What the Papers Say, Apr. 24, 2013

Kommersant

1. Yury Barsukov and Kirill Melnikov article headlined "Shelf editor" says that a state program to develop shelf hydrocarbons may be wound up in Russia by the proposal of Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich. It was the only chance for independent companies to get their share of shelf riches. If the program is closed, it will prove the victory of Rosneft and Gazprom that have put the government under pressure; p 1 (641 words).

2. Natalya Gorodetskaya et al. report headlined "Summon from 'Front' comes to government" says President Vladimir Putin has issued instructions to the government based on the recent conference of the All-Russia People's Front movement. The cabinet has to eliminate golden parachutes for heads of state corporations facing dismissals; introduce obligatory school uniform and develop the single history course to be taught at schools; pp 1, 3 (740 words).

3. Kirill Melnikov and Alexander Konstantinov article headlined "They will skim cream off Russian fuel" says Kazakhstan has allowed only several local traders to supply Russian fuel to the country. Gazprom Neft will lose part of its profit in Kazakhstan; pp 1, 6 (613 words).

4. Olga Shestopal article headlined "Bank being disrupted for Blagosostoyanye" reviews the difficulties that the Blagosostoyanye private pension fund is facing with the purchase of Absolyut Bank; pp 1, 10 (930 words)

5. Maria Plyusnina and Alexei Chernyshov article headlined "Eduard Rossel ready to work as locomotive for soft carriages" reports on preparation for United Russia primaries in the Yekaterinburg parliamentary election and the Vladivostok mayoral election to be held in autumn; p 2 (545 words).

6. Viktor Khamrayev report "Duma controls" says that the State Duma has passed the bill on parliamentary control in the third and final reading; p 2 (1,100 words).

7. Ivan Safronov article headlined "Sergei Shoigu flies to Minsk with his own aircraft" says that during his visit to Minsk, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced Russia's plans to set up another air base in Belarus and deploy additional S-300 missile defense systems there; p 3 (584 words).

8. Igor Lesovskikh article headlined "Investigation approaches Ura" says a criminal case against former chief editor of the Ura.ru news agency Aksana Panova has been submitted to court. She is accused on money extortion and theft of 12 million rubles (around $387,000) from the agency; p 4 (437 words).

9. Grigory Tumanov article headlined "Prosecutor's office enlarges agents' network" says that audits by prosecutor's offices have found foreign agents in NGOs in four federal districts; p 5 (493 words).

10. Irina Nagornykh and Natalya Bashlykova article headlined "Handover of grants to begin online" says the Public Chamber plans to launch a website showing how presidential grants are distributed among NGOs; p 5 (601 words).

11. Maxim Ivanov article headlined "Citizens fall into spring dormancy" says a recent poll by the Levada Center has shown that most Russians do not believe in their capabilities to affect political life in the country and dream of a strong leader; p 5 (447 words).

12. Natalya Korchenkova article headlined "Federation Council wants to show itself" says the Federation Council is launching its online TV channel, Vmeste-RF, which will cover the work of senators; p 5 (555 words).

13. Maria Yefimova article headlined "Georgia applies for integrity to PACE" comments on Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili's speech at a PACE session, in which he spoke on the need to develop relations with Russia, but reiterated Tbilisi's plans to merge with the EU and NATO; p 7 (462 words).

14. Pavel Tarasenko article headlined "Russia and NATO agree on helicopters and fight against terrorism" says a Russia-NATO Council session at the foreign minister level has taken place in Brussels, where maintenance of Russian helicopters in Afghanistan and fight against terrorism were the main issues on the agenda; p 7 (587 words).

15. Pavel Tarasenko article headlined "Axis of good cracks" says economic problems will force the new Venezuelan president to wind up some social projects. The situation in Latin America changed dramatically after the death of Hugo Chavez; p 8 (1,033 words).

16. Sergei Strokan article in opinion column headlined "Price of issue" says the death of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez has put his socialist economy in jeopardy. The future of Venezuela is unclear; p 8 (362 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Igor Naumov article headlined "Customs union: Fight for Kiev" says the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan cannot attract large investors without Ukraine's participation in the project. Kiev received the status of observer in the union; pp 1, 4 (1,250 words).

2. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Shoigu finds Silicon Valley in Belarus" says the visit of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to Belarus has showed that Moscow will continue military technical cooperation with Minsk; pp 1-2 (850 words).

3. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Control with absence of control" says the State Duma has passed a bill on parliamentary control, in which United Russia refused to give lawmakers more powers; pp 1, 3 (800 words).

