What the Papers Say, July 5, 2013

Kommersant

1. Yevgeny Timoshinov article headlined "Sergei Chemezov draws air lines" says that Sergei Chemezov, head of the Rostec state corporation, has drafted his own plan of the Aeroflot airline's privatization. Meanwhile, Rostec may obtain Aeroflot's shares even before the privatization if it finds a strategic investor for the airline; pp 1, 7 (496 words).

2. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "Citizen to be trusted" gives an ironic account of President Vladimir Putin's meeting with human rights activists and comments on his proposal to the head of the Civil Dignity organization, Ella Pamfilova, to act as operator in distributing budget money for NGOs; pp 1, 3 (1,809 words).

3. Sergei Sobolev article headlined "Takeover of demand in store for Egypt" says that experts warn that the coup in Egypt will result in yet another drop in the number of tourists; pp 1, 5 (480 words).

4. Anna Pushkarskaya article headlined "Prisons not so far from ballot-boxes" says that the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the Russian constitution, which bans prisoners from voting, violates the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms; pp 1-2 (669 words).

5. Anna Pushkarskaya interview with Dmitry Dedov, a judge at the European Court of Human Rights headlined "ECHR's ruling unlikely to affect murderers" where he comments on the decision of the ECHR that the article of the constitution that prohibits prisoners from exercising their voting rights violates the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms; p 2 (549 words).

6. Musa Muradov et al. report headlined "Yunus-Bek Yevkurov runs for new term" says that at a meeting with head of Ingushetia Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, Putin has accepted his resignation and, having learned about his intention to run for the republic's head, appointed him acting head of the republic; p 2 (606 words).

7. Viktor Khamrayev et al. report headlined "Velocity correction calculated for academicians" says that the authorities and representatives of the academic circles seemed to reach a compromise on the wording of the bill to reform the Russian Academy of Sciences; p 3 (914 words).

8. Petr Netreba and Anastasya Manuylova article headlined "Budget of vague implementation" says that the government has approved the main parameters of the 2014-16 budget and adds that even some ministers doubt that it can be fulfilled; p 4 (625 words).

9. Nikolay Sergeyev article headlined "Female face of unidentified persons appears" says that former tax officer Olga Tsymay, who is included in the Magnitsky list, is the first to face charges in line with a high-profile case of illegal VAT reimbursement of R4.4bn; p 4 (735 words).

10. Pavel Tarasenko article headlined "USA to report on Edward Snowden's revelations" says that trying to mitigate the consequences of former CIA contractor Edward Snowden's revelations about U.S. surveillance of foreign diplomats, President Barack Obama has agreed to call an urgent meeting of U.S. and German law enforcers to talk through the problem; p 5 (398 words).

11. Sergei Strokan article headlined "Islamists turned to secular state" says that the toppling of Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi may serve as a turning point for all Arab Spring revolutions and enable advocates of a secular state to seize the initiative from Islamists; p 5 (819 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Urlashov case backfires at Prokhorov" says that Yaroslavl mayor Yevgeny Urlashov's detention on bribery charges eliminates chances for Mikhail Prokhorov's Civil Platform to get to the regional Duma in the autumn election as Urlashov heads the party's list; pp 1-2 (664 words).

2. Ivan Rodin article headlined "To help NGOs as heart prompts" says that at a meeting to discuss problems that Russian non-profit organizations are faced with, Putin spoke against the idea to introduce tax privileges for companies offering grants to NGOs; pp 1, 3 (441 words).

3. Igor Naumov article headlined "Finance Ministry ready to open reserve stock" says that in order to fulfill social obligations, the government may have to use the Reserve Fund and increase state loans; pp 1, 4 (891 words).

4. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Ukrainian vodka, beer may flee to Customs Union" says that the Ukrainian authorities are planning to drastically increase excise duties on beer, vodka and cigarettes and contemplates the consequences; pp 1, 6 (997 words).

5. Yevgeny Grigoryev article headlined "Merkel, Obama to seat spies at negotiating table" says that the U.S., Germany and probably other nations will soon hold talks on American surveillance tactics that include alleged spying on European allies; pp 1, 7 (595 words).

6. Yevgenya Novikova article headlined "Islamists invited to build new Egypt" says that the new Egyptian authorities will have to work hard to remain in power and revive the collapsing economy, otherwise Islamists may "turn the tables"; pp 1, 7 (818 words).

7. Oksana Skripnikova article headlined "Sobyanin ready to campaign for Navalny" says that acting Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin has asked municipal deputies to help opposition activist Alexei Navalny, standing for Moscow mayor from the RPR-Parnas party, overcome municipal filter; p 2 (631 words).

