What the Papers Say, Apr. 24, 2014

Kommersant

1. Grigory Tumanov article headlined "Experts take funds" says the Interior Ministry wants to spend at least 7,000 billion rubles to maintain public order in Crimea, open new police stations in the region and equip them; pp 1, 4 (910 words)

2. Alexei Sokovnin article headlined "Taxes make Korolevskaya Voda muddy" says that a court in Moscow has issued an arrest warrant for businessman Iosif Badalov, manufacturer of popular Korolevskaya Voda bottled water over tax evasion and fraud; pp 1, 4 (578 words).

3. Olga Shestopal article headlined "FATCA is stubborn thing" says a bill allowing Russian bankers to abide by the U.S. tax legislation, FATCA, has been submitted to the State Duma. It is unlikely to be passed in the near future, so bankers asked the Central Bank to authorize their work in accordance with the U.S. law; pp 1, 10 (760 words).

4. Sergei Sobolev article headlined "Rublevka creates buzz" says a large number of advertisement companies are willing to take part in the auction for 480 outdoor ads in Odintsovsky District in the Moscow region where the richest Russian people live; pp 1, 12 (651 words).

5. Yekaterina Chemezova et al. report headlined "United Russia nominates acting ones" says former Yakutia head Yegor Borisov, who has recently resigned from his post, will represent United Russia in the September election. Meanwhile, Volgograd region acting governor Andrei Bocharov has also been nominated by United Russia for the governor election in his region in autumn; p 2 (522 words).

6. Maxim Ivanov and Taisia Bekbulatova article headlined "Filters set up for parties on all levels" says the State Duma has passed in the second reading a bill changing regional election regulations. Most parties will have to gather signatures of supporters to be able to nominate their candidates in local elections; p 2 (580 words).

7. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "With whom are you, masters of culture?" reports on President Vladimir Putin's meeting with his adviser Vladimir Tolstoy who has spoken on his proposals for the state culture policy; p 3 (552 words).

8. Yelena Chernenko and Garmish-Partenkirkhen article headlined "Measures of mistrust in cyber space" says the U.S. has decided to wind down cooperation with Russia in cyber security. Moscow is disappointed with the move; p 7 (625 words).

9. Ilya Barabanov article headlined "Dnipropetrovsk sets up blocking regiment" says that pro-Russian activists have stepped up the formation of self-defense units as Kiev decided to resume a counterterrorism operation in the east of the country; p 7 (577 words).

10. Sergei Strokan article headlined "Disconnected Ukrainian states" says Kiev has to come up with a new formula for managing Ukraine as it cannot keep regions under control and maintain security in the country. Meanwhile, federalization proposed by some political forces cannot resolve the problem; p 8 (878 words).

11. Yanina Sokolovskaya interview "They try to impose disintegration model on us" with Vladimir Fesenko, head of the Penta political studies center, explaining why many political forces oppose federalization in Ukraine; p 8 (486 words).

12. Sergei Strokan interview "Ukraine cannot be unitary state" with Vladimir Bruter, expert from the International Institute of Humanities and Political Research, explaining reasons for the conflict between Kiev and Ukrainian regions; p 8 (499 words).

13. Article by Sergei Utkin, expert from the Center of Situation Analysis of the Academy of Sciences in opinion column headlined "Price of issue" calls on the Ukrainian authorities to give broader powers to regions to resolve the political crisis in the country; p 8 (388 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Miners ready to bring Donbass to order" says miners in the east of Ukraine have gone on strike over wages. Although they do not have any political demands, they are seen as a new force that can stabilize the region and make Kiev change its attitude to the east of Ukraine; pp 1, 6 (1,489 words).

2. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Crimea freezes opposition" says recent public opinion polls have shown that the opposition is losing support and the only thing activist Alexei Navalny is doing is defending himself from law-enforcement agencies; pp 1, 3 (1,487 words).

3. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Medvedev given 30 days for winter time" says the State Duma is criticizing the government for poor implementation of presidential orders and asking the cabinet to resolve the issue of returning to winter time within 30 days; pp 1, 3 (604 words).

4. Yekaterina Trifonova article headlined "They want to envisage death penalty for corrupt officials" says Communist lawmakers want to lift the death penalty moratorium on grave crimes including economic crimes committed by corrupt officials; pp 1-2 (862 words).

5. Grigory Mikhaylov article headlined "Manas looks for master" says Kyrgyzstan's largest airport Manas has been left without money and kerosene and is looking for investors; pp 1, 6 (601 words).