4. Viktor Litovkin article headlined "To do service in scientific squadrons" says the first scientific squadrons will be set up in the Russian armed forces by autumn 2013. Students of technical universities will have a right to do scientific research there; pp 1, 3 (900 words).

5. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "West steps up pressure on Yanukovych" says the Ukrainian authorities may release former Prime Minister Yulya Tymoshenko by Orthodox Easter in early May; pp 1, 7 (1,100 words).

6. Darya Tsilyurik article headlined "Cloud-free sky above Sweden" says that Russian aircraft's flights by the Swedish border have given rise to the discussion of the country's accession to NATO; pp 1, 8 (700 words).

7. Alexandra Samarina report "Radicals' rating drops" says that a poll has shown that the number of Russians who know about leaders of the "street opposition" has increased, but the latter's popularity is decreasing; p 3 (1,200 words).

8. Anastasia Bashkatova article headlined "Corruption prices prevail in defense sector" says defense sector prices in Russia are not transparent and depend on various corruption schemes, according to the Public Chamber. The problem makes budget spending on the re-equipment of the armed forces inefficient; p 4 (1,100 words).

9. Yury Panyev article headlined "ABM remains irritant" says a Russia-NATO Council session in Brussels has shown that the sides continue a dialogue, but the issue of the European missile defense remains a serious problem in Russia's relations with the alliance; p 8 (950 words).

10. Artur Blinov article headlined "Islamic terrorism spreads in North America" says that after the U.S. authorities had brought charges against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev suspected of organizing the Boston blasts, the Canadian authorities cracked down on a group of Islamists planning to explode a passenger train; p 8 (850 words).

Vedomosti

1. Timofei Dzyadko article headlined "Eight percent for Sechin's word" says it was enough for Rosneft head Igor Sechin to promise assistance to minority shareholders of TNK-BP to make the company's shares go up in price; pp 1, 12 (569 words).

2. Maxim Tovkaylo article headlined "Sensible parachutes" says that Putin has not limited the amount of so-called "golden parachutes" or bonuses paid to dismissed heads of state corporations. At the request of the All-Russia People's Front, he listed a small number of companies where limitations of the bonuses will be fixed; pp 1, 4 (532 words).

3. Editorial headlined "Temporary alleviation" outlines measures taken by the EU authorities to resolve the economic crisis; pp 1, 6 (399 words).

4. Maxim Glikin report "Newcomers let down" says that according to the report of the foundation Minchenko Konsalting, the work of only three of two dozen new governors appointed after the 2011 elections is effective; p 2 (550 words).

5. Irina Novikova et al. report "Ordered to himself" says that some NGOs have an unusual source of financing: thei receive budget funds from their own managers who have become deputies; p 2 ( 650 words).

6. Marya Zheleznova report "Questions to sociologist" says that prosecutors have begun to check if the sociology service Levada Center, which is registered as a noncommercial organization, is violating the law on NGOs; p 3 (500 words).

7. Article by former oil tycoon serving his second prison sentence Mikhail Khodorkovsky headlined "Person and law: On political persecution in Russia" criticises the Russian authorities for opening a criminal case against opposition leader Alexei Navalny and for trying participants in the May 6 rally in Moscow; p 7 (396 words).

8. Another editorial headlined "Anti-Livanov coalition" says that the politicians, whose reputation suffered during the campaign against fake scientific degrees, mush have formed a coalition to press for dismissal of Education Minister Dmitry Livanov; p 6 (289 words).

9. Olga Proskurnina interview with Konstantin Shor, head of the Moscow directorate of the Central Bank, summing up his work ahead of resignation and speaking on the projects implemented; p 8 (5,452 words).

10. Oleg Salmanov report "Federal Service for Financial Markets penetrates secret of communication" says that the Federal Service for Financial Markets has demanded that mobile phone operators give it information about telephone subscribers and their calls without court rulings; p 16 (800 words).

Izvestia

1. Anastasia Kashevarova and Yulia Tsoi article headlined "Tamerlan Tsarnayev recruited via Georgian fund" alleges that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, suspected of organizing the Boston blasts, used to attend courses organized by the Georgian secret services with the support of the Americans. A Georgian fund held seminars in the North Caucasus in an attempt to recruit young people willing to work in the interests of the U.S. and Georgia; pp 1, 4 (592 words).

2. Dmitry Yevstifeyev interview with Sergei Tsvetkov, general director of the Voronezh agricultural company Vita, suspected of involvement in fraud with Rosagrolizing, who is currently staying in Thailand. The businessman speax on charges brought against him; pp 1, 4 (1,031 words).

3. Pyotr Kozlov article headlined "Federation Council launches satellite TV channel" says the Federation Council's TV channel Vmeste-RF will begin to work on-line and will be broadcast via satellite starting from summer; pp 1-2 (490 words).

