What the Papers Say, Feb. 19, 2013

Kommersant

1. Natalya Korchenkova article headlined "TEFI loses five capital letters" says that the VGTRK (All-Russian TV and Radio Company) has quit the Russian TV Academy. One of the academy's founders, Vladimir Pozner, believes the move may result in the collapse of the organization and the end of the TEFI TV award; pp 1, 3 (928 words).

2. Unattributed article headlined "Who needs TV academicians?" polls TV journalists, producers and experts, who speak on the VGTRK's move; pp 1, 3 (300 words).

3. Alexander Chernykh article headlined "Unemployed to be involved in evaluation of higher educational institutions" says the government is going to take into consideration employment of university graduates when evaluating effectiveness of certain higher educational institutions; pp 1, 3 (674 words).

4. Petr Netreba article headlined "Regional Development Ministry stumbles over thousands of billions" says the Russian regional development programme has been sent for revision after its initial cost rose 500 per cent; pp 1, 6 (28 words).

5. Oleg Trutnev article headlined "Manufacturers give up making vodka" says that manufacturing of strong spirits fell 30 per cent in January 2013 after excise duties had been raised; pp 1, 12 (681 words).

6. Taisiya Bekbulatova article headlined "Parliamentary parties suspected of surrendering district electoral commissions" says that the non-parliamentary opposition has accused the Communists and A Just Russia of sending candidates loyal to the authorities to work in the electoral commissions currently being formed in Russia; p 2 (674 words).

7. Natalya Gorodetskaya article headlined "TV screen lacks open mindedness" says the human rights council under the Russian president has discussed Russian TV and come to the conclusion that the media expresses only the point of view of the political majority; p 3 (450 words).

8. Aleksandr Zheglov article headlined "General detained due to land" says that the former deputy head of the Moscow Region police directorate is one of the officials involved in fraud with plots of land in Moscow Region; p 4 (628 words).

9. Vsevolod Inyutin article headlined "They fail to return 80m from deputy" says that Lipetsk Region deputy Mikhail Pakhomov must have been murdered and his body buried in a barrel with concrete due to a 80m-dollar debt; p 5 (713 words).

10. Yelena Chernenko article headlined "Cancellation of visas removed from Olympic programme" says Moscow has lost the hope to come to agreement on visa free travel with the EU by the beginning of the Sochi Olympics; p 7 (752 words).

11. Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "Pentagon head asked to stay" says the planned resignation of the US Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta has been postponed due to the Republicans' stance on new candidate for the post Chuck Hagel; p 7 (595 words).

12. Sergey Strokan article headlined "Difference cult" says the Kremlin has launched a battle of ideology with the West aiming to prove superiority of the Russian system of values; p 8 (1,086 words).

13. Sergey Strokan interview with Boris Makarenko, head of the Centre of Political Technologies, speaking on a propaganda war's negative effect on the Russian economy; p 8 (642 words).

14. Sergey Strokan interview with Dmitriy Trenin, head of Moscow's Carnegie Centre, speaking on Cold War signs in Russian-US relations; p 8 (618 words).

15. Article by Fred Weir, chief correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor in Moscow, in opinion column headlined "Price of issue" looks at the reasons for deteriorating relations between Russia and the West; p 8 (618 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Anastasiya Bashkatova article headlined "VVP [Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin] stripped of theoretical base" says the presidential economic council believes that President Vladimir Putin's instructions that he has signed right after his inauguration, are impossible to implement in the current economic situation; p 1, 4 (889 words).

2. Aleksandra Samarina article headlined "Honour book of fighters against corruption" says that while the Russian authorities are looking for ways to honour honest officials and the ones who report on corruption, experts note that these measures cannot help improve the situation; pp 1, 3 (941 words).

3. Igor Naumov article headlined "Federal budget to pay for regions' independence" reports on the government's meeting where a new standard approach to the regional policy has been discussed; pp 1, 4 (934 words).

4. Sergey Kulikov article headlined "Cypriot secrets of Russian loans" says new details of the Russian financial support to Cyprus have emerged during the election campaign on the island. It turned out that the 2.5bn euro, which Moscow has allocated for an electric power plant damaged by an explosion, was unneeded as the facility was covered by insurance; pp 1, 4 (733 words).

