What the Papers Say, Sept. 11, 2013

Kommersant

1. Anna Balashova and Vladislav Novy article headlined "Mobile network operators to be placed in penalty zone" says the Russian Communications Ministry is prepared to meet mobile network operators halfway and postpone the implementation of mobile number portability (MNP) from Dec. 1 2013 until Mar. 1 2014, but those who fail to meet the new deadline will be fined 0.05 rubles per subscriber per day; pp 1, 7 (884 words).

2. Alexandera Bayazitova and Svetlana Dementyeva article headlined "Banks of strict accountability" says the Russian Criminal Code may be amended to introduce criminal responsibility for falsifying banker books; pp 1, 8 (586 words).

3. Taisia Bekbulatova et al. article headlined "President gathers election results" gives details of a meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with 10 newly elected governors; pp 1, 3 (929 words).

4. Kirill Belyaninov and Oleg Rubnikovich article headlined "U.S. starts using 'Magnitsky Act'" says the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York has filed a lawsuit to seize luxury flats that were said to be used to launder tax fraud money by Cyprus-based company Prevezon Holdings Ltd from Hermitage that belongs to Denis Katsava, a son of a Moscow Region official. The case is related to investment fund Hermitage Capital where the late lawyer Sergei Magnitsky worked; pp 1, 3 (733 words).

5. Natalya Ilyina article headlined "Utility sector to be tailored to investors" says the Russian parliament has approved the introduction of long-term tariffs on utility tariffs; p 2 (432 words).

6. Viktor Khamrayev article headlined "Convicts to be taken back to crime scene" says a bill has been tabled to the Russian parliament that would require that people convicted of murder or other serious crimes should do their time in the area where the crime was committed, rather than in their area of residence. Human rights experts say the amendments to the Criminal Code are pointless; p 2 (424 words).

7. Ivan Buranov article headlined "Drowning people to be rescued with money" says the Finance Ministry is preparing to transfer an equivalent of $424 million to Russia's far eastern regions where the number of flood victims has already exceeded 100,000; p 2 (467 words).

8. Sofia Samokhina article headlined "State Duma to think about amnesty in October" says in October the Russian State Duma is to consider proposals for an amnesty marking the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Russian constitution; p 2 (210 words).

9. Petr Netreba article headlined "New horizons opening for budget system" says the Russian Finance Ministry suggests amending the Budget Code to provide for long-term budget plans. The new 18-year planning strategy would secure spending cuts from revision; p 2 (586 words).

10. Taisia Bekbulatova and Sergei Goryashko article headlined "Sergei Sobyanin will not procrastinate over inauguration" says Sergei Sobyanin has been formally declared as the winner of the Sept. 8 mayoral election in Moscow and is to be inaugurated as early as Sept.12 ; p 3 (252 words).

11. Maxim Ivanov article headlined "Government overtakes public initiative" says government experts have deemed it impractical to introduce a specific price range for cars procured for government fleets. The initiative was suggested by Alexei Navalny and was supported by 100,000 individuals; p 3 (515 words).

12. Vsevolod Inyutin article headlined "Police officers searched for loans" says the homes and offices of the head of the Belgorod main interior directorate, Viktor Pesterev, and head of the region's police department for fighting economic crime, Sergei Butyaykin, have been searched by police as part of criminal proceedings on charges with abuse of office; p 4 (622 words).

13. Nikolay Sergeyev and Alexandera Larintseva article headlined "Surface-to-air case launched against Makhachkala mayor" says the Russian Investigations Committee has launched a new criminal case against suspended Makhachkala mayor Said Amirov on charges with plotting a terrorist attack with the use of a Strela surface-to-air missile system; p 4 (622 words).

14. Natalya Gorodetskaya article headlined "Russians feel that they are Russian Federation citizens" reports on an opinion poll by the All-Russia Public Opinion Research center (VTsIOM) that shows that 63 percent of those interviewed are proud to be citizens of the Russian Federation; p 5 (552 words).

