What the Papers Say, Oct. 28, 2013

Kommersant

1. Anna Pushkarskaya article headlined "Living space cut for legal quarter" says the Russian authorities have selected a design project to build new quarters for the Supreme Court and the Supreme Arbitration Court in St. Petersburg. The initial plan to build housing for judges close to the office buildings was rejected; pp 1, 6 (1,105 words).

2. Georgy Dvali article headlined "Mikheil Saakashvili secures good care for Georgia" says the presidential election in Georgia has finished the rule of Mikheil Saakashvili. The ruling party candidate Georgy Margvelashvili is expected to win the election; pp 1, 7 (1,134 words).

3. Yegor Popov article headlined "Russia delayed in Finnish harbour" says the Russian Shipbuilding Corporation wants to take control of a foreign facility and will have to buy all the shares of money-losing Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, which it now owns together with a South Korean firm. The shipyard requires 1-billion-euros worth of orders to survive; pp 1, 11 (653 words).

4. Svetlana Dementyeva et al. report headlined "percent approach" says the Central Bank will be able to limit interest rates on all consumer loans and also on the loans granted to financial corporations; pp 1, 10 (573 words).

5. Natalya Korchenkova et al. report headlined "Chechnya quits LDPR" says Chechen members of Liberal Democratic Party of Russia have given up their party membership following critical comments by party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky about North Caucasus natives. Experts believe Zhirinovsky's rating will grow in Russia; p 2 (552 words).

6. Maxim Ivanov article headlined "Sergei Mironov returns leadership post" says Sergei Mironov has returned the leadership post in A Just Russia at the party's congress in Moscow; p 2 (622 words).

7. Unattributed article headlined "Will they all leave?" polls politicians and public figures who comment on Zhirinovsky's nationalist rhetoric; p 2 (504 words).

8. Irina Nagornykh article headlined "Functions to be prescribed for party inspectors" says United Russia has given its central control and revision commission greater powers, namely, the monitoring of moral and ethical behaviour of party members; p 2 (549 words).

9. Irina Nagornykh interview with Nina Kudashova, head of United Russia's central control and revision commission, speaking on her role as the party inspector; p 2 (503 words).

10. Olga Churakova article headlined "Opposition goes from Bolotnaya [square] to Prirazlomnaya [oil rig]" reports on an opposition march in Moscow which has expressed support to Greenpeace activists kept in custody in Murmansk; p 6 (511 words).

11. Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "UN to be asked to monitor surveillance" says Germany and Brazil are going to ask the UN to limit surveillance by secret services; 19 other countries have already supported the initiative. The U.S. will have to take this stance into consideration when shaping its foreign policy; p 7 (480 words).

12.Vadim Visloguzov interview with Maxim Reshetnikov, head of the economic policy and development department of the Moscow mayor's office, speaking on new taxation of property in Moscow; p 8 (674 words).

13. Alexandra Larintseva report "Said Amirov brought to terrorism charges" says that arrested former Makhachkala mayor Said Amirov has been charged with terrorism and illegal arms trade; p 4 (850 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Pension reform to be started with servicemen" says the Defense Ministry has suggested that servicemen should do military service 25 years instead of 20 to be eligible for pension. The change is likely to come into effect in January 2014; pp 1, 3 (966 words).

2. Alexei Gorbachev and Yekaterina Trifonova article headlined "Oksana Dmitryeva falls out of presidium" says Sergei Mironov has become A Just Russia leader again. A group of A Just Russia members headed by Oksana Dmitryeva has called for real opposition activities; pp 1, 3 (1,029 words).

3. Yekaterina Trifonova article headlined "Mayors queue up for testing" says Russian mayors will attend seminars organized by the Kremlin where they will be taught modern management principles; pp 1, 3 (726 words).

4. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Economic Development Ministry forces optimism" says the Economic Development Ministry wants to sound more optimistic and forecasts better performance of the country's economy in the remaining nine weeks in 2013; pp 1, 4 (664 words).

