What the Papers Say, Aug. 16, 2013

Kommersant

1. Sergei Sobolev et al. report headlined "Rest from Egypt" says that Russian officials do not consider an explosive situation in Egypt to be valid grounds for evacuating some 50,000 Russian tourists and have not even banned selling tours to Egypt. The tourist flow to Egypt, however, has already dropped by 30-40 percent; pp 1, 5 (1,069 words).

2. Yury Senatorov article headlined "Ground shakes under Anatoly Serdyukov" says that law-enforcers are investigating another major fraud involving former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and former head of the ministry's property relations department Yevgenia Vasilyeva. The officials unlawfully leased forests in Bryansk Region to a company for mineral resources extraction which resulted in the damage of at least 700 million rubles; pp 1, 3 (711 words).

3. Irina Nagornykh article headlined "'Sufficient budget does not always lead to life improvement" says that the Foundation for the Development of Civil Society has made a rating of regions' well-being which shows that the feeling of social protection does not have a direct correlation with economic indicators and living standards in the region; pp 1-2 (738 words).

4. Vadim Visloguzov article headlined "White House cheers for neighbours" says that the Russian government has shifted responsibility for the problems Ukrainian importers are facing at the customs to the Federal Customs Service and expressed concerns over the complication of the customs procedure; p 2 (507 words).

5. Yury Barsukov article headlined "Production goes to sleep" says that production decreased by 0.7 percent in July, which makes the government's hopes for 2-percent-growth per annum practically unreachable; p 2 (545 words).

6. Anna Pushkarskaya article headlined "Defense Ministry passes hammer" says that the Defense Ministry has drafted new rules for the privatization of military property and hopes to sell some 30 facilities for 6.2 billion rubles in 2014; p 2 (569 words).

7. Alexei Sokovnin article headlined "Paratroopers Day without riot" says that the Supreme Court has upheld the sentence for former intelligence officer Vladimir Kvachkov's accomplices, Leonid Khabarov and Viktor Kralin; p 3 (382 words).

8. Viktor Pasmurtsev et al. report headlined "Far East gets in big water" says that the Amur Region authorities admitted that mass evacuation of people is necessary as the flood is progressing and two biggest hydro-electric power plants in the region have begun emergency water discharges; p 3 (554 words).

9. Pavel Tarasenko and Olga Kuznetsova article headlined "Egyptian law-enforcers put themselves in emergency" says that the world community has condemned tough actions of Egyptian law-enforcers when dispersing Islamists' rallies; p 5 (618 words).

10. Sergei Strokan article headlined "Chairs checked in Iranian cabinet" says that approval of the government by the parliament has proved to be an ordeal for new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and showed that the conservative wing has not given up attempts to steal initiative from the reformist president; p 5 (515 words).

11. Olga Shestopal article headlined "Outflow to be stopped on demand" says that the Central Bank seems to have found a way to stop the outflow of capital from Russia via fictitious imports from the countries of the Customs Union; p 7 (589 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1.Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Trade blockade ascribed to bureaucrats" says that Moscow has attributed thorough customs inspections of Ukrainian imports to bureaucratic difficulties which could have been avoided if Ukraine were a fully-fledged member of the Customs Union. Kiev perceived the treatment as pressure to make it give up integration with Europe but decided against aggravating relations with Moscow; pp 1, 6 (1,100 words).

2. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Election participants trying to wake up observers" says that Golos and Inter-regional Association of Voters demand that the Moscow Electoral Commission include independent representatives in the working group to deal with the complaint against Moscow mayoral hopeful Alexei Navalny; pp 1, 3 (700 words).

3. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Epidemic of electoral whistle-blowing" says that spoilers have managed to remove quite a number of opposition candidates from regional elections by reporting on their minor violations to electoral commissions and looks at methods of dirty campaigning employed; pp 1, 3 (900 words).

4. Anastasia Bashkatova article headlined "Russians postpone major purchases till later" says that amid growing official salaries Russians tend to refrain from major purchases; pp 1, 4 (900 words).

