What the Papers Say, March 6, 2014

Kommersant

1. Interview of President Vladimir Putin with Russian and Western media headlined "The story of every Paralympian is a story of a victory over the most difficult circumstances." Putin sums up. the results of the Sochi Olympics and speaks on the tests of the Paralympics opening in the city; pp. 1, 12 (1,574 words).

2. Nikolai Sergeyev article headlined "Embezzlement of funds only charge" says the main military directorate of the Russian Investigations Committee has charged the brother-in-law of former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, Valeriy Puzikov, with embezzlement. Puzikov has given himself up. to the investigators, so they have decided not to arrest him for now; pp. 1, 6 (693 words).

3. Olga Shestopal article headlined "Personal funds turnover" says the Russian authorities want to ban individuals from bringing into and taking out of the country sums larger than 15,000 euros. The move is expected to help reduce capital outflow; pp. 1, 8 (697 words).

4. Anna Solodovnikova et al. report headlined "Uralkali returns to Belarus" says the management of Russian potash producer Uralkali and the Belarussian authorities are discussing cooperation again; pp. 1, 9 (446 words).

5. Pyotr Netreba article headlined "Ukraine does not hamper Eurasian union" says Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan are still planning to set up. the Eurasian Economic Union in May despite the Ukrainian crisis; p. 2 (477 words).

6. Yelena Chernenko article headlined "John Kerry enrolled into Right Sector" says that during the talks with Western diplomats in Paris, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has raised the issue of a leaked telephone conversation between EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet. The Estonian minister reportedly said that the Ukrainian opposition forces had allegedly hired snipers to shoot at both the protesters and the police during clashes in Kiev; p. 4 (805 words).

7. Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "Barack Obama pulls sanctions over himself" says the issue of anti-Russian sanctions may cause a new dispute between the Congress and the U.S. presidential administration that wants softer measures on Russia; p. 4 (451 words).

8. Maxim Ivanov et al. report headlined "Russian deputies to teach Ukrainian colleagues to make laws" says the Russian authorities will label Ukrainian laws that may violate human rights illegal. Meanwhile, the State Duma is going to cooperate with the Crimean parliament on holding an independence referendum there; p. 4 (446 words).

9. Pavel Tarasenko article headlined "Challenge banner over administration building" says pro-Russian forces have regained control over the Donetsk administration building after it was seized by Ukrainian activists; p. 5 (709 words).

10. Pavel Tarasenko interview with Pavel Gubarov, pro-Russian Ukrainian businessman claiming to be "people's governor of the Donetsk region," speaking on his stance and the situation in the city; p. 5 (439 words).

11. Ilya Barabanov article headlined "Crimea torn apart by military units" reports on the situation at the surface-to-air missile regiment stationed in Yevpatoriya, Crimea. The military command of the regiment supports the pro-Russian government of the region; p. 5 (562 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Yury Paniyev article headlined "Kiev decides to start U.S.-missile blackmailing" says Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called Kiev threats to station U.S. missile defense facilities a speculation on the relations between Moscow and the West; pp. 1-2 (863 words).

2. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "They are going to archive Oboronservis case" says the high-profile case of former Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov, charged with negligence, is being forgotten quietly amid the Ukrainian crisis. Some experts say the case is falling apart; pp. 1, 3 (1,242 words).

3. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Gas seizure of Perekop" says Moscow is going to allocate $6 billion worth of financial support to Crimea and is looking for ways of ensuring that the peninsula has energy independence. At the same time Gazprom is expected to cancel gas discounts for Ukraine on April 1; pp. 1, 6 (1,489 words).

4. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "They look for common sponsors of Maidan and Russian rights activists" says Rosfinmonitoring, Russia's financial watchdog, claims that the same Western organizations that have funded Ukrainian radicals have also allocated financial support to some Russian NGOs; pp. 1, 3 (575 words).

5. Mikhail Sergeyev article headlined "Kerch bridge with lowered estimate" says the Russian authorities have lowered their estimate of the cost of a bridge designed to connect Crimea and Russia to 50 million rubles (about $1.38 billion); pp. 1, 4 (658 words).

6. Andrei Serenko article headlined "Volgograd ladies fail to split public" says the Volgograd mayor and the local city legislature speaker representing rival political groups are competing against each other to set up. public organizations as part of the local self-government reform; pp. 1, 5 (531 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Not only Kiev is scared of Moscow's brotherly embrace" says that even Russia's closest allies, Belarus and Kazakhstan, do not rush to support Moscow's policy in Ukraine. Minsk does not want to cut its ties with Ukraine, and Astana would like to continue the cooperation with the West; p. 2 (518 words).

8. Sergei Zhiltsov article headlined "Crimea leads Ukraine to federalization" says the Russian involvement in the Ukrainian crisis has allowed Crimea to lay stronger claims against Kiev. The situation may result in greater federalization of Ukraine; p. 3 (588 words).