5. Yevgenia Novikova article headlined "U.S. looses interest in Arab Spring" says the U.S. has decided to distance itself from the troublesome Middle East and focus its foreign policy on Southeast Asia; pp 1, 5 (789 words).

6. Tatyana Dvoynova article headlined "Vladivostok fails to become third capital" says that Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yury Trutnev has decided not to move his office from Khabarovsk to Vladivostok; pp 1-2 (741 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Budget of inconsistencies and contradictions" looks at the draft of the federal budget and notes that the shortcomings of the document have made it a target for criticism; p 2 (482 words).

8. Ada Gorbacheva report "Rospotrebnadzor breaks up" looks at the rumours that the Russian Federal Service for Consumer Rights Protection will be disbanded following the resignation of its head Gennady Onishchenko; p 2 (450 words).

9. Gleb Postnov report "Kazan and Groznyy divide Muslim community into spheres of influence" says that the concealed fight for a right to be called Russia's Islamic capital is being waged by Tatarstan and Chechnya diplomatically, so far; p 3 (500 words).

10. Nikolai Mironov report "Party's landmark" looks at Russian parties and at the political situation in the country; p 5 (1,200 words).

11. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Week in politics: Illegal migration does not become easier" reports on the plans of the Russian federation of migrants to stage a rally in Moscow to speak out about their rights. The plans have been cancelled; p 8 (452 words).

12. Artur Blinov article headlined "Snowden does not reveal all secrets so far" looks at the European reaction to Snowden's allegations that the U.S. wiretapped telephone conversations of its European allies; p 8 (560 words).

Izvestia

1. Svetlana Subbotina article headlined "Embezzlement of budget funds to become element of crime" says United Russia deputies want to introduce new notions in the Russian law, such as "corruption crime". The relevant bill has already been drafted; pp 1-2 (449 words).

2. Natalya Bashlykova article headlined "Communists choose Orel Region governor" says the Communists want to nominate State Duma deputy Vasily Ikonnikov for the post of Orel region governor, as the incumbent regional head, Alexander Kozlov, is not expected to seek re-election after his term in office expires in February 2014; pp 1, 4 (854 words).

3. Svetlana Povoraznyuk article headlined "Trade representatives to move to CIS and Africa" says the Economic Development Ministry will redistribute the staff of the Russian trade missions to set up more offices in the CIS, Asia, Latin America and Africa; pp 1, 5 (553 words).

4. Ivan Cheberko article headlined "Dmitry Rogozin finds workers missing in Vostochnyy" says Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin has criticised the contractors building the Vostochny cosmodrome in Amur Region and has said he will not tolerate any false information provided to the authorities; pp 1, 4 (705 words).

5. Petr Kozlov et al. report headlined "Urlashov and Arctic Sunrise made their debut at opposition march" says the opposition, that staged a rally in Moscow on Oct. 27, has not offered any new agenda, they only added arrested Yaroslavl mayor Yevgeny Urlashov and Greenpeace activists to the list of political prisoners whose release they are pressing for; p 2 (891 words).

6. Svetlana Subbotina interview with Alexei Pimanov, journalist and former Federation Council member, speaking on his new post of the head of the Zvezda holding company controlled by the Defense Ministry; p 7 (1,398 words).

7. Konstantin Volkov report "Allies' indignation not to keep U.S. from continuing eavesdropping" looks at the scandal over the U.S.'s eavesdropping on 35 world leaders and features a Russian analyst's comment; p 8 (500 words).

Vedomosti

1. Yelena Khodyakova article headlined "Contractors to turn pipes away from Gazprom" says Gazprom contractors expect their revenues to fall due to the freezing of the gas monopoly tariffs. They are going to orient their business to other energy companies; pp 1, 12 (537 words).