5. Igor Naumov article headlined "Vladimir Putin cancels governmental meeting" says that President Putin has basically canceled the meeting of the cabinet aimed to discuss the allocation of additional funds to eliminate the consequences of the flood in the Far East having sent several ministers to the region to deal with the problem personally; pp 1, 4 (900 words).

5. Yevgenia Novikova article headlined "Egyptian army clashed with Islamists' zealotry" says that today will show the correlation of political forces in Egypt after the bloody dispersal of the Muslim Brotherhood's protest; pp 1, 7 (700 words).

6. Mikhail Sergeyev article headlined "Vladimir Medinsky should protect countrymen in Egypt" says that despite the turmoil in Egypt Russian travel agencies keep selling tours to the country of pyramids; p 4 (560 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Who to suffer from boycott of Olympics" wonders why the Russian authorities decided to pass a bill banning propaganda of non-traditional relations among children a year ahead of the Sochi Olympics, which was bound to raise tension, and adds that spectators and sportsmen are the ones to suffer if the Olympics are boycotted; p 2 (522 words).

8. Savely Vezhin article headlined "Sociologists forecast easy victory for Sobyanin" says that polls conducted by the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM) acting mayor Sergei Sobyanin would win the Moscow mayoral election in the first round with 67.4 percent of votes if the election took place on Sunday (Aug. 18); p 5 (319 words).

9. Anton Khodasevich article headlined "Pork riots begin in Belarus" says that an entire village in Belarus has rebeled against the authorities' order to eliminate all pigs over the threat of African swine fever; p 6 (611 words).

10. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "Beijing cutting fee for state services" says that China has started providing privileges to small and medium-sized businesses aiming to stimulate economic growth and features a comment by a Russian expert; p 7 (445 words).

11. Yury Panyev article headlined "Bradley Manning repents" says that U.S. soldier has apologized for his actions and admitted that the leak of secret diplomatic and military documents hurt the interests of his country. Wikileaks staff state Manning was pressured into saying that; p 7 (660 words).

Vedomosti

1. Editorial headlined "Army in street" says that the lessons of Egypt and Turkey show that if law-enforcement structures are the only ones responsible for statehood it does not guarantee stability; pp 1, 6 (416 words).

2. Maria Zheleznova et al. report headlined "If you vote well, you live well" says that experts of the Higher School of Economics came to the conclusion that the level of support the regions provided to the United Russia party at the elections and the amount of federal subsidies to the regions are linked; p 2 (642 words).

3. Margarita Lyutova article headlined "Purchases in grey zone" looks at violations the Audit Chamber has revealed in the state purchases sector; p 4 (593 words).

4. Polina Khimshiashvili article headlined "Muslim Brotherhood does not give up" says that mass protests against the military continue in Egypt despite the state of emergency imposed on Aug. 13 and quotes experts as saying that if the brass do not show political will a civil war is inevitable; p 3 (638 words).

5. Maxim Glikin article headlined "Object of the week: door" looks into the police raid on a flat in central Moscow, where Alexei Navalny's supporters were detained for keeping allegedly illegal campaign materials. The front door was cut open with an angle grinder; p 7 (300 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Yulia Krivoshapko and Tatyana Shadrina article headlined "Marriage of convenience" says that the Central Bank has recommended that banks enhance the protection of virtual payments; pp 1-2 (600 words).

2. Vladislav Vorobyov and Viktor Feshchenko article headlined "Too hot spot" quotes an expert as saying that if the military in Egypt do not find a new dictator the turmoil will continue; pp 1, 8 (500 words).

3. Mikhail Falaleyev article headlined "Shot at shooter" says that one of suspects in the trial over the murder of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006 has been attacked and wounded; p 2 (300 words).

Izvestia

1. Alena Sivkova article headlined "Deputies asking president to set up council on space" says that the State Duma has suggested setting up a council on space aiming to control the Russian Space Agency, take part in working out the strategy of the space industry, its implementation and monitoring; pp 1-2 (535 words).

2. Vladimir Zykov article headlined "They want to ban anonymity in internet" says that lawmakers are considering blocking access to Tor and other anonymous servers in the internet; pp 1-2 (584 words).