6. Darya Tsilyurik article headlined "United Europe turns Gypsies into scapegoats" says that illegal migration is becoming one of the main topics in the European Parliament election. Gypsies are considered to be the most problematic ethnic group; pp 1, 7 (737 words).

7. Vladimir Gundarov article headlined "Caspian Flotilla put on alert" reports on an exercise of the Caspian Flotilla said to be held to demonstrate Russia's military might in the region; p 2 (648 words).

8. Igor Naumov report "Secret economic supper" looks at the "mysterious" economic meeting chaired by Putin and says that former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin remains the president's key adviser; p 4 (700 words).

9. Yury Paniyev article headlined "Lavrov and Kerry exchange accusations" says Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused Washington of dictating Kiev what to do, while U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said that Moscow did not make efforts to ease tension in the east of Ukraine. The sides in the conflict need to gather for another conference, article says; p 7 (635 words).

Vedomosti

1. Maxim Tovkaylo article headlined "Welfare to be spent on resort" says that the money to fund the development of Crimea is likely to be taken from the National Welfare Fund; pp 1, 5 (850 words).

2. Yelizaveta Sergina article headlined "Server to be called for" says that Russian internet operators will need more data centers as the new law obliges them to store data for at least six months; pp 1, 16 (800 words).

3. Editorial headlined "Gas union" comments on Poland's proposal to the EU to set up a gas union to become less dependent on Russian gas. The article notes that the proposal makes more political than economic sense; pp 1, 6 (450 words).

4. Anastasia Kornya report "Duma broadens framework of Nazism" says that the State Duma has introduced criminal responsibility for "rehabilitation of Nazism"; p 2 (500 words).

5. Anastasia Kornya report "Deputy minister more important than presidential council" says that Deputy Minister of Federal Press and Mass Media Agency Alexei Volin has informed the presidential human rights council that his agency will not implement the council's recommendations on cooperation between the state and the mass media; p 2 (400 words).

6. Andrei Sinitsyn report "Wolf from Lubyanka" looks at new censorship initiatives in Russia; p 6 (400 words).

Izvestia

1. Sergei Podosenov article headlined "Head of Far East Development Ministry loses staff" says that two aides of the Far East Development minister and heads of most of the departments in the ministry are resigning. The ministry says it is "restructuring"; pp 1, 5 (404 words).

2. Alexandra Yermakova article headlined "Former head of Rosreestr Natalya Antipina goes to Federal Agency for Special Construction" says the former head of the state registration service Rosreestr, Natalya Antipina, will become deputy construction minister; pp 1, 4 (549 words).

3. Svetlana Subbotina article headlined "Angela Merkel asked to help avoid second Chernobyl" says Russian manufacturers have asked German Chancellor Angela Merkel to influence the Ukrainian authorities who are reportedly going to buy U.S. nuclear fuel for the power plant in Zaporizhzhya despite the fact that the fuel does not suit the facility. Russia says the situation may result in a new nuclear disaster; pp 1, 3 (859 words).

4. Petr Kozlov report "Signatures collected against setting up gambling zone in Crimea" says that the head of the commission for culture under the Public Chamber has asked Putin to postpone or cancel the setting up of gambling zone in Crimea: pp 1, 3 (700 words).

5. Yelena Malay report "State Duma wants to deprive Zhirinovsky of immunity" says that a lawmaker from United Russia has asked the State Duma to deprive LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky of immunity over a scandal with a journalist; pp 1, 5 (500 words).

6. Alexei Krivoruchek report "Submariners to get advantage in duels" looks at new equipment that Russian submarines will be equipped with; p 5 (500 words).

7. Svetlana Povoraznyuk and Taras Podrez article headlined "Podmoskovye television channel buys helicopter and changes by 360 degrees'" says the Podmoskovye television channel belonging to the Moscow region authorities will be renamed "360 Degrees" and will offer more entertaining programs; p 6 (800 words).

8. Darya Tsoy article headlined "Kiev continues anti-terrorism operation" says that southeastern regions of Ukraine believe that Kiev does not follow the Geneva agreements as the authorities have resumed the anti-terrorism operation; p 8 (543 words).

9. Tatyana Baykova report "Tony Blair wants rapprochement of West and Russia" says that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said that it is necessary to cooperate with Russia despite the disagreement over Ukraine; p 8 (600 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Roman Markelov interview "Where money is channelled" with the VTB24 bank head Mikhail Zadornov speaking on funds withdrawals from Russian banks by depositors and the banking policy for Crimea; pp 1, 3 (912 words).