2. Sergei Titov et al. report headlined "Sentence for agreement" says the Investigative Committee and the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service want to jail businessmen and officials over agreements hampering competition; pp 1, 5 (659 words).

3. Editorial headlined "Lack of health" says that planned budget cuts have created additional problems to the Russian health system; pp 1, 6 (434 words).

4. Another editorial headlined "Without visas and quotes" comments on an initiative by Russian business ombudsman Boris Titov to legalize all illegal migrants to help the country's businesses; p 6 (330 words).

5. Anfisa Voronina article headlined "Person of week: Gennady Onishchenko" looks at Gennady Onishchenko who has left the post of Rospetrebnadzor consumer watchdog head; p 6 (393 words).

6. Galina Starinskaya article headlined "Iraq opens to Lukoil" says the Russian oil company LUKoil has extracted first oil at a field in Iraq. Industrial oil extraction is to begin in late 2013-early 2014; p 10 (463 words).

7. Anastasia Kornya report "Parole: Only for money" says that the State Duma has passed in the second reading amendments to the Criminal Code making compensation the obligatory condition for release on parole; p 2 (500 words).

8. Svetlana Bocharova and Lilia Biryukova article entitled "Woman gets in way of A Just Russia members" looks at the results of the congress of the A Just Russia Party; p 2 (900 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Yulia Krivoshapko article headlined "Oligarchs without lyric poetry" says Russian wealthiest people have studied engineering, physics, economy and law mostly at Moscow and St. Petersburg universities; pp 1, 5 (650 words).

2. Sergei Belov and Yelena Kukol article headlined "Parachute argument" says that golden parachutes, the compensation that heads of state controlled companies will receive in case of their dismissal, will be limited to their 3-6 monthly salaries; pp 1-2 (950 words).

3. Veronika Krasheninnikova article headlined "'Splendour and poverty' of war for democracy" says that wars for democracy, in fact, prove to be the fight against forces disloyal to Washington; p 5 (800 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Vladimir Vashchenko article headlined "Russian village appears in Syria" says around 800 Chechens and other Russian citizens are fighting as part of rebel forces against Bashar Assad's regime in Syria; pp 1-2 (450 words).

2. Tatyana Zamakhina and Irina Badmayeva article headlined "They 'forget' to guarantee quality healthcare in new budget" says budget cuts will affect the Russian health system. Even Health and Social Development Minister Veronika Skvortsova guarantees quality of healthcare services only up to 2015; pp 1-2 (400 words).

3. Vladimir Chuprin report "Harvest covered with puddle" looks at huge losses incurred by the agricultural sector in central Russia due to adverse weather; pp 1, 3 (650 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Leonid Nikitinsky article headlined "Legal barbarism" criticises amendments to the Russian law making relatives of the people found guilty of terrorism compensate for the losses caused by them; p 3 (589 words).

2. Irina Khalip report "Ally attacks Russia without declaring war" says that officers from the Belarussian KGB have attempted to kidnap in Moscow and bring to Minsk another Uralkali top manager; p 9 (1,200 words).

3. Yelena Milashina article entitled "'Fathers of nation' leave. Who will pay alimony?" comments on the situation in Georgia following the presidential election; p 13 (1,000 words).

4. Yulia Latynina report "Not quite pirates" looks at the activities of Greenpeace; p 17 (800 words).

RBC Daily

1. Alexander Polotsky article headlined "Obama loses trust" comments on the scandal over the U.S.'s eavesdropping on telephone conversations of European leaders; p 4 (600 words).

2. Stepan Opalev report "Platform of plot" says that according to a poll by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM), 42 percent of the Russians, who have heard about the Greenpeace protest at the Prirazlomnaya oil rig in the Pechora Sea, believe that this applies to foreign special services' plot; p 2 (350 words).

Novye Izvestia

1. Valery Yakov report "Naked jester" says that LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky's recent statements resemble those of the Nazis; pp 1-2 (600 words).