15. Sergei Mashkin article headlined "Particularly serious attempt on life" says the Moscow city court has sentenced a 29-year-old Kazakh national to 10 years in a high security prison for planning to plant a bomb on the way of Vladimir Putin's motorcade; p 5 (490 words).

16. Diana Munasipova article headlined "Education Ministry fails at math" says the Education and Science Ministry may be forced to back off from its education development plans due to a lack of funds; p 5 (398 words).

17. Galina Dudina article headlined "War on Syria spreads to Europe" comments on an influx of Syrian refugees into European countries. The process may run out of control if the U.S. launches a strike on Syria; p 6 (677 words).

18. Yelena Chernenko and Ivan Safronov article headlined "Russia and Iran find weapons that bring them together" quotes a source as saying that Putin has decided to proceed with the plans to supply five S-300V anti-aircraft missile systems and build the second reactor of the Bushehr nuclear power plant; p 6 (666 words).

19. Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "Barack Obama decides to postpone" says the U.S. Senate has postponed hearings on military action against Syria following Russia's initiative to let Damascus hand over its chemical weapons under international control; p 6 (374 words).

20. Svetlana Dementyeva and Olga Shestopal article headlined "Fines to stick on" says Russian banks are to face a wave of fines for failing to comply with new anti-laundering regulations; p 8 (608 words).

21. Oleg Trutnev et al. article headlined "Moldova punished with wine" looks at a new ban on Moldovan wine imports to Russia; p 10 (527 words).

22. Olga Mordyushenko article headlined "Uralkali to sticks to its guns" says the Russian potash company Uralkali is determined to carry on with its strategy of interdependent sales that has already led to a conflict between the company and the Belarussian authorities and landed its CEO in jail; p 9 (652 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Ilya Bolotin article headlined "Ilya Ponomaryov decides to be mayor too" says opposition lawmaker Ilya Ponomaryov has announced his intention to run for mayor of Novosibirsk. The election is due to take place in autumn 2014. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the strongest opposition force in the Novosibirsk region, is unlikely to back his candidacy; pp 1, 6 (570 words).

2. Editorial headlined "Russians have increasingly fewer constitutional rights" says recent reforms in education and health sectors have undermined the constitutional rights of Russian citizens; p 2 (512 words).

3. Viktor Litovkin article headlined "Moscow's proposal to Damascus looks impressive, but hard to accomplish" says Syria has not signed the Chemical Weapons Convention, so there is no official information about its stockpiles of chemical weapons. The author lists other possible complications to implementing Russia's plan to take Syrian chemical weapons under international control; pp 1-2 (551 words).

4. Alexandera Samarina article headlined "Future of Alexei Navalny" says Navalny has turned into a true politician, but he may find it hard to compete in the Moscow City Duma election because he does not have a political party and may find himself in jail despite coming in second in the mayoral race; pp 1, 3 (1,393 words).

5. Alexander Gorbachev article headlined "Bolotnaya case ruins lives" says those, who are now on trial on charges with inciting unrest during the May 6 protest on Moscow's Bolotnaya Square in 2012, have seen their health deteriorating. One of them, Mikhail Kosenko, was not allowed to attend his mother's funeral. Keeping them in custody is cruel and shows they are political prisoners, a lawyer says; pp 1, 3 (672 words).

6. Oleg Figovsky and Yury Magarshak article headlined "Carte Blanche: Academy to receive help from abroad" suggests that foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN) should have the same status and rights as Russian members of the academy. It would boost RAN's reputation abroad and make it more independent; p 3 (762 words).

7. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Currency flows out of Russia at growing speed" forecasts that the ruble will continue to weaken amid growing capital outflow; p 4 (728 words).

8. Mikhail Sergeyev article headlined "Russia borrows $7 billion" says the terms of the $7-billion loan that Russia had taken out to bridge its budget gaps were released on Sept.10; pp 1-2 (703 words).

