What the Papers Say, Mar. 25, 2013

Kommersant

1. Ilya Barabanov et al. report headlined "Genius without country" recalls life, achievements and failures of late tycoon in exile Boris Berezovsky; pp 1, 4, 5 (3,300 words).

2. Maksim Ivanov and Anna Pushkarskaya article headlined "Justice Ministry criticizes system of non-executive power" says the Russian Justice Ministry has criticized the authorities who fail to implement the rulings of the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights; pp 1, 3 (650 words).

3. Vladislav Novyy and Yelena Kiseleva article headlined "Dissenters appear in Rostelekom" says minority shareholders of Rostelekom communications company are against one of the key points of the state-controlled assets reorganization: the price of the shares to be sold by the shareholders who disagree with the reform of the company; pp 1, 12 (600 words).

4. Aleksandra Bayazitova and Svetlana Dementyeva article headlined "Cancellation for million" report on new regulations for deposit insurance in Russia; pp 1, 10 (800 words).

5. Maksim Ivanov et al. report headlined "Retreat beaten to gubernatorial elections" says new amendments passed by the State Duma put an end to gubernatorial elections and return the system of appointing regional heads. Returning to this system breaches the equality of Russian regions and the international and legal custom saying that the level of reached democracy should not drop; p 2 (850 words).

6. Unattributed article polls politicians and public figures speaking on their attitude to late Boris Berezovsky and his role in the Russian history; p 5 (400 words).

7. Petr Netreba article headlined "Wrong time for Europe" says the Cyprus crisis has affected the Russian talks with the European Commission on cooperation in energy sphere; p 8 (750 words).

8. Anna Solodovnikova and Kirill Melnikov article headlined "Oil in return for credit" says that, during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Russia, it has been agreed that the export of oil to China by Russian Rosneft company is to grow by 15m tons, while Rosneft will receive a 2bn dollar credit in return; p 9 (700 words).

Vedomosti

1. Bela Lyauv article headlined "New tax on constructors" says a new bill may oblige developers pay a special construction tax starting from 2014; pp 1, 5 (591 words).

2. Yelizaveta Sergina article headlined "Vimpelcom to change location" says Vimpelcom is selling Algerian mobile phone operator Djezzy and is looking for a buyer for Canadian company Globalive Wireless; pp 1, 16 (692 words).

3. Editorial headlined "Exit from game" comments on the death of Boris Berezovsky and analyses his political legacy; pp 1, 6 (447 words).

4. Anastasiya Kornya article headlined "Dead ones on trial" says not only late Hermitage Capital fund lawyer Sergei Magnitsky is being tried in Russia, some dead people's cases are being heard in Russian regions as well; p 2 (553 words).

5. Polina Khimshiashvili article headlined "Best friend Xi" looks into the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Russia; p 3 (350 words).

6. Another editorial headlined "Chemistry likes strong ones" ridicules an initiative by the Education Ministry to make the physical state of school leavers one of the most important criteria for university admission; p 6 (316 words).

7. Kirill Kharatyan article headlined "Person of week: Xi Jinping" analyses prospects for new Chinese leader Xi Jinping; p 7 (367 words).

8. Olga Proskurnina article headlined "Forgive me for my greed" recalls life and career of Boris Berezovskiy; pp 8-9 (2,826 words).

9. Tatyana Bochkareva and Olga Kuvshinova article headlined "Last chance for Cyprus" predicts possible outcomes of the current financial situation in Cyprus; p 4 (600 words).

10. Olga Kuvshinova article headlined "Hole worth 500bn" says that the deficit in Russian regions has started to grow as they are unable to cover president Putin's pre-election promises; p 4 (400 words).

11. Margarita Papchenkova article headlined "Cyprus takes money away from Russia" says that Cypriot financial crisis has become the reason for the greatest outflow from the Russian stock funds in the last six months; p 14 (300 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Igor Naumov and Mikhail Sergeyev article headlined "Dispossession of public utilities sector" says the communists have staged rallies in many Russian regions calling for the state control over public utilities sector. Governors and the Kremlin back the idea, so the experiment of allowing private businesses to control the sector is likely to be finished; pp 1, 4 (875 words).