9. Yevgeny Grigoryev article headlined "Germans do not want to bite Russia" says Berlin is against economic sanctions on Russia as they may affect the German economy; p. 6 (523 words).

Vedomosti

1. Dina Ushakova article headlined "Rouble getting weaker, state banks growing" says the Russian banking system assets grew in January unexpectedly because of Sberbank, VTB and Gazprombank. The weakening ruble and capital inflow to the corporate clients' accounts helped the banks; pp. 1, 15 (500 words).

2. Editorial headlined "Height of shadow" analyses the shadow labor market in Russia and notes that business people are not interested in creating legal jobs due to their mistrust to the authorities; pp. 1, 6 (400 words).

3. Polina Khimshiashvili et al. article headlined "Truce without compromises" says a mission of OSCE observers was going to Ukraine on Thursday without Russian representatives; p. 2 (400 words).

4. Maria Zheleznova and Anastasia Kornya article headlined "Games in favor of Putin" says pro-Putin's sentiments have risen in Russia, according to polls; p. 2 (300 words).

5. Margarita Lyutova and Maxim Tovkaylo article headlined "Generosity competition" says the West is offering 11 billion euros in financial support to Ukraine, while Russia has taken a break in economic promises; p. 4 (800 words).

6. Mikhail Overchenko et al. article headlined "Oil and gas weapons" says it is not necessary for the U.S. to introduce sanctions against Moscow as it can just help. Europe to bring down the energy dependence on Russia instead; p. 5 (600 words).

7. Another editorial headlined "Crisis of competency" slams Moscow's policy in Ukraine and notes that the Kremlin is pushing Kiev towards joining NATO. The article blames poor advisers to President Putin for lacking competency when taking crucial decisions; p. 6 (400 words).

8. Vasily Kashin opinion headlined "Arrogance and paranoia" says Russia's military policy toward Crimea has defined the country's future domestic and foreign policy, including contacts with NATO countries; p. 6 (900 words).

9. Maria Eysmont opinion headlined "Without right for information" says further assault on freedoms is expected in Russia; p. 7 (400 words).

10. Grigory Milov and Olga Kuvshinova article headlined "We have defense gene of criticism of authorities" is an interview with the rector of the Higher School of Economics, Yaroslav Kuzminov. The school has designed a mass-scale reform for Putin, but generally, it is not being implemented, Kuzminov says; pp. 8-9 (2,700 words).

11. Yulia Orlova article headlined "Ruble plays back for Monday" says the Russian ruble, which dropped on news from Crimea over the weekend, has restored its positions. Some say, however, that it will face a further decline; p. 14 (400 words).

Izvestia

1. Anastasia Alexeyevskikh article headlined "Central Bank asked to cancel 'wage and pension slavery'" says Russian banks have asked the Central Bank to allow people chose for themselves in what banks they would like to receive their wages and pensions; pp. 1, 4 (1,298 words).

2. Dmitry Runkevich and Yelena Malay article headlined "Anti-Russian articles to be equal to crime" says the State Duma is to draft a bill on criminal and administrative punishment to media chiefs who publish false anti-Russian information. Commentaries by some media on the Ukrainian crisis made the lawmakers start working on the bill; pp. 1, 4 (699 words).

3. Natalya Bashlykova interview with Federation Council Senator and member of the Russian delegation to PACE Igor Morozov speaking on the British threat to expel Russia from PACE; p. 2 (964 words).

4. Darya Tsoi interview with Alexander Mirsky, member of the European Parliament representing Latvia, who speaks on anti-Russian propaganda in Europe that does not allow European parliamentarians to draw objective decisions over the situation in Ukraine; p. 7 (989 words).

5. Yury Tyurin opinion headlined "Europe has to pay" says if the EU wants peace on its borders, it needs to accept that Russia has a right for a "peacekeeping mission" in Eastern Ukraine and Crimea and to consider helping Ukraine's economy; p. 9 (800 words).

6. Vsevolod Volodin article headlined "We will save you, Russian language" says Russia needs to help. the Russian speakers discriminated in Ukraine; p. 9 (500 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Maxim Makarychev article headlined "Maidan hires snipers" says a leaked telephone conversation between EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet suggests that these were opposition forces who hired snipers to shoot at both the protesters and the police during clashes in Kiev; pp. 1, 10 (400 words).

2. Article by State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin headlined "Historical memory, culture and public conscience" says Russia and Ukraine are connected by hundreds of years of common history and neighborly relations and calls for a peaceful solution of the current crisis; pp. 1, 6 (1,800 words).

3. Vladislav Vorobyev article headlined "Fight on Seine" says Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has had a diplomatic tour over European capitals and held talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Paris; pp. 1, 8 (800 words).

4. Yulia Krivoshapko article headlined "Cash machine" says three more Russian banks have been stripped of their licenses by the Central Bank of Russia on suspicion of money laundering; pp. 1, 3 (500 words).