2. Tatyana Zamakhina report "GLONASS overtakes" says that Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan have agreed on the single navigation space; p 4 (1,100 words).

3. Vladimir Poletayev brief report "Blogger on trial again" looks at the trial of opposition activist Alexei Navalny. Secretary of United Russia general council Sergei Neverov has filed a lawsuit against Navalny; p 6 (200 words).

4. Igor Dunayevsky article headlined "Does Kerry lack simplicity?" says U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has unveiled diplomacy policy plans for the near future; p 10 (433 words).

5. Yevgeny Shestakov interview "World becomes less pro-Western" with foreign policy expert Sergei Karaganov who says that the current U.S. policy aims at the change of the regime in Russia; p 10 (1,200 words).

6. Maxim Makarychev report "Taylor goes aground" says that the U.S. has stepped up military presence in the Black Sea, p 10 (200 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Alexander Minkin article headlined "People cannot use foul language, deputies can" slams LDPR leader and State Duma lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky over insulting journalists and notes that the parliament is working on a bill banning swear words in the media; however, Zhirinovsky was not reprimanded; pp 1-2 (750 words).

2. Ignat Kalinin report "And, certainly, it is better to wage war in chorus" looks at a new song of the Alexandrov military band dedicated to the so-called polite people (self-defense forces in Crimea); pp 1-2 (500 words).

3. Nikolay Vardul report "Why did Putin call Kudrin?" looks at an economic meeting chaired by Putin where former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin was invited; pp 1-2 (400 words).

4. Svetlana Samodelova report "To whom was it profitable to kill deputy Rybak?" looks at the death of Donetsk region's Horlivka councillor Volodymyr Rybak; p 3 (900 words).

5. Mikhail Zubov report "Do we need to feed Donbass?" tries to find out what Russian troops are doing near the border with Ukraine; p 3 (350 words).

RBK Daily

1. Tatyana Aleshkina et al. article headlined "Rating from East" says that the Russian authorities have decided not to set up a national rating agency, but encourage the partnership between Russian agencies and foreign agencies that are not based in the U.S. instead; pp 1, 8 (1,000 words).

2. Vladislav Inozemtsev op-ed headlined "Will turning to East save Russia" speculates on whether Russia's cooperation with Asian countries will be a good substitute for its cooperation with Europe; p 4 (1,000 words).

3. Mikhail Rubin article headlined "People's grants for journalists" says that the All-Russia People's Front will set up two funds to support the media in Russian regions; p 2 (500 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Alexander Kots and Dmitry Steshin article titled "Luhansk militia go back to forest" briefs on developments in the Ukrainian city of Luhansk; p 6 (800 words).

2. Alexandr Kots and Dmitriy Steshin article headlined "Miners rebel on young guard's homeland" says that miners have gone on strike in Luhansk, Ukraine, over unpaid wages; p 7 (800 words).

3. Boris Andreyev article titled "Euromaidan deluged with dollars" says that the U.S. has generously sponsored the Ukrainian opposition and discloses the funds through which the money was transferred; p 7 (350 words).

4. Natalya Ostrovskaya article headlined "U.S. declares biological warfare against Russia" says the U.S. is planning to destroy the production of wild salmon in Russia by infecting fish in Russian waters with a special virus that kills salmon; p 15 (900 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda weekly

1. Leyli Vaisova article headlined "Ukraine ruled by nine criminals and client of psycho ward" provides a brief background of Ukrainian ministers, saying that nine of them were targets of various investigations, while one more was in the psycho ward; pp 4-5 (2,500 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Viktor Ruchkin article headlined "U.S. runs show" says that the Ukrainian authorities have resumed a military operation in southeastern Ukraine at the same time as U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden's official visit to Kiev; pp 1, 3 (1,300 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Konstantin Nikolayev article headlined "Cold War going on" says that the situation in Ukraine is gradually turning into a global crisis and that the conflict between Russia and the U.S. may linger on; pp 1-2 (1,200 words).

Tvoi Den

1. Anton Stepanov article headlined "Pentagon mark" says the U.S. government procurement website has published a tender to rebuild a school in Sevastopol. Experts say that the U.S. Armed Forces planned to turn it into a secret base for its fleet; p 2 (250 words).

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