2. Aleksandra Samarina article headlined "Boris Berezovskiy fails to wait for forgiveness" says experts are speaking about the end of Berezovskiy era as the Russian tycoon in exile was found dead in his house in the UK; pp 1, 3 (1,057 words).

3. Ivan Rodin article headlined "MPs to amend law on gubernatorial elections" says the State Duma is to develop criteria for the regions willing to have their heads appointed rather than elected. No elections of Dagestan head are expected this autumn; pp 1, 3 (802 words).

4. Tatyana Dvoynova article headlined "Far Eastern package for price of R10,000bn" says Moscow plans to spend R10,000bn (around 333bn dollars) on the development of the Russian Far East, Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev has announced; pp 1 — 2 (603 words).

5. Svetlana Gamova article headlined "Dniester Region closes down" says Chisinau is displeased with Russian move to close the Dniester Region controlled by Russian peacekeepers for international observers; pp 1, 7 (742 words).

6. Yuriy Paniyev article headlined "President of Central African Republic flees, war escalates" says France has become involved in yet another African conflict as they are controlling the international airport in the Central African Republic where rebels occupied the presidential palace; pp 1, 8 (574 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Foreigners robbed at Aphrodite's island" says the current financial problem Cyprus is struggling with will spoil its image of the off-shore centre attractive for foreign investors; p 2 (553 words).

8. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "Moscow-Beijing: cooperation outside block" welcomes the rapprochement of Russia and China as it helps maintain geopolitical stability; p 8 (530 words).

9. Vladimir Davydov article headlined "BRICS against 'glamour of scepticism'" outlines topics to be raised at the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit this week; p 8 (666 words).

10. Yuriy Paniyev article headlined "Week in world: Barack Obama's Middle East mission" reviews the results of US President Barack Obama's Middle East tour; p 11 (587 words).

11. Irina Rodionova article headlined "'Very interesting adventure' of Rosneft" gives details of the acquisition of TNK-BP by Rosneft, saying the deal has set a new record in the history of oil and gas agreements; p 6 (1,200 words).

Izvestia

1. Dmitry Yevstifeyev article headlined "Family and Church waiting for certificate on cause of Berezovsky death" the relatives of the late businessman, Boris Berezovsky, want to carry out funerals in London's largest Orthodox Church; pp 1, 4 (814 words).

2. Margarita Kazantseva and Sergey Ispolatov article headlined "Dvorkovich wants to take mineral wealth under his control" says the head of the Russian Federal Agency for the Use of Mineral Wealth, Aleksandr Popov, may be sacked over his disagreements with Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich; pp 1, 3 (872 words).

3. Article by political scientist Boris Mezhuyev headlined "Modest charm of 'weak' Russia" looks into reasons which could have caused the depression and the death of Boris Berezovsky; pp 1, 9 (1,162 words).

4. Yuliya Tsoy article headlined "One Russia and LDPR deputies to punish Moskovsky Komsomolets with boycott" says a number of State Duma MPs have announced their decision not to give interview to Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper after it published a controversial article criticizing political affiliation of three female deputies; pp 1, 3 (499 words).

5. Aleksey Mikhaylov article headlined "Russian navy commissions submarine capable of 'seeing' for 600 kilometer distance" says the Russian Navy command want designers to develop a submarine capable of detecting targets in 600 kilometer distance; p 2 (625 words).

6. Mikhail Rubin interview with LDPR head Vladimir Zhirinovsky recalling his last meeting with Boris Berezovsky in January 2013; p 4 (595 words).

7. Mariya Gorkovskaya article headlined "Syrian conflict spreads to Lebanon" says clashes between supporters and opponents of the Syrian opposition have broken out in Lebanon; p 7 (407 words).

8. Konstantin Volkov article headlined "Russian community in UK does not believe in Berezovsky's suicide" interviews Russian immigrants in London who speak on Boris Berezovsky's death; p 7 (490 words).

9. Alena Sivkova article headlined "Federation Council prepared for Malkin's expulsion" says that senator Vitaliy Malkin may be expelled from the Federation Council for allegedly having double citizenship; pp 1, 3 (600 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Tatyana Zykova interview with Aleksandr Shokhin, head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs speaking on a proposal to set up off-shore zones in several Russian regions; pp 1, 5 (1,127 words).