4. Gaidar Batyrkhanov article headlined "Yevgenia Vasilyeva to publish book of poems" says that Yevgenia Vasilyeva, the main suspect in the Defense Ministry corruption case, will publish a book of poems; pp 1, 4 (579 words).

5. Yegor Sozayev-Guryev and Alexander Yunashev article headlined "Gostiny Dvor prepared for Putin's phone-in session" describes a TV studio built in the center of Moscow for Putin's phone-in session; p 2 (504 words).

6. Anna Akhmadyeva report "Snob's chief editor to deal with 'Culture Exchange'" says that Sergei Nikolayevich, chief editor of the magazine Snob, will act as presenter of the program "Culture Exchange" on Public TV; p 3 (600 words).

7. Anna Lyalyakina article headlined "Roskomnadzor accuses media of fueling religious hatred" says that the Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor has accused Grani.ru, Polit.ru, Obeshchanya.ru and Sibkray.ru news portals of inciting religious hatred as they published reports on artist Artyom Loskutov selling T-shirts with Pussy Riot icons; p 5 (530 words).

8. Konstantin Volkov article headlined "Japanese prime minister to bring to Moscow kelp and technologies" says the visit of the Japanese prime minister to Moscow is expected to help revive economic relations of the two countries; p 7 (457 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Vladislav Kulikov article headlined "Go out without your personal belongings" says Russian court marshals will make a list of debtors not allowed to go aboard without paying their debts. The measure is expected to affect corrupt officials sentenced to fines; pp 1, 7 (811 words).

2. Vladislav Vorobyev article headlined "There was no letter 'B'" gives details of the meeting of the Russia-NATO council in Brussels; p 4 (662 words).

3. Yevgeny Shestakov report headlined "Al-Qaida with plus and minus" criticizes the West for double standards towards Islamic extremists as they support the Syrian rebels; p 8 (467 words).

4. Nadezhda Yermolayeva article headlined "Kavkaz Center becomes alien" says the Finnish authorities have changed their attitude to the Kavkaz Center website of Chechen separatists following the Boston blasts; p 8 (420 words).

5. Igor Yelkov interview with Sergei Boyev, missile warning system designer; p 17 (3,900 words).

6. Yury Gavrilov report "Missile will go like on rails" says that a new combat railway system is being designed for the Strategic Missile Troops; p 5 (700 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Yulia Kalinina article headlined "Why Belgorod is not Boston" compares the recent Boston blasts with the shooting rampage in Belgorod and the actions of the U.S. and Russian policemen; pp 1, 6 (542 words).

2. Alexander Minkin article headlined "Beat up your own people" comments on Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov's practice to box with officials who fail to fulfil their tasx and advises Putin to adopt the practice; pp 1-2 (560 words).

3. Mikhail Rostovsky article headlined "Better Pozner than never" looks at the growing nationalist mood and intolerance toward opponents in Russia; pp 1-2 (732 words).

4. Viktorya Prikhodko report "Thei want to ask Putin about Navalny during phone-in" looks at the phone-in with Putin to be held on 25 April; p 2 (700 words).

RBK daily

1. Ivan Petrov article headlined "With sweat and artificial blood" focuses on the program of the public council under the military-industrial complex suggesting that Russia enter the race of military technologies; p 2 (700 words).

2. Alexei Litoi article headlined "Visa-free democracy" cites human rights activist Yury Dzhibladze, who believes that the only way to democratize Russia is to strengthen its ties with the EU; p 2 (400 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Andrei Vasin article headlined "Troops to receive armored trains for missiles" focuses on the military-industrial complex's discussion of what kinds of weapons are needed by the Russian military; p 7 (600 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Semen Novoprudsky article headlined "How Surkov and Medvedev financed opposition" looks at a criminal case against the senior vice president of Skolkovo Foundation, Alexei Beltukov, and recalls that the whole Skolkovo innovation project has been proposed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov; p 9 (700 words).

Novye Izvestya

1. Yulia Savina article headlined "New version of old song" says the upcoming Moscow City Duma election may change the political landscape in the Russian capital; pp 1-2 (1,300 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Alexander Tikhonov article headlined "Defense Ministry and military-industrial complex: Toward common goal" focuses on a meeting between the Defense Ministry and the military-industrial complex representatives; pp 1, 3 (1,600 words).

Apr. 24, 2013/BBC Monitoring/©BBC

Related articles:

• What the Papers Say, Apr. 23, 2012
• What the Papers Say, Apr. 22, 2012
• What the Papers Say, Apr. 19, 2012