9. Sergei Nikanorov article entitled "Tatyana Golikova to check everyone" praises the new head of the Audit Chamber Tatyana Golikova as an efficient finance manager who was able to make the Russian pharmaceutical and health insurance sectors more transparent; p 4 (681 words).

10. Alexander Lukin article headlined "Knowledge — yesterday, today and tomorrow" looks at the crisis in the education system; p 5 (2,655 words).

11. Savely Vezhin article headlined "Russia's own way in fighting HIV" says a virology week is taking place in Russia; looks at what is being done in Russia to control the spread of HIV/AIDS; p 6 (523 words).

12. Oksana Skripnikova article headlined "Honesty, transparency and indisputability of results" gives experts' view of the Sept. 8 elections; p 6 (584 words).

13. Viktoria Panfilova article headlined "Moldovan wines get political taste" says a ban on Moldovan wine imports to Russia may have to do with Chisinau's plans to sign an association agreement with the EU; p 7 (588 words).

14. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "North Korea to use gas to fend off aggression" says the U.S. is seeking China's support for military action against Syria as it may serve as a warning to North Korea that may also have chemical weapons; p 8 (444 words).

15. Yevgenia Novikova article headlined "Unique chance for Obama to save face" says Russia's initiative on Syrian chemical weapons is a chance for the United States to avoid responsibility of yet another dangerous armed conflict in the Middle East; p 8 (666 words).

16. Ivan Rodin report "Law on protecting Russians named after Pugachyov" says that a group of State Duma deputies from United Russia has suggested that punishment for crimes committed by people from North Caucasus should be made stricter to protect local residents; p 3 (800 words).

Vedomosti

1. Igor Tsukanov article headlined "Union of the thrifty" says the Eurasian Economic Commission, the regulatory body of the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus is to consider an option for scrapping mobile network roaming charges within the union; p 16 (522 words).

2. Editorial headlined "We will be cutting" reviews the Sept. 8 local government elections, says the United Russia party has retained dominance, making it possible for the federal government to carry on with its austerity plans; p 6 (318 words).

3. Maria Zheleznova and Svetlana Bocharova article headlined "Votes sink in puddle" says votes had to be recounted manually in the Moscow region town of Vidnoye after it had become clear that a candidate from the A Just Russia party was winning the mayoral election there by a narrow margin; p 3 (697 words).

4. Svetlana Bocharova et al. article headlined "Opposition does not believe in 80 percent" says the Rostov Region branches of A Just Russia, the LDPR and the CPRF are going to challenge the election results in the region due to numerous incidents of vote rigging. The ruling United Russia party has secured over 80 percent of seats in the region's parliament as a result of the Sept. 8 election; p 2 (517 words).

5. Margarita Papchenkova et al. article headlined "Article for budget" says the Investigative Committee has drafted a bill reinstating its right to launch criminal cases on tax fraud charges. Experts criticize the initiative, arguing that it may be misused as a tool for forcible seizures of businesses; pp 1, 5 (760 words).

6. Anastasia Golitsyna article headlined "Search in law" looks at proposed amendments to the law on the fight against online piracy; p 17 (489 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Controlling one's face" says Russia's proposal to take Syrian chemical weapons under international control enables most players involved to break the military action deadlock and save face; pp 1, 6 (434 words).

8. Minister for Relations with Open Government Mikhail Abyzov article headlined "Federal contract system: State procurement under control" explains the essence, control mechanisms and advantages of a new state procurement system called FKS (Federal Contract System); p 7 (700 words).

9. Anastasia Kornya article headlined "As if there were no complaints" says despite dozens of complaints about violations during the Sept. 8 mayoral election in Moscow, the city electoral commission rushed to announce the voting results completely valid; p 2 (578 words).

10. Mikhail Overchenko report "U.S. continues Magnitsky case" says that the first lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. against people suspected of involvement in the theft of 5.4 billion rubles from the Russian budget; pp 1, 4 (600 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Marina Lemutkina opinion column headlined "Malignant Russian education" says of all Russian universities only Moscow State University has made into Quacquarelli Symonds' list of the top 200 world colleges. Russia has to live with a "destroyed" education system, the author concludes; pp 1, 3 (534 words).