2. Tatyana Mishina interview with Khabarovsk Region governor Vyacheslav Shport speaking on the social and economic development of the region; p 4 (827 words).

3. Yevgeniy Shestakov article headlined "BAB [Boris Abramovich Berezovskiy] last mystery" report on the probe into the death of Boris Berezovskiy in the UK; p 7 (957 words).

4. Kira Latukhina article headlined "To Moscow! To Moscow!" reviews the results of the new Chinese leader Xi Jinping's visit to Russia; p 2 (980 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Mikhail Rostovskiy article headlined "Faust Abramovich Berezovskiy" analyses Boris Berezovsky's influence on Russia's development; pp 1 — 2 (1,120 words).

2. Natalya Rozhkova interview with Aleksey Navalnyy speaking on criminal cases opened against him; pp 1, 4 (1,609 words).

3. Aleksandr Minkin article headlined "The one who offends us not to live another day" comments on Boris Berezovsky's last interview and allegations that he wrote a letter to Russian President Putin; pp 1 — 2 (1,561 words).

4. Mikhail Zubov and Yelena Egorova article headlined "Last words of friends and foes" features politicians and public figures' comments on their attitude to Boris Berezovskiy; p 3 (550 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Sergey Kanev article headlined "Moscow-Yurt" looks into a story of the so-called "Kadyrov bodyguards", several Chechen policemen who had been arrested for the alleged abuse of power and then released from jail, and features comments of a group of officers of the Russian Federal Security Service demanding further investigation of their abuse of power; pp 1-3 (1,300 words).

2. Pavel Kanygin article headlined "Russia is not one of three creditors" says that Russia is not one of the major European creditors, that is European Commission, European Central bank and International Monetary Fund, therefore Moscow is in no haste to provide Cyprus with financial aid; p 5 (600 words).

3. Yuliya Latynina article says that Russia is not interested in aiding Cyprus but has certain grounds to turn it bankrupt; p 6 (550 words).

4. Vera Chelishcheva article headlined "One could not look away from empty cage" looks into hearings of the Magnitskiy criminal case in Moscow court; pp 7, 8 (500 words).

5. Olga Prosvirova article headlined "Raid with elements of sweeping purge" says there is an overall check into Russian non-profit organizations' activities; p 9 (1,000 words).

Novyye Izvestia

1. Olga Churakova article headlined "Not your business" says that the Russian authorities have declared war on small businesses and many of them have to close down; pp 1, 3 (1,200 words).

2. Valeriy Yakov article headlined "Death of cardinal" comments on the death of the Russian oligarch Boris Berezovskiy; pp 1-2 (700 words).

3. Yuliya Savina article headlined "He knew he could not come back" looks into an investigation of Boris Berezovsky's death in the UK; p 2 (800 words).

4. Margarita Alekhina article headlined "Non-courtesy call" says that the Russian prosecutors have lashed out against the independent public organisations in the country; p 5 (600 words).

RBK Daily

1. Petr Kiryan et al. article headlined "Gone into history" comments on the death of the Russian oligarch Boris Berezovskiy; pp 1, 11 (1,000 words).

2. Polina Stroganova article headlined "Rosneft goes after Gazprom's interests" says that the Gazprom's monopoly in gas market might come to an end; pp 1, 7 (700 words).

3. Vladimir Pavlov article headlined "Kremlin's godfather" comments on the image of the late oligarch Boris Berezovskiy; p 11 (500 words).

Tvoy Den

1. Yekaterina Dontsova article headlined "Oligarch's fatal depression" speculates on the causes of the death of the Russian oligarch Boris Berezovskiy; pp 4-5 (500 words).

Moskovskiye Novosti

1. Unattributed article "No longer foe" comments on the death of the Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky; pp B2-B3 (1,300 words).

Mar. 25, 2013/BBC Monitoring/©BBC

Related articles:

• What the Papers Say, Mar. 22, 2012
• What the Papers Say, Mar. 21, 2012
• What the Papers Say, Mar. 20, 2012