8. Editorial headlined "Electing reputation instead of electing idea" says that election programs of acting Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin and opposition activist and anti-corruption whistle-blower Alexei Navalny have a lot in common and in the pre-election struggle Navalny can offer only his reputation rather than new ideas on how to manage the city better; p 2 (498 words).

9. Viktor Litovkin article headlined "Squadrons step towards science, science steps towards squadrons" looks at yet another experiment in the Armed Forces: the formation of scientific squadrons; p 2 (626 words).

10. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Reform under president's pressure" says that the Kremlin, the State Duma and scientific circles have worked hard to polish the bill on the reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences for the second reading as the Kremlin demands the bill be passed as soon as possible; p 3 (705 words).

11. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Carte blanche. Devil Umarov shows teeth" says that Security Council secretary Nikolay Patrushev has pledged high security will be ensured at the Winter Olympics in Sochi after the leader of North Caucasus militants called on Islamist fighters to disrupt the Olympics; p 3 (564 words).

12. Viktorya Panfilova article headlined "Replacement been sought for Rahmon" says that representatives of the Tajik opposition are meeting in Moscow today to discuss the situation ahead of the presidential election in Tajikistan and the possibility of nominating a single candidate from the opposition; p 6 (936 words).

13. Yury Simonyan article headlined "Torn Saakashvili" says that Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has changed the presidential election date for the third time and expressed concern over the existing mutual understanding between Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili and President Vladimir Putin; p 6 (585 words).

14. Darya Tsiryulik article headlined "Hassan Rouhani prepares Iran's liberalization" looks at the recent statement of the Iranian President-elect, Hassan Rouhani, and features a Russian pundit's comment on his plans for the country's development; p 7 (492 words).

Vedomosti

1. Roman Dorokhov article headlined "VKontakte with law" says that Russia's biggest social network VKontakte is negotiating with major recording companies to find a solution enabling users to listen to music without violating copyright laws; pp 1, 17 (359 words).

2. Editorial headlined "Egyptian stir" comments on the toppling of Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi; pp 1, 6 (427 words).

3. Lilya Biryukova et al. report headlined "Candy for human rights activists" says that Putin has stated that an additional 1.5 billion rubles ($45 million) will be allocated for human rights organizations and the Civil Dignity organization headed by Ella Pamfilova will be in charge of distributing the funds; p 2 (633 words).

4. Polina Khimshiashvili article headlined "Egypt returns to military" features an expert's comment on the toppling of the Egyptian president; p 3 (400 words).

5. Valery Kodachigov article headlined "Thing of week: Rocket Proton-M" says that the failed launch of the Proton-M rocket carrying Glonass satellites does not reflect the collapse of the space industry as mass media outlets have been raving; p 7 (368 words).

6. Editorial headlined "Synchrophasotron duty" comments on the initiative to set up scientific squadrons as the authorities attempt to reduce the number of men with higher education dodging military service; p 6 (373 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Vladimir Snegirev article headlined "Arab summer" says that the military have come to power in Egypt again and looks at changes in the country; pp 1, 5 (2,700 words).

2. Vladislav Kulikov report "Shift to personalities" looks at amendments to the Russian Civil Code that are aimed at protection of people's private life; pp 1, 4 (600 words).

3. Yury Gavrilov report "Go to notebook!" quotes Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu as saying that they have begun the "hunt for computer programmers" to form "scientific squadrons" in the Armed Forces; pp 1, 3 (600 words).

4. Yevgeny Shestakov article headlined "Morales makes colony out of EU" says that after several European countries at once closed their airspace to the aircraft of the Bolivian leader flying from Moscow on suspicion that former CIA contractor Edward Snowden was on board, there is no doubt as to who gives commands in the European Union; p 5 (700 words).

Izvestya

1. Andranik Migranyan article headlined "Department of State, IRS, FBI, NSA: Where is stop?" looks at high-profile scandals involving the USA's most influential executive bodies and their aftermath; pp 1, 9 (1,436 words).

2. Alena Sivkova article headlined "Officials' and top managers' families to be banned from owning offshore business" says that the drafting of a national plan of struggle against offshore companies is underway; pp 1, 4 (837 words).

3. Pavel Panov interview with Education and Science Minister Dmitry Livanov headlined "'Fortov's behavior is just hypocrisy'" where he speaks about the proposed reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences; pp 1, 12 (1,318 words).

