What the Papers Say, Jan. 16, 2014

Kommersant

1. Anna Solodovnikova and Yelena Chernenko article headlined "Russia can provide its supplies" says Russia and Iran are discussing the possibility of resuming economic cooperation. Russia can become the biggest importer of Iranian oil, the article says; pp 1, 6 (969 words).

2. Tatyana Grishina and Vadim Visloguzov article headlined "Citizens transferred to tax self-service" says the Russian Tax Service is developing a more effective mechanism of charging property taxes. People who do not receive property taxes will be obliged to inform tax collectors about their property, the article says; pp 1, 3 (610 words).

3. Yulia Gallyamova and Yegor Popov article headlined "High-speed roads go to future" says the construction of the Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway has been postponed due to unfavorable economic situation in the country. Russian Railways Company will try to persuade the cabinet to change the decision; pp 1, 9 (686 words).

4. Yegor Popov and Roman Kondratyev article headlined "Automobile market gets same problems" says the Russian car market has found itself in the situation similar to the problems of early 2013, when car dealers bought more vehicles than they could sell; pp 1, 9 (665 words).

5. Dmitry Komarov et al. report headlined "Chelyabinsk governor post turns out to be too tough" says Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works head Boris Dubrovsky has been appointed as the acting governor of Chelyabinsk region, replacing Mikhail Yurevich, who resigned; p 2 (569 words).

6. Article attributed to the paper's political section headlined "United Russia starts first at autumn elections" says United Russia has decided to hold open primaries ahead of the single voting day in autumn 2014 to enlist public support; p 3 (504 words).

7. Alexander Voronov article headlined "Russia to have its own European penal colony" says 2 trillion rubles (about $60 billion) are to be spent on upgrading Russian prisons up to 2020. Experts believe the money will not improve the situation until the Penal Service starts abiding by the Russian legislation; p 4 (787 words).

8. Yulia Rybina article headlined "Militants took special task force along" reports on the latest major special operation in  Dagestan as a result of which several police officers died; p 4 (600 words).

9. Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "Military support to be returned to Cairo" says the U.S. will continue financing the Egyptian armed forces in exchange for the country's leadership pledge to continue efforts aimed at taking the nation to the path towards democracy; p 6 (496 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Metropolitan single-constituency candidates' range" says Muscovites are to vote for individual candidates, not party lists at the Moscow City Duma election, United Russia has decided. Meanwhile, opposition parties accuse the ruling party of changing conditions to suit its candidates, the article says; pp 1-2 (836 words).

2. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Shoigu prepares road map for students" says the Defense Ministry has drafted a new system of training university graduates to do military service. The move aims to make military service more attractive for educated young men, the article adds; pp 1-2 (818 words).

3. Yekaterina Trifonova article headlined "Terrorists to be ousted from internet, people — from streets" says ordinary people are to be affected by the antiterrorism legislation drafted by the State Duma; pp 1, 3 (664 words).

4. Alexander Malyshev article headlined "Metal added to southern Urals" comments on the appointment of metallurgical plant head Boris Dubrovsky as acting Chelyabinsk Region governor and adds that the new regional head is known for his ties with the presidential envoy to the region, Igor Kholmanskikh; pp 1, 5 (674 words).

5. Anton Khodosevich article headlined "Lukashenko intrudes into Russia's holy of holies" says the first batch of 1,500 Chinese vehicles Geely assembled in Belarus have been sold to the Customs Union member-states. Experts expect the Russian car lobby to block the project; pp 1, 6 (767 words).

6. Svetlana Gavrilina article headlined "Foreign agents searched for in Arctic" says Murmansk NGO Yekoravnovesiye (Environmental Balance) has protested against holding media debates organized by Finland that involve journalists and an employee of the Finnish Consulate General in St. Petersburg and will focus on criticizing the Russian policy in Arctic; pp 1-2 (536 words).

7. Anna Gushchina article headlined "U.S. watches every mouse click" says the U.S. secret services installed software at 100,000 computers in several countries including Russia that allows them to read documents in the computers even if the hardware is turned off; p 2 (428 words).

8. Editorial headlined "Unclear prospects" says the shale gas revolution is affecting Russia's position on the global gas market and adds that Gazprom should take it into account; p 2 (559 words).