2. Mikhail Zubov article headlined "How Sobyanin became mayor" gives a first-hand account of preparations for the Sept. 8 election and voting and ballot counting on the polling day as the author was a member of a territorial electoral commission in Moscow's district of Yasenevo; pp 1, 4 (3,596 words).

3. Natalya Rozhkova article headlined "Recounting is inappropriate" says despite complaints about foul play during the Sept. 8 mayoral election in Moscow and calls for vote recounting, the city electoral commission rushed to deem the election valid; pp 1-2 (686 words).

4. Viktoria Prikhodko article headlined "Putin assesses past elections" says that at a meeting with 10 newly elected governors Putin has praised the Sept. 8 elections as transparent and legitimate; p 2 (502 words).

5. Igor Karmazin article headlined "Roizman congratulated with questioning" says Yekaterinburg mayor-elect Yevgeny Roizman has been summoned for questioning by the Investigative Committee. Royzman was under a lot of pressure from the local authorities and security agencies during his campaign, and is unlikely "to be left alone" after his election victory, the author says; p 2 (454 words).

6. Mikhail Zubov article headlined "Call to go home sounded like call for attack" summarizes experts' impressions of Alexei Navalny's speech at the post-election rally on Sept. 9 ; p 2 (628 words).

7. Matvey Ganapolsky opinion column headlined "Rally about dough" says Alexei Navalny came out as winner of the Sept. 8 election because he was able to defeat candidates from heavyweight opposition parties and prove himself a fully grown politician. He is still facing a prison term, though, because the Kremlin policy makers are still hesitant to allow charismatic opposition leaders to the political arena; p 3 (813 words).

8. Melor Sturua article headlined "Lifesaver for Syria" looks at growing support for Russia's initiative to take Syrian chemical weapons under international control, says it may become "light at the end of the tunnel"; p 3 (653 words).

9. Konstantin Smirnov and Inna Grigoryeva article headlined "Stepashin says goodbye to Audit Chamber" looks at the political background of Sergei Stepashin, who is leaving the post of Audit Chamber chairman, says it is not clear yet what job may be offered to him; p 3 (783 words).

10. Igor Subbotin article headlined "Out of terror attack trajectory" mulls conspiracy theories about the Sept. 11 attacks; p 5 (1,603 words).

11. Ignat Kalinin article headlined "Army waits for servicemen with degrees" says the law "On military duty" may be amended to give male university graduates a choice between joining the Russian army as draftees for a year or signing a two-year enlistment contract with an average monthly pay of around $600; p 6 (436 words).

12. Yelena Berezina article headlined "Fist: Best weapon for politician?" looks at municipal elections in Moscow Region; p 7 (1,352 words).

13. Igor Subbotin report "It would have been another Iraq for U.S." says that according to Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the State Duma International Affairs Committee, Russia's proposal to place Syria's chemical weapons under international control may help Barack Obama save his reputation; p 3 (300 words).

Izvestia

1. Anastasia Maltseva report "Expenses for Moscow's security to be cut by 25 billion rubles" says that the Moscow city government has amended the Safe City program for 2012-16; pp 1-2 (750 words).

2. Ivan Cheberko report "Lavochkin NPO forgets to prolong licence of Roskosmos" says that the producer of space hardware, the company Lavochkin NPO, is implementing the orders of the defense Ministry without licences to develop weapons; pp 1, 4 (650 words).

3. Mikhail Rubin report "Bureaucracy failed where it was divided" comments on the Sept. 8 elections in Russia; pp 1, 3 (2,300 words).

4. Igor Yavlyansky report "Europeans help Syria make chemical weapons" comments on the situation with chemical weapons in Syria; p 7 (1,000 words).