3. Yanina Sokolovskaya and Alexandra Yermakova article headlined "Trade war with Russia to undermine Ukrainian budget" says that the import of Ukrainian goods has practically stopped due to excessive checks by the Russian customs and adds that Ukraine is determined not to give in to pressure and persist with its integration with Europe despite huge economic losses; pp 1-2 (544 words).

4. Andrei Gridasov article headlined "Former mayor Amirov's lawyers seeking European court for him" says that lawyers and family of former Makhachkala mayor Said Amirov state that Amirov's life is endangered in the remand centre and ask the European Court of Human Rights to intervene as soon as possible; pp 1, 3 (520 words).

5. Sergei Podosenov article headlined "CPRF suggests checking United Russia for foreign financing" says that the Communist Party of the Russian Federation has asked law-enforcers to check the information about United Russia getting financing from abroad; p 2 (629 words).

6. Konstantin Volkov and Tatyana Baykova article headlined "Egypt's army decides to put end to Islamists in desert and towns" says that the Egyptian military is most likely to continue with their tough approach on the Muslim Brotherhood and the latter will split into those willing to continue fight at any cost and moderate ones; p 3 (586 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Renat Abdullin et al. article headlined "Bloodshed in land of pyramids" features a report on the future of Egypt as well as various comments on its future popularity as a tourist destination; pp 1, 3 (700 words).

2. Sergei Yegorov article headlined "Customs chooses boycott" analyses the possible reasons behind the difficulties with importing Ukrainian goods into Russia; p 2 (300 words).

3. Mikhail Zubov article headlined "They discussed Levichev's pants instead of transport" says that the ongoing debates between the mayoral candidates show that none of those running for Moscow mayor have a clear, consistent programme; p 2 (400 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Yulia Latynina article headlined "Sweets-and-car wars" looks at the reasons behind the trade war between Moscow and Kiev; p 5 (648 words).

2. Alexei Polukhin article headlined "America influencing Russia with gas" says that the U.S. pledges to rid Ukraine from energetic dependence on Russia with the help of shale gas; p 6 (645 words).

3. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "Guardia del 'Papa'" comments on the rumors that a personal presidential guard is being set up and says that the political system whose main task is self-preservation inevitably elevates bodyguards and security guards and relies on them alone; p 2 (608 words).

4. Diana Khachatryan article headlined "Jihad to pass too?" features a comment by senior researcher at the World Economy and International Relations Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences Georgy Mirsky on the situation in Egypt; p 7 (1,205 words).

RBC daily

1. Alexander Litoy et al. article entitled "Proletarian agenda" says that on Aug. 21 alternative trade unions will launch an all-Russia campaign demanding the introduction annual pay-rise as well as other bonuses for employees; pp 1-2 (900 words).

2. Inga Vorobyova article entitled "Ultimate fighting, duck farm and bike festival waiting for Putin" looks at the Russian president's agenda for the upcoming month; p 3 (400 words).

3. Irina Yuzbekova article headlined "Russians got at Google" says Denis Davydov, CEO of the League of Secure Internet, accused Google of violating the law after Google's email service Gmail filed a lawsuit against the company over privacy; pp 1-8 (500 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Veronika Vorontsova article entitled "Change of climate" looks at reasons for the decision of people from the North Caucasus to other regions of Russia in search of employment, money and justice; pp 1-4 (900 words).

2. Dmitry Selyavin article entitled "'Left Front' left practically without leadership" looks at the situation in the Russian opposition movement — its leaders and activists have either been arrested or fled the country asking other governments for political asylum; p 2 (300 words).

3. Andrei Chaplygin article headlined "Reached Hurghada" says disturbances in Egypt have reached its resorts and the situation there is no longer safe for tourists; p 12 (400 words).

Trud

1. Sergei Rusev article entitled "Caucasus more in need of deeds and not PR" looks at thinking behind the set-up of the Center of modern Caucasus politics; p 2 (400 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Alexander Grishin article headlined "Hot 'summer' replaces 'Arab spring'" looks at situation in Egyptian capital and its resorts; p 5 (300 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Viktor Khudoleyev article entitled "'Tank biathlon': combination of precision and might" looks at the international tank contest that is held in Moscow Region these days; p 2 (700 words).