9. Daria Garmonenko article headlined "Yukos case in court again" says the Russian Supreme Court will consider the Yukos case on Jan. 23, as defense lawyers want former Menatep bank head Platon Lebedev to be freed while the prosecution wants Lebedev and former Yukos owner Mikhail Khodorkovsky to pay 17 billion (about $510 million); p 3 (504 words).

10. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "Israeli minister offends Kerry" says the Israeli Defense Minister's criticism of the U.S. approach to the settlement of the Palestinian conflict has shown growing disagreements between two allies; p 7 (604 words).

11. Yelena Novikova article headlined "West synchronizes watches with Assad" says the European secret services have started cooperating with the Syrian government in preventing the spread of jihadism. The West has started contacts with Damascus as many countries are worried by the prospect of returning jihadists, the article says; p 7 (711 words).

Vedomosti

1. Maxim Tovkaylo article headlined "Economy gets stuck due to 10 years of success" says the Russian government has found an explanation to the country's economic problems: the Russian economy got into a trap of average income, as there is no cheap labor force available; pp 1, 5 (700 words).

2. Valery Kodachigov article headlined "Amendment of wallets" says the bill imposing restrictions on electronic money transfers in Russia has cost 18 percent of the capitalization of the Qiwi payment system; pp 1, 16 (450 words).

3. Editorial headlined "Banks more important than information" says the bill punishing media providing false information on banks and financial institutions will affect the freedom of speech in Russia; pp 1, 6 (400 words).

4. Another editorial headlined "Thaw is over" says that new anti-terrorist bills, broadening the powers of the Federal Security Services in Russia is aimed at protecting interests of the state and not the ordinary citizens; p 6 (390 words).

5. Lilia Biryukova and Alexandra Terentyeva article headlined "Governor failed to get over meteorite" looks at the early resignation of the governor of Chelyabinsk region, Mikhail Yurevich; p 3 (500 words).

Izvestia

1. Alexandra Yermakova article headlined "State Registration Service gets into second case" says the Investigative Committee has opened a new criminal case on negligence charges against the Federal Service for State Registration that misspent 100 million rubles (about $3 million) when buying new equipment; pp 1, 4 (682 words).

2. Yelena Teslova article headlined "Rights activists to get ethical code" says a lawmaker has suggested that the Public Chamber should develop an ethics code for Russian rights activists; pp 1, 3 (684 words).

3. Yelena Teslova and Svetlana Subbotina article headlined "Vologda governor flies 12 times round earth in two years" says the All-Russia People's Front has accused the Vologda region leadership of misspending public funds on charter flights; pp 1-2 (649 words).

4. Svetlana Subbotina article headlined "Central Bank acknowledges Kudrin's participation in KIT Finance bank reorganization" says the Central Bank has acknowledged that Alexei Kudrin recommended the financial regulator to prevent the bankruptcy of KIT Finance Bank when he held the post of the finance minister; pp 1, 5 (712 words).

5. Alexei Krivoruchek article headlined "Russian Navy to receive unique ship from fiberglass in 2015" says a new minesweeper made of fiberglass is to be tested this year; p 4 (508 words).

6. Konstantin Volkov article headlined "Moscow calls on Asia Pacific Region to put Syrian opposition under pressure" says Moscow has called on Asia Pacific countries to urge the Syrian opposition to take part in the international peace conference on Syria; p 7 (434 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Marina Gritsyuk interview with Yury Necheporenko, chairman of the Federal Fund for the Obligatory Medical Insurance, speaking on changes in the medical insurance policies in Russia and on standards of providing medical insurance in the country; pp 1, 5 (1,200 words).

2. Igor Zubkov article headlined "Drained and did not come back" says experts predict the outflow of Russian capital abroad to continue in 2014, moreover, money withdrawn from the country is not expected to be returned; pp 1, 4 (800 words).

3. Ivan Yegorov article headlined "Without limitation period" says amendments to the current antiterrorism legislation submitted to the State Duma give the FSB, or Federal Security Service, more powers in fighting against terrorism; p 2 (400 words).

4. Alena Uzbekova interview with Federal Fisheries Agency head Andrei Krainy speaking on the detention of Russian fishermen by the Senegalese authorities and on prospects for the development of the Russian fishing sector; p 4 (1,500 words).

5. Yevgeny Shestakov article headlined "Will they help bandits all together?" says the countries that the Syrian authorities accuse of supporting terrorism have gathered in Kuwait to discuss humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees. The funds raised are expected to be used to urge refugees to support the Syrian opposition, the article says; p 8 (800 words).

