What the Papers Say, Nov. 22, 2013

Kommersant

1. Pavel Tarasenko et al. report headlined "Ukraine not to sign with Europe" says that Ukraine has suspended preparations for the signing of the association agreement with the EU and has decided to step up talks with Russia and members of the Customs Union instead; pp 1, 7 (807 words).

2. Svetlana Dementyeva et al. report headlined "Turn given up in favor of depositors" says that having begun the clearing of the banking system by revoking licenses from the Pushkino bank and Master Bank, the Central Bank has decided to change the system of settlement of debts of bankrupt banks for the benefit of depositors; pp 1, 10 (759 words).

3. Viktor Khamrayev et al. report headlined "Court reform explained" says that President Vladimir Putin has tabled with the State Duma three bills regulating the functioning of the court system to be built after his bill on the merger of the Supreme and Supreme Arbitration courts is passed. The president tabled the bills without waiting for the third reading of the bill in the State Duma, its approval by the Federation Council and regional parliaments; pp 1-2 (1,087 words).

4. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "Poor people" gives an ironic account of Putin's meeting with writers, poets and literature teachers; pp 1, 5 (2,595 words).

5. Sergei Goryashko article headlined "Boris Titov to pour some Seliger in Abrau Dyurso" says that business ombudsman Boris Titov, the Strategic Initiatives Agency and the Federal Youth Affairs Agency will hold a forum of young businessmen in the Krasnodar region; p 2 (510 words).

6. Natalya Gorodetskaya article headlined "Ramazan Abdulatipov ready to divide Dagestan" says that head of Dagestan Ramazan Abdulatipov has suggested that the republic should be divided into four districts; p 2 (461 words).

7. Vladislav Trifonov and Olga Mordyushenko article headlined "Vladislav Baumgertner returned free of charge" says that Minsk has extradited Uralkali's CEO Vladislav Baumgertner to Russia and looks at the reasons behind the move; p 4 (459 words).

8. Alexei Sokovnin and Maxim Ivanov article headlined "Astrakhan politician gets knifed" says that former Astrakhan mayoral candidate from the A Just Russia party Oleg Shein has been injured in a Moscow hostel; p 4 (604 words).

9. Nikolay Sergeiev report "Investigation in Master Bank case nears conclusion" says that the owners of Master Bank, that has been deprived of its license, may be charged with withdrawal of assets and a bankruptcy attempt; p 4 (700 words).

10. Vadim Visloguzov article headlined "Offshore companies to get Russian registration" says that the Finance Ministry is putting finishing touches on anti-offshore amendments to the corresponding law; p 6 (457 words).

11. Angelina Davydova article headlined "Weather in Warsaw remains bad" says that the Warsaw Climate Change Conference has yielded no results and ended up in a scandal; p 6 (508 words).

12. Sergei Strokan article headlined "Breakthrough being prepared for Iranian atom" says that a breakthrough agreement on the Iranian problem may be reached later this week; p 7 (450 words).

13. Yegor Popov et al. report headlined "Aviators to be ranked based on age" says that the Federal Air Transport Agency has officially backed lawmakers' initiative to limit the age of operating Russian aircraft to 20 years following the recent Boeing crash in Kazan; p 9 (647 words).

14. Anna Solodovnikova article headlined "Baku's oil flows out of Russia" says that in 2014 Azerbaijan's oil will not be pumped via the Russian pipeline as Baku has preferred a cheaper option; p 11 (500 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Vladimir Ivanov article headlined "America already takes dig at Arctic" says that the U.S. is going to step up the implementation of the program aimed at equipping its ships for functioning in the Arctic as the warming in the area is more rapid than in other parts of the world; pp 1-2 (622 words).

2. Yevgeniya Novikova article headlined "Premier Erdogan's ambitions realized in St. Petersburg" looks at the visit of a Turkish delegation headed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Russia. Energy cooperation, tourism and the Syrian settlement are the most important items on the agenda; pp 1-2 (743 words).

3. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Cultural elite comes before Putin" says that President Vladimir Putin has met over 500 writers, poets, publishers, translators and literature teachers from Russia and other countries and suggested that a mechanism to ensure communication between teachers and officials be set up; pp 1, 3 (903 words).

4. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Opposition saves up for its own newspaper" says that independent municipal deputies from Moscow's southwestern district are raising money to publish an opposition newspaper; pp 1, 3 (592 words).

5. Ivan Rodin article headlined "They plan to pay deputies for public cares" says that the legislative assembly of the Jewish Autonomous Region has put forward an initiative to allow regions to pay salaries to all municipal deputies, even to those who work part-time; pp 1, 3 (665 words).

6. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Train departs, Ukrainians stay" says that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has pledged to look into the problems that Ukrainian citizens face when trying to get to Russia by train. Russian border guards do not let quite many Ukrainians enter Russia under petty pretexts; pp 1, 8 (1,224 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Routine amendment of constitution" says that as the State Duma is sure to pass in the third reading the president's bill on merging the Supreme and the Supreme Arbitration courts, it will create a dangerous precedent of amending the constitution without wide public discussion and valid reasons; p 2 (471 words).