4. Alexander Grigoryev and Dmitry Yevstifeyev article headlined "Magomed Bilalov to be put on international wanted list" says that Magomed Bilalov, brother of Akhmed Bilalov, the former head of the company North Caucasus Resorts, will soon be arrested on fraud charges in absentia and put on the international wanted list; pp 1, 4 (761 words).

5. Yelena Malay article headlined "Academicians prepare suit to Constitutional Court" says that the lawyers of the Russian Academy of Sciences are collecting signatures to file a lawsuit to the Constitutional Court to challenge the upcoming reform of the academy; pp 1, 3 (515 words).

6. Yury Matsarsky report "Mubarak returns, revolution loses" features the newspaper correspondent's report from Cairo on the situation in Egypt; pp 1, 4 (1,600 words).

7. Vladimir Zykov report "VKontakte and government top Roskomnadzor's blacklist" says that the communications watchdog Roskomnadzor has prepared a report about complaints about websites containing information that is banned from being disseminated in Russia; pp 1, 4 (950 words).

8. Svetlana Subbotina article headlined "CPRF suggests supporting government's resignation" says that the Communist Party of the Russian Federation's faction at the State Duma has decided to push for the resignation of the government that initiated the reform of Russian science. The Communists plan to collect parliamentarians' signatures as well as those of citizens on the Internet in order to force the cabinet to resign; p 2 (562 words).

9. Stanislav Khatuntsev article headlined "Khalifs for one year" looks at the consequences of the toppling of the Egyptian president; p 9 (776 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Marina Ozerova report "Fairy tale about deputies' time" looks at the bill to reform the Russian Academy of Sciences debated by the State Duma; pp 1, 4 (800 words).

2. Natalya Rozhkova report "Law on NGOs proves to be erroneous" says that Putin has said that the law on NGOs will be amended. He suggested that "political" NGOs should be separated from "social" ones; p 2 (650 words).

3. Renat Abdullin report "Military topple Pharaoh" says that the Egyptian president has been removed from power and analyses the situation in the country; p 3 (900 words).

4. Stanislav Belkovsky report "People are to blame for everything" says that the Russian elite is using public opinion polls for its own purposes; p 3 (800 words).

5. Darya Tyukova report "Snowden not to marry Chapman because of passport" comments on the message that Anna Chapman, a TV presenter who became well-known after the Russian-US spy scandal in 2010, has placed in her Twitter asking U.S. fugitive Edward Snowden to marry her; p 3 (650 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Pavel Kanygin article headlined "Yaroslavl believes in political order" says the detention of Yaroslavl mayor Yevgeny Urlashov on bribery charges has made his approval rating soar to 90 percent; pp 2-3 (1,985 words).

2. Diana Khachatryan article headlined "Egyptian summer replaces Arab spring" features a lengthy comment by Georgy Mirsky, a senior research fellow of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO); p 13 (602 words).

RBC Daily

1. Natalya Starostina article headlined "Georgy Luntovsky leaves Central Bank" says the new Central Bank head, Elvira Nabiullina, is reshuffling her staff; pp 1, 7 (500 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Alexander Kots and Dmitry Steshin article headlined "'This is not the end. This is just the beginning'" is a report from Egypt gripped by revolution; p 4 (700 words).

2. Israel Shamir article "Everybody tired of Morsi" comments on the events in Egypt; p 4 (300 words).

3. Viktor Baranets article headlined "ShoIgu creates 'Lomonosov incubators' in army" says the Defense Ministry has decided to give the army what it describes as scientific forces; p 5 (450 words).

4. Vladimir Vorsobin article "Yaroslavl shocked: Everybody votes for mayor, nobody can defend him" is a report from the central Russian city Yaroslavl, where mayor Yevgeny Urlashov has been accused of extorting bribes; p 11 (600 words).

5. Yevgeny Chernykh article "Who are you, Mr Snowden?" is the third part of an interview with intelligence expert Yelena Larina about CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden; pp 14-15 (2,300 words).

Trud

1. Sergei Frolov article headlined "It is hot and is getting hotter in Egypt " features a comment on the Egyptian revolution by Yevgeny Satanovsky, president of the Middle East Institute; pp 1-2 (800 words).

2. Lyudmila Shabuyeva article "Doubting Thomas and Believing Thomas: What they say in Yaroslavl" comments on the case against Yaroslavl mayor Yevgeny Urlashov; p 2 (400 words).

Related articles:

• What the Papers Say, July 4, 2012
• What the Papers Say, July 3, 2012
• What the Papers Say, July 2, 2012