5. Tatyana Zamakhina article headlined "Helping to choose" says the Russian central election authority may help the Ukrainian region of Crimea to hold a referendum on it autonomy status; p. 2 (400 words).

6. Taras Fomchenkov article headlined "Closer stock market" says Western markets may loose billions of dollars if the EU introduces sanctions against Russian business people; p. 2 (200 words).

7. Vitaly Petrov article headlined "Rules for money" says the Federation Council may coordinate regional aid to Crimea; p. 3 (500 words).

8. Natalya Kozlova article headlined "Son-in-law avoids arrest" says Valery Puzikov, brother-in-law of former Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov, has been charged with embezzlement but not arrested; p. 5 (600 words).

9. Tamara Shkel article headlined "Authorities take brake" says Russia has asked the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe to assess the legitimacy of the Ukrainian authorities; p. 6 (600 words).

10. Yury Gavrilov article headlined "Warhead tested for precision" gives details of the test of the RS-12M Topol ICBM that was launched from a range in the Astrakhan region and successfully hit its target in Kazakhstan. The West was notified about the test launch; p. 7 (500 words).

11. Alexander Gasyuk article headlined "How BBC gets Cameron" says the EU member-states do not rush to implement Washington instructions on imposing economic sanctions against Russia; p. 8 (400 words).

12. Petr Likhomanov article headlined "Scary story about Petya and Petrik" slams Ukrainian lawmaker Irina Farion for "Russophobia" and "Nazism"; p. 9 (400 words).

13. Stanislav Galkovsky article headlined "Precisely to the target" reports on Tor-M2 surface-to-air missile systems in Belarus; p. Soyuz 2 (600 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Tatyana Fedotkina article headlined "Olympic reserves of conscience" calls on the Russian authorities to improve infrastructure for disabled people in the country as Sochi will soon host the Paralympics; pp. 1-8 (461 words).

2. Natalya Rozhkova article headlined "New Communist Party being set up. in Russia. Why does it threaten KPRF?" says political forces willing to steal votes from the KPRF (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) at the Moscow City Duma elections have set up. a new communist party; p. 2 (533 words).

3. Marina Perevozkina article headlined "Crimea: Who starts first? History of war of khaki color" reports on the situation in Crimea. The author claims that Ukrainian nationalists have attacked buses with Crimean residents; p. 3 (1,650 words).

4. Matvei Ganapolskiy article headlined "Russia and Ukraine as mom and dad" looks in depth of the Russian-Ukrainian relations and calls the Kremlin's military policy in Crimea a strategic mistake; p. 3 (1,131 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Vladimir Kusov and Mark Agatov article headlined "Kiev looking for Berezovsky" says supporters of the current Ukrainian authorities have stepped up their "information" offensive in Crimea and ordered the arrest of former Navy chief Denis Berezovsky; pp. 1-2 (250 words).

2. Vardan Ogandzhanyan article headlined "Frontal split" says the current head of the presidential human rights council, Mikhail Fedotov, may be replaced soon after the council adopted a statement against Russia's possible military intervention in Ukraine; p. 2 (250 words).

3. Yekaterina Dyatlovskaya article headlined "Chamber of brotherly advice" says Russian legislators have set up. a committee to analyze the legitimacy of laws being adopted in Ukraine and work out recommendations for their Ukrainian counterparts; p. 2 (250 words).

4. Kristina Krutilina article headlined "Science of persuasion" says the management of the MGIMO university in Moscow has changed their mind and does not plan to dismiss its professor for an article slamming Russia's possible military intervention in Ukraine; 5 (300 words).

Trud

1. Sergei Frolov article headlined "Vladimir Putin brings clarity to current moment" comments on the March 4 news conference of President Vladimir Putin that showed the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has eased; p. 2 (450 words).

RBK Daily

1. Yelena Malysheva et al. article headlined "How to scare Putin" says the U.S. may introduce sanctions against certain Russian banks over President Putin's policy toward Ukraine; pp. 1, 3 (550 words).

2. Maria Makutina and Stepan Opaleva article headlined "Confiscation in reply to sanctions" says the Federation Council has threatened to consider freezing assets of foreign companies if the U.S. imposes sanctions on Russia; p. 2 (300 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Alexander Grishin article headlined "Europe knows whose snipers were shooting in Kiev" looks at the leaked conversation between high-ranking European officials speaking about Kiev snipers; p. 4 (700 words).

2. Yevgeny Arsyukhin article "Who comes to us with sanctions will regret it" says that if the West introduces sanctions against Russia, its countries will also be affected by them; p. 6 (700 words).

3. Nigina Beroyeva interview with adviser of the Russian president Sergei Glazyev speaking about the current authorities in Ukraine, who he says are "a symbiosis of Nazis with oligarchs"; p. 9 (800 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Viktor Ruchkin article headlined "There is nothing to catch in muddy waters" comments on the developments in Ukraine; pp. 1, 3 (1,000 words).

March 6, 2014/BBC Monitoring/©BBC