8. Yekaterina Trifonova article headlined "Shein may get flat for his wounds" says that A Just Russia member Oleg Shein has been accidentally injured in a Moscow hostel by a woman. The party's representatives blame themselves for not providing Shein with a flat in Moscow; p 3 (574 words).

9. Alireza Sanei article headlined "Carte blanche. Iran does not strive to have nuclear weapons" says that Iran does not seek to acquire nuclear weapons despite all the accusations reiterated by Israel; p 3 (673 words).

10. Alexei Mukhin article headlined "Who does not want fourth operator?" speculates on who opposes the merger of the Rostelekom state operator with the regional mobile operator Tele2 Russia; p 4 (857 words).

11. Igor Naumov article headlined "Monopolists dictate arms prices" says that although most companies of the defense industry place orders at electronic trading facilities, it does not really help the state to save up on the state defense order; p 4 (762 words).

12. Tatyana Dvoynova article headlined "Primorye Region ends up without technology clusters" says that the federal center has not backed up the idea of creating technological clusters in the Primorye Region which was put forward by governor Vladimir Miklushevskiy; p 5 (538 words).

13. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Conscripts to choose: One year or two" says that the Defense Ministry has suggested that conscripts should be granted a choice between the two-year contract service and the one-year conscription service; p 5 (703 words).

14. Darya Tsiryulik article headlined "Insurance against natural hazards to be imposed on rich countries" looks ahead at the last day of the Warsaw Climate Change Conference which is bound to have quite a few heated discussions as developing countries have demanded that developed countries should set up a fund to pay compensations for damage caused by natural hazards; p 8 (645 words).

Vedomosti

1. Darya Borisyak article headlined "Bank being saved with deputy's name" says that the Mast-bank, involved in the cashing and withdrawal of billions of rubles out of the country, has been sold to Andrei Ageyev, the brother of State Duma deputy Alexander Ageyev; pp 1, 14 (660 words).

2. Maxim Tovkaylo et al. report headlined "Ukraine stops" says that Kiev has suspended work on the association agreement with the EU; pp 1, 5 (647 words).

3. Editorial headlined "Contamination of money" says that the Central Bank has revoked the license of Master Bank for dirty banking and contemplates why illegal cashing is such a popular banking operation in Russia; pp 1, 6 (382 words).

4. Natan Khodzh and Yaroslav Trifonov article headlined "Karzai does not believe U.S." says that Afghan President Hamed Karzai has unexpectedly stated that the security deal with the U.S. should be postponed due to a lack of trust; p 3 (339 words).

5. Editorial headlined "Administration of threats" looks at the Concept of Public Security that Putin approved the other day and says that the state tends to react to new threats by withdrawing more resources from the market and distributing them among law enforcers; p 6 (308 words).

6. Vladimir Shtanov article headlined "United Shipbuilding Corporation sets course for budget" says that the United Shipbuilding Corporation plans to invest some 1.14 billion rubles ($34.5 million) in its development, and hopes that the budget will allocate some 65 percent, i.e. Over 740 billion rubles; p 12 (500 words).

7. Margarita Papchenkova and Sergei Titov article headlined "Collect all taxes in Russia" says that the Finance Ministry is discussing measures to make foreign companies with Russian assets pay taxes in Russia; p 4 (673 words).

8. Maxim Glikin et al. report "Senator asked to leave" says that former head of the Audit Chamber Sergei Stepashin's close associate Alexander Korovnikov, representing Novgorod Region, may leave the Federation Council; p 2 (500 words).

9. Anastasiya Kornya report "Russia to speak about tolerance" says that the European Court of Human Rights is looking into the quality of Russian laws banning the propaganda of homosexuality; p 2 (450 words).

10. Tatyana Voronova report "Who is victim of Master Bank?" looks at the problems that depositors of Master Bank, whose license has been revoked, are facing; p 10 (700 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Pavel Dulman article headlined "Kiev takes time out" says that experts have warned Kiev that Ukrainian relations with the EU are bound to deteriorate after the government announced that the preparations for the signing of the association agreement with the EU have been frozen; pp 1, 8 (1,000 words).

2. Kira Latukhina article headlined "Audience in Vatican" looks ahead at Putin's visit to Italy set for next week; p 2 (800 words).

3. Yevgeniy Shestakov article headlined "Not a tea party" says that the participants in the new round of Geneva talks on the Iranian nuclear program seem to be biding their time and waiting for the arrival of foreign ministers of the 5+1 group; p 8 (750 words).

4. Article by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin headlined "Robots to be called to arms" looks at how technologies of the sixth generation will affect the defense industry, science and the healthcare sector; p 17 (3,400 words).

5. Yuliya Krivoshapko interview "Ice breaks up" with Alexander Shokhin, chairman of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, who speaks about the reason why Russia is stepping up activities in the north; pp 1, 6 (1,700 words).

6. Pavel Basinskiy report "Much Russia, single Russia" looks at Putin's meeting with Russian writers, poets, literature teachers and book publishers; pp 1, 14 (700 words).

