What the Papers Say Sept. 17, 2013

Kommersant

1. Alexandra Bayazitova article headlined "Central Bank not to allow banks to write off debts" says the Central Bank has supported the State Duma stance on the amendments to the law on the payment system drafted by the Finance Ministry. The Central Bank also opposes any complications with receiving money by individuals whose money was taken from their credit cards accounts illegally; pp 1, 10 (491 words).

2. Sofya Samokhina et al. report headlined "Science of returning" says the State Duma is to return the bill of the Russian Academy of Sciences reform to the second reading. Lawmakers have met academicians unsatisfied with the reform halfway; pp 1, 3 (797 words).

3. Pavel Belavin and Maxim Ivanov article headlined "Pirates to have music shut off" says the State Duma is to consider amendments giving more powers to the anti-piracy law which came into effect in August. In addition to video content, the law will also cover music, books and software; pp 1, 13 (558 words).

4. Dmitry Butrin et al. report headlined "Cut it seven times and sew on once" says the Finance Ministry is trying to cope with the required budget cuts and incentives to small businesses and some social projects developed by the president; pp 1, 6 (1,106 words).

5. Ivan Safronov article headlined "Place in Arctic found for Sergei Shoigu" says President Putin has announced that a military base would be re-opened on the Novosibirsk Islands. Some sources attribute the decision to hydrocarbon reserves found in the region; p 2 (630 words).

6. Article attributed to the paper's political section headlined "One Russia changes speakers" says chairmen of the regional legislative assemblies are to be replaced almost in half of the 16 regions where elections were held on Sept. 8. One Russia explains this by the necessity to introduce new people to the regional leadership, whereas pundits say the party is building its own vertical of power based on reliable people; p 2 (752 words).

7. Viktor Khamrayev article headlined "International club to sort out Russian diversity" reports on the opening of the Valday political discussions club, which final session is to be attended by President Putin; p 2 (681 words).

8. Natalya Gorodetskaya article headlined "Task specified for foreign agents" says the Civil Initiatives Committee has drafted an amendment to the law on foreign funded NGOs, which specifies the notion of political activity for which NGOs may be labelled as foreign agents; p 3 (561 words).

9. Alexei Chernyshov article headlined "Submarine goes through fire" reports on a fire aboard the Tomsk nuclear submarine undergoing repairs at Zvezda plant in the Primorye region; p 4 (628 words).

10. Musa Muradov article headlined "Suicide bomber reaches gates of district police" says several policemen got killed in militants' attacks in Chechnya and Ingushetia; p 4 (603 words).

11. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "Vladimir Putin checks Olympic subjects" says President Putin has checked the readiness of the Olympic facilities in Sochi. The opening line of the article says correspondent's "brain exploded" as it is still impossible to estimate the real state of affairs with the Olympic construction; p 5 (698 words).

12. Tatyana Yedovina interview with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon speaking on the recent G20 summit and global development trends; p 6 (697 words).

13. Maxim Yusin article headlined "Syrian opposition tolerant by one third" says IHS Jane's British Analytical Centre has found out that most of the Syrian opposition forces adhere to radical Islam and only one third of them fit the image of secular revolutionaries portrayed by the West; p 8 (504 words).

14. Yelena Chernenko interview with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Erlan Abdyldayev speaking on Kyrgyz investment projects for Russian businesses and Gazprom purchase of Kyrgyzgaz local gas company; p 8 (437 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Alexei Gorbachev and Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Navalny looking for allies" says opposition activist Alexei Navalny has de-facto launched the Moscow City Duma election campaign as he agreed to head the party, People's Alliance, and is looking for agreement with potential coalition partners; pp 1 — 2 (964 words).

2. Anastasia Bashkatova et al. report headlined "Sociology thermometer cracks in Russia" says the failure of sociologists to predict the mayoral election results will have an impact on the industry, companies conducting public opinion polls may lose their corporate clients; pp 1, 4 (945 words).

