reserve; p 1 (527 words).

2. Alena Sivkova article headlined "Public Chamber members to be obliged to declare income" says that MPs are planning to improve the Public Chamber's reputation by making its members declare their income; pp 1, 4 (500 words).

3. Nadezhda Gladchenko article headlined "Sergey Filin accuses Tsiskaridze of blackmail" looks at the suspects in the acid attack on the Bolshoi Theatre ballet director, Sergey Filin; p 1 (626 words).

4. Svetlana Subbotina interview with One Russia deputy Andrey Isayev headlined "'I am ready to meet Gusev in prosecutor's office'" where he speaks about his confrontation with the Moskovskiy Komsomolets newspaper over its article criticizing the legislative performance of three female MPs; p 2 (654 words).

5. Mariya Gorkovskaya article headlined "New government in Israel to be formed by Obama's visit" looks at the situation in Israel ahead of US President Barack Obama's visit; p 7 (376 words).

6. Dina Ushakova and Anastasiya Kashevarova article headlined "Cypriot 'nationalization' to return capitals to Russia" ponders over the consequences of the decision of the Cypriot authorities to impose a tax on bank deposits; p 7 (1,033 words).

7. Maksim Sokolov article headlined "Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum" comments on the nomination of Elvira Nabiullina for the Central Bank head and what to expect of her; p 9 (684 words).

8. Viktor Toporov article headlined "Habemus mamam" looks at the reasons behind Elvira Nabiullina's nomination for the Central Bank head; p 9 (812 words).

9. Kirill Nikitin article headlined "Tithe in Cypriot way" looks at the reasons behind the decision to impose a tax on Cypriot bank deposits, consequences for the EU and euro and the upcoming visit of the Cypriot finance minister to Russia; p 9 (734 words).

RBK Daily

1. Vladimir Pavlov et al. article headlined "Financial Atlantis" says that the Russians keeping billions of euros in Cypriot banks will be the main victims of the new law raising profit tax for corporations; pp 1, 4 (950 words).

2. Anastasia Litvinova interview with the head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Aleksandr Shokhin, speaking on the prospects of Russian business and economy and Elvira Nabiullina's nomination as the head of the Central Bank; pp 1, 5 (2,400 words).

Novyye Izvestia

1. Margarita Alekhina article headlined "Censorship for tweeting" comments on the significance of the latest initiative of the Federal Service for Supervision in Telecommunications, Information Technology and Mass Communications (Roskomnadzor) banning some Twitter accounts in Russia; pp 1, 5 (600 words).

2. Nadezhda Krasilova article headlined "unforgiven on Sunday" says that most experts are convinced that by threatening journalists One Russia MP Andrey Isayev has harmed himself only; pp 1-2 (600 words).

3. Vera Maslova article headlined "Yet another candidate" features comments of experts from the Russian independent council for human rights speaking on the proposal to include the head of the Investigations Committee, Aleksandr Bastrykin, in the Magnitsky List; p 2 (600 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Andrey Kolesnikov article headlined "Why threats of MP Isayev cannot be left unanswered" analyses the latest scandal with the prominent One Russia MP, Andrey Isayev; p 2 (400 words).

2. Mariya Yepifanova article headlined "Duma found traitor to Russia among its members" comments on the idea to strip a Just Russia MP Dmitriy Gudkov of his seat in the State Duma for his trip to the USA; p 2 (700 words).

3. Yuliya Polukhina article headlined "Political investigation only manages to find real opposition in Russia" analyses the investigation into the mass disorders on 6 May 2012 in Bolotnaya Square in Moscow; p 3 (900 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Artur Galeyev article headlined "Russian companies to lose billions of dollars in Cyprus?" focuses on the possible negative fallout for the new Cypriot law raising profit tax for the Russian corporations keeping money in the country; p 2 (700 words).

Moskovskiye Novosti

1. Svetlana Babayeva interview with a political analyst Boris Makarenko speaking on the need for the Russian leadership to change its image and tactics; pp B2-B5 (3,200 words).

Mar. 18, 2013/BBC Monitoring/©BBC

Related articles:

• What the Papers Say, Mar. 15, 2012
• What the Papers Say, Mar. 14, 2012
• What the Papers Say, Mar. 13, 2012