7. Valeriy Vyzhutovich report "Messrs jurors" looks at political and ethnic-motivated trials in Russia; p 3 (900 words).

8. Andrei Vasyanin interview with Yuri Kostin, head of Avtoradio; p 6 (800 words).

9. Alexander Yevgenyev report "Head of Uralkali returned to Russia" says that Uralkali head Vladislav Baumgertner has been extradited by Belarus to Russia; p 8 (250 words).

10. Mariya Kuptsova report "Snowden gets into advertisement" says that buses with photos of former CIA employee Edward Snowden will appear in Washington; p 8 (350 words).

Izvestia

1. Yanina Sokolovskaya article headlined "Ukraine freezes association with EU for Russia's sake" says that Kiev does not give up the idea of integration with the EU, but has suspended preparations for the signing of the association agreement with the EU; pp 1, 6 (690 words).

2. Natalya Bashlykova interview with co-chairman of the RPR-Parnas party Vladimir Ryzhkov headlined "'I hope amnesty of prisoners will be maximal'", where he speaks about the meeting of representatives of non-parliamentary parties with Putin on Nov. 20; pp 1, 3 (1,019 words).

3. Yelena Malay report "Special course to help ethnic relations" says that head of Dagestan Ramazan Abdulatipov has written a manual that will help regional authorities prevent and solve ethnic conflicts; pp 1-2 (900 words).

4. Anastasiya Alexeievskikh and Anna Kaledina interview with Deputy Associate Director at the U.S. Federal Reserve Michael Lambert headlined "'If U.S. hosts Olympics, FRS will issue special banknote'"; p 5 (732 words).

5. Vladimir Zykov report "Foreigners to be involved in protection against cyber threats" says that a single system of protection of state websites will appear in Russia; p 3 (500 words).

6. Mariya Gorkovskaya article headlined "Afghan elders decide fate of agreement with U.S." quotes an expert as saying that the Afghan leader will have to sign the security deal with the U.S.; p 7 (576 words).

7. Igor Yavlyanskiy and Darya Tsoy article headlined "Americans want to sink Syrian chemical weapons in sea" says that the U.S. is considering the possibility of eliminating the components for the production of chemical weapons from Syria on a special vessel in international waters; p 7 (406 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Marina Ozerova interview with co-chairman of the RPR-Parnas party Vladimir Ryzhkov headlined "Ryzhkov on Putin: He remembers everything!" where Ryzhkov shares his impression of the president's meeting with representatives of eight non-parliamentary parties; p 2 (941 words).

2. Stanislav Belkovskiy article headlined "Putin, Yanukovych acting as bad guys" comments on the release of Greenpeace activists on bail and Ukraine's suspension of talks on the association agreement with the EU; p 3 (1,222 words).

3. Unattributed article "Oleg Shein's nightmare" looks at an attack on opposition politician Oleg Shein in a Moscow hostel; pp 1, 3 (750 words).

4. Leonid Berres report "Nabiullina: Revocation of licences to be continued" quotes Central Bank head Elvira Nabiullina as saying that following Master Bank, more Russian banks will be deprived of licenses; pp 1, 3 (700 words).

5. Marina Lemutkina report "'One should not throw anything at police!'" looks at Putin's meeting with writers, literature teachers and book publishers in Moscow; pp 1-2 (750 words).

6. Olga Bozhyeva report "Equipment put on accidents" looks at the causes of the recent air crash in Tatarstan; pp 1, 3 (550 words).

7. Oleg Bazak report "Tymoshenko not let go to Europe" looks at the Ukrainian parliament's decisions regarding former Prime Minister Yuliya Tymoshenko and says that Ukraine has suspended the association agreement with the EU; p 3 (600 words).

8. Georgiy Fedorov report "Rotation into future" says that the new principle of administering the Civil Platform party may make it the "most noticeable opposition force"; p 5 (850 words).

RBC Daily

1. Alexei Sinyakov et al. article headlined "Suitcase, train station and general plan" says that Moscow region towns have presented draft plans for their development to the Moscow Region authorities and have been severely criticized for the intentions to increase the population at the expense of migrants; pp 1, 8 (670 words).

2. Ivan Petrov article headlined "'Birdies' on Ford" says that Russian police plan to use drones in their work; p 2 (400 words).

3. Alexander Litoy and Ivan Petrov article headlined "'Kirovles', Bolotnaya and Bastrykin" says that activists of the Russian Independent Human Rights Council have suggested that the U.S. should expand the Magnitsky list and include Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev and head of the Investigations Committee Alexander Bastrykin in it; p 2 (600 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Alexander Grishin article headlined "Ukraine no longer wants to go to Europe?" comments on Ukraine's decision to suspend preparations for a trade agreement with the EU; pp 1, 4 (240 words).

2. Yevgeniy Belyakov interview with the new head of the Russian Audit Chamber, Tatyana Golikova; p 12 (1,800 words).

Trud

1. Sergei Rusev article headlined "What is governor Tkachev silent about" says that Krasnodar region governor Alexander Tkachev's relative, businessman Alexander Batalov was detained yesterday for giving a bribe and Tkachev has not commented on the incident yet. The article adds that there have been a number of high-profile stories in the Krasnodar region recently that the governor has not commented on, though he should have; p 1 (320 words).