3. Yevgenia Novikova article headlined "Syrian settlement under threat again" says Paris, London and Washington are coordinating their stances on Syria and developing a new resolution to be considered by the UN Security Council. Harsh wording used by France may jeopardize the implementation of the Syrian disarmament plan; pp 1, 8 (768 words).

4. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Rallies and pickets with blessing" says a bill submitted to the State Duma allows religious organizations to prohibit rallies and public gatherings near church facilities; pp 1-2 (832 words).

5. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Ukraine pins hopes on its own gas" says Shell starts looking for shale gas in Ukraine. The country leadership hopes to begin industrial extraction of gas in 2015; pp 1, 7 (787 words).

6. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "Washington courts Iran and calms Israel down" says the Russian-U.S. agreement on the Syrian chemical weapons gives a chance to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem as well, U.S. President Barack Obama wrote in his letter to his Iranian counterpart. The two countries leaders may meet for talks; pp 1, 8 (500 words).

7. Viktor Litovkin article headlined "Treating nuclear submarine with gas burner" gives details of a fire at a nuclear submarine undergoing repairs in the Primorye region's town of Bolshoi Kamen and says that negligence in gas cutting must have caused the fire; p 2 (566 words).

8. Editorial headlined "Replacing power instead of improving system" comments on the transformation of the protest movement, which has grown into a fully-fledged political subject; p 2 (450 words).

9. Leonid Polyakov article headlined "Political autumn: start at finish line" outlines lessons to be learnt following the single voting day on Sept. 8, saying it has become a paradox in the Russian political life as a new political season opens with the finish of municipal and regional election campaigns; p 3 (800 words).

10. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Gazprom being liquefied to the outmost" says the State Duma may pass a law on the liberalization of LNG export in its autumn session, NOVATEK and Rosneft may also start exporting gas; p 4 (714 words).

11. Darya Tsilyurik article headlined "Obama's favourite refuses to accept nomination" says Lawrence Summers, the main candidate for the post of the U.S. Federal Reserve Head, has rejected his nomination and thus saved President Obama from the need to defend his choice of the candidate; p 8 (686 words).

12. Roza Tsvetkova interview with the director of independent pollster Levada Center, Lev Gudkov, on the failure of sociologists at predicting Moscow election results; pp 9, 11 (2,600 words).

Vedomosti

1. Yelena Khodyakova article headlined "Gazprom to place pipe at auction" says Gazprom and the EU have come to agreement over the use of OPAL pipeline in Germany. The Russian gas giant will have to auction off free capacity of the pipeline; pp 1, 13 (545 words).

2. Roman Dorokhov article headlined "Billion from mafia" says the new version of Grand Theft Auto video game has a record budget of $266 million which is larger than many blockbusters funding; pp 1, 17 (359 words).

3. Editorial headlined "Searching for our 'we'" analyses reasons for Russia's negative international image and notes that the issue is being discussed at the Valdai political club; pp 1, 6 (391 words).

4. Maria Zheleznova article headlined "Navalnyy pulled to party" reports on opposition activist Alexei Navalny's decision to head the party, People's Alliance, which the process of its registration with the Justice Ministry will have to be started from scratch; p 3 (500 words).

5. Another editorial headlined "New generation party" says there is growing demand for new types of political parties in Russia and abroad, so opposition activist Alexei Navalny who decided to head the People's Alliance party may take this trend into consideration; p 6 (288 words).

6. Vladimir Shtanov article headlined "Limousine for Putin" says NAMI automobile institute is to develop a concept of a vehicle for the Russian top officials, the authorities believe the concept might become attractive to businessmen as well; p 10 (409 words).

7. Article by billionaire and Civil Platform party leader Mikhail Prokhorov headlined "What next" outlines the measures that should be taken to refresh the election system in Russia; pp 6-7 (1,900 words).

Izvestia

1. Yelizaveta Mayetnaya and German Petelin article headlined "Igor Shuvalov hides blindly" says First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov has entrusted his family business to Prof-Dir company owned by Sergei Kotlyarenko, his long-term business partner and friend; pp 1, 5 (1,238 words).