5. Maria Gorkovskaya report "Disagreement in Congress damages Barack Obama's image" features comments of Nikolai Zlobin, President of the Center on Global Interests, on the U.S.'s possible strike on Syria; p 7 (850 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Yevgeny Shestakov report "Putin and Obama: Passing test in chemistry" says that Russian and U.S. presidents have discussed placing Syrian chemical weapons under international control on the sidelines of the G20 summit in St. Petersburg; pp 1, 8 (1,000 words).

2. Vitaly Petrov report "Boomerang of honesty" features experts' comments on the Sept. 8 elections in Russia; p 3 (750 words).

3. Alexander Tsipko report "Without prior arrangement" looks at the role of the liberal opposition on Russia's political arena; p 2 (850 words).

4. Article headlined "Caught in a word" by chairman of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy Fedor Lukyanov refers to Russia's initiative with placing Syrian chemical weapons under international control as "quite successful"; p 8 (800 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Observer Yulia Latynina article entitled "Yes we can!" says the main result of the Moscow mayoral election is that the runner up in the vote, protest leader and opposition candidate Alexei Navalny will not be jailed — now Russia has an opposition force that should be taken into consideration; p 2 (500 words).

2. Observer Andrei Polikovsky article headlined "Birth of a leader" says Navalny is the only leader who has succeeded in turning the energy of marches and rallies into collective activity; pp 2-3 (1,600 words).

3. Pundit Dmitry Oreshkin article entitled "'People's electoral commission drives authorities into a narrow corridor of responsibility" says the new alternative project of vote counting, People's electoral commission, has proved its worth and come to stay; p 4 (1,000 words).

4. Researcher Alexander Rubtsov article headlined "Policy of self-confidence" says that numerous opinion polls have failed — they were unable to predict Navalny's landslide victory; p 5 (1,100 words).

5. Nikita Girin and Maria Yepifanova article "Victories that have not been stolen after all" reviews results of elections across Russia that have come as a surprise; pp 8-9 (600 words).

6. Observer Andrei Kolesnikov article entitled "Scared of Prokhorov, received Navalny" says the authorities now have a leader of the opposition and they have to reckon with him and the force he represents; p 9 (500 words).

7. Alexander Panov article headlined "White House trying to persuade America" says the main result of the recent Syria breakthrough is that Syria is not to become "another Iraq", land operation with U.S. troops taking part is out of the question; p 14 (1,000 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Viktor Ruchkin article headlined "Chemical weapons in exchange for peace" says "Russia has again shown its consistency" in seeking a peace solution to the Syrian conflict, suggesting that Damascus place its chemical arsenal under international control; p 1, 3 (900 words).

RBC Daily

1. Sergei Starikov article "I'd rather you come to us" says KamAZ lorry factory Director-General Sergei Kogogin has refused to travel to Belarus after Belarussian authorities arrested Uralkali CEO Vladislav Baumgertner in late August; p 1 (500 words).

2. Andrei Buzin article entitled "Thank you for our honest elections" says we should do justice to Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin — he kept his promise of an honest poll and vote count; p 6 (700 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Andrei Ryabtsev article headlined "Candidate from the bourgeois" tries to answer the question what voters in central Moscow cast their ballots in favour of Navalny, while people in so-called dormitories chose Sobyanin; p 4 (400 words).

2. Nigina Beroyeva report from a rally of Navalny's supporters on Sept. 9 entitled "Alexei Navalny: 'I will give an interview to KP [Komsomolskaya Pravda], it is Putin's favourite newspaper, he is bound to read it!'"; p 4 (300 words).

3. Alexander Kots and Dmitry Steshin article headlined "Syrian expert: 'Russia should take chemical weapons under its control'" publishes excerpts from an interview with Syrian military expert Dr Hasan Hasan; p 5 (1,200 words).

4. Professor of the Higher School of Economics Oleg Matveychev article entitled "Voodoo dances on results of elections" says the opinion polls have roved right — there was no need for the second round, Sobyanin has won the election; p 6 (700 words).

Trud

1. Yana Pryamilova interview with the newly-elected mayor of Yekaterinburg, Yevgeny Roizman, entitled "Roizman promises to get to the bottom of everything; p 1 (400 words).