6. Igor Dunayevsky article headlined "Edward Snowden gets work in U.S." says former CIA contractor Edward Snowden has been employed by the U.S. Free Press Foundation. He is to help the press protect themselves from secret services' supervision, the article says; p 8 (250 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta (weekly)

1. Vladislav Kulikov article headlined "Freedom is yours" says that some 12,000 people have already been released from custody in Russia under the latest amnesty; p 10 (350 words)

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Marina Ozerova article headlined "Terror to lose incognito" details changes in the legislation submitted to the State Duma in response to the recent suicide bombings in Russia's southern city of Volgograd; pp 1-2 (1,295 words).

2. Andrei Yashlavsky article headlined "Weak words" comments on a report on human rights violations in Europe drafted by the Russian Foreign Ministry. The author notes that Moscow is criticizing its neighbors while turning a blind eye to problems at home; pp 1-2 (641 words).

3. Matvei Ganapolsky article headlined "Terror in law" says the Russian authorities will trigger a negative public response to new tough legislation aimed at fighting against terrorism; pp 1-3 (1,171 words).

4. Igor Subbotin interview with Georgy Mirsky, expert from the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, speaking on the role of the upcoming international conference Geneva 2 in the settlement of the situation in Syria; p 4 (1,666 words).

5. Igor Karmazin article headlined "'Aliens' against Roizman" says the opposition mayor of Yekaterinburg, Yevgeny Roizman, has not started implementing his election promises yet; p 4 (1,115 words).

RBK Daily

1. Yulia Sinyayeva report "No-one knows about crisis" looks at the economic situation in Russia and at discussions at the Gaidar Forum on Jan. 15. Federal officials acknowledge problems in the economy, but do not speak about them, article says; p 1 (650 words).

2. Alexander Litoi report "Write to Staraya Ploshchad" says that the presidential human rights council will ask Putin to set up at the presidential administration a controlling body to work with complaints against officials and security agencies; p 2 (550 words).

3. Stepan Opalev report "Pressure of Uralvagonzavod" says that Putin has accepted the resignation of Chelyabinsk Governor Mikhail Yurevich and appointed Boris Dubrovsky, the general director of Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, as acting governor of the region; p 2 (500 words).

4. Inga Vorobyova report "Manual control 3.0" says that Putin has invented a new format of communicating with the government: once in a fortnight he will invite key officials to discuss the most important issues; p 3 (450 words).

5. Unattributed report "'Do not touch unless absolutely necessary'" features excerpts from Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's interview with RBK TV; p 3 (600 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Yekaterina Dyatlovskaya interview with Yabloko party leader Sergei Mitrokhin criticizing United Russia's legislative work amending the laws to make it easier for the ruling party to win elections; pp 1-2 (800 words).

2. Vardan Ogandzhanyan report "Opening one's mouth too wide" says that a new security agency, the military police, is being formed in Russia; p 2 (600 words).

3. Vera Moslakova report "Looking for enemy of people" says that the State Duma has postponed again the debate of the bill according to which mass media outlets financed from abroad will be considered as "foreign agents"; p 2 (600 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Vladimir Voloshin report "State Duma threatens terrorists with life sentences and searches" says that deputies have tabled a bill with the parliament giving more power to security agencies and local authorities. According to lawmaker Irina Yarovaya from United Russia, not only the Federal Security Service, but also governors will deal with countering terrorist attacks; p 3 (600 words).

2. Alexander Gamov interview with pro-Kremlin television commentator Mikhail Leyontyev, who has been appointed vice president of the Russian oil major Rosneft; p 4 (800 words).

3. Alexander Grishin report "Okhlobystin changes job and writes another letter to 'sodomites"' says that showman and former priest Ivan Okhlobystin, infamous for his recent anti-gay rhetoric, has posted in his blog another letter to homosexuals; p 6 (500 words).

4. Yevgeny Arsyukhin interview headlined "Will ruble continue losing its value?" with deputy head of the Central Bank Ksenia Yudayeva; pp 1, 8-9 (2,500 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Viktor Ruchkin report "Under control of Russian ships" says that Northern Fleet warships will escort to the Mediterranean Sea the vessels transporting Syrian chemical weapons; p 3 (700 words).

Trud

1. Sergei Frolov report "Dancing in air" says that Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin has said on  Twitter that he intends to set up "his own factory of news, the real and optimistic ones"; p 3 (400 words).