2. Natalya Bashlykova article headlined "Former aide of Sergei Ivanov to become senator" says One Russia has recommended the nomination of Vladimir Region first deputy governor Sergei Rybakov to the post of the Federation Council senator. Rybakov used to be aide of presidential administration head Sergei Ivanov; p 2 (727 words).

3. Yegor Sozayev-Guryev article headlined "Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko can visit military exercise together" says the Russian-Belarussian disagreements over fertilizers have not affected the military cooperation of the two countries. The two countries presidents are to watch the joint military exercise, Zapad (West) 2013, together; p 2 (547 words).

4. Denis Telmanov article headlined "Burnt submarine of same class as Kursk to be repaired in 2014" says the Tomsk nuclear submarine, where a fire sparked on Monday, is to be fully repaired in 2014; p 3 (489 words).

5. Denis Telmanov interview with Alexander Gorbovsky, chemical weapons expert of the Russian Green Cross organization, saying that it would be impossible to destroy all Syrian chemical weapons until mid 2014; p 6 (800 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Irina Nevinnaya article headlined "Subordinate salary" says a gap between the salary of personnel and their managers in Russia is growing. The difference in salaries reaches 10-15 times in Russia, while in the EU and the U.S. managers make only 200 percent more than their employees; pp 1, 4 (1,005 words).

2. Taras Fomchenkov article headlined "Rouble to be let out of corridor" says the Central Bank is to stop controlling ruble rate in two years, the price of the Russian currency will fully depend on the market; pp 1, 4 (814 words).

3. Article by political scientist Leonid Radzikhovsky headlined "Beautiful move" praises Russia's diplomatic efforts in resolving the Syrian problems; 2 (847 words).

4. Olga Zhurman et al. report headlined "Smoke without fire" gives details of a fire fighting operation at Zvezda plant where the Tomsk nuclear submarine caught fire during repair works; p 7 (836 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Marina Perevozkina article headlined "Who benefits from death of diplomat?" analyses political situation in Abkhazia where a Russian diplomat was killed; pp 1, 9 (1,534 words).

2. Alexander Minkin article headlined "Gas attack" comments on the Russian government's plans to freeze domestic prices on gas; pp 1, 3 (473 words).

3. Igor Subbotin article headlined "We have gas in our report, what about you?" polls Russian chemical weapons experts who comment on the UN report on the use of chemical weapons in Syria; pp 1, 6 (1,825 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Mikhail Nikiforenko article headlined "Election of elected ones" looks at recent elections in various regions saying that the Kremlin is probably planning to reform the entire political system of the country; pp 1-2 (1,351 words).

2. Anatoly Churgel interview with member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Igor Fedorov about the controversial reform of the academy; pp 1, 5 (1,120 words).

3. Sergei Putilov article headlined "In budget and oil quagmire" says oil prices are going down as Russia and the U.S. have reached the Syrian deal; pp 1, 3 (870 words).

Trud

1. Georgy Nastenko interview with republic of Ingushetia leader Yunus-bek Yevkurov upon his re-election as head of the republic; p 4 (1,000 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Yelena Krivyakina article headlined "Satellite launches to be insured" says Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has ordered the government to start insuring space satellites; p 2 (200 words).

2. Dmitry Steshin article headlined "Will monument competition go on?" criticizes Chechnya for opening a memorial to participants of the 19th-century Caucasian War; p 4 (200 words).

3. Varvara Onishchenko article headlined "Russia's plan saves Syria from Western strike" says U.S. President Barack Obama is content with the Russian proposal to place Syrian chemical weapons under international control; p 6 (400 words).

Moskovskiye Novosti

1. Alexandra Beluza and Irina Granik article headlined "Autumn marathon" reviews key draft laws that the State Duma is planning to consider this autumn, with bills on science and pension reforms among them; pp B2-B3 (1,600 words).