5. Aleksandr Chernyavskiy article headlined "They search for Navalnyy's traces in Krasnoyarsk" says the Krasnoyarsk law-enforcement agencies have got interested in the case of the now defunct Union of Right Forces party raising money in the region in 2007. A local businessman, questioned as part of the case, was asked about his relations with opposition activist Aleksey Navalnyy; pp 1-2 (540 words).

6. Svetlana Gamova article headlined "Moscow sets Tiraspol at odds with Chisinau" says the Dniester region authorities have refused to conduct talks with Moldova reportedly at Moscow's request; pp 1, 6 (796 words).

7. Editorial headlined "About selective filtration of laws" welcomes the Russian Constitutional Court's criticism of the controversial law on rallies and calls for development of political competition; p 2 (479 words).

8. Valeriya Khamrayeva report "Presidential Council to deal with Bolotnaya case" says that opposition activist Ilya Yashin has sued the Investigations Committee demanding that it return his money seized in 2012; p 3 (550 words).

9. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "Britain wants to concur India again" says that UK Prime Minister David Cameron is visiting India amid a kickback scandal in a British-Italian company supplying helicopters to Delhi; p 7 (448 words).

10. Yuriy Paniyev article headlined "Illegal migrants in USA see their dream law come true" details Barack Obama's bill helping illegal migrants get the US citizenship; p 7 (598 words).

11. The newspaper's analyst report "Authorities' mistrust in society clearly reflected in laws" looks at the bills debated and approved by the State Duma; p 10 (1,300 words).

Vedomosti

1. Maksim Tovkaylo article headlined "Rosneft on trust" says the state may lose control over the oil giant Rosneft as Rosimushchestvo (Federal Property Agency) has no relevant agreement with the company; pp 1, 5 (849 words).

2. Maksim Glikin and Mariya Zheleznova article headlined "Medvedev's rivals" says the Russian ruling elite has started the fight for the prime minister's post, as there is no certainty over Vladimir Putin's political future after 2018; pp 1, 3 (618 words).

3. Editorial headlined "To smoke or gain weight" says that restrictive anti-smoking measures adopted by the Russian authorities should be followed by a campaign for healthy way of living; pp 1, 6 (453 words).

4. Another editorial headlined "Victims of 10 per cent" comments on a bill to strip State Duma MPs of their seats in case they conceal more than 10 per cent of their property; p 6 (288 words).

5. Maksim Glikin et al. report headlined "Kremlin's initiation" says that first deputy head of the Russian presidential administration Vyacheslav Volodin is to meet heads of the political parties taking part in elections for the first time. The authors believe the meeting will be a signal for the regional authorities not to cancel the registration of small parties in the local elections; p 2 (515 words).

6. Aleksey Levinson report "Teflon and telephone" says that in 2012, for the first time 51 per cent of Russians said that it was Putin who was responsible for problems in the country; p 7 (600 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Leonid Mikulyak article headlined "Concrete contract killing" gives details of the contract killing of Lipetsk Region deputy Mikhail Pakhomov whose remains were found in a barrel with cement; pp 1, 3 (699 words).

2. Mikhail Rostovskiy article headlined "Second after Putin: Igor Sechin as secret vice-president" comments on the standoff between Putin's crony, Rosneft head Igor Sechin, and First Deputy Prime Minister Arkadiy Dvorkovich, and assumes that Sechin wants to oust Medvedev's cabinet; pp 1-2 (749 words).

3. Irina Kuksenkova and Yekaterina Petukhova article headlined "Yevkurov knows nothing about dismissal" says that Ingush leader Yunus-Bek Yevkurov has been received in the Kremlin and was not sacked after the meeting despite some reports on Moscow's dissatisfaction with his policy; p 2 (475 words).

4. Article by opposition MP Ilya Ponomarev headlined "Opposition Coordination Council: Much ado and nothing" criticizes the opposition Coordination Council for ill-thought-out policy; p 3 (1,237 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Mikhail Barshchevskiy interview with Russian Supreme Court head Vyacheslav Lebedev speaking on the Russian legal system; pp 1, 6 (3,300 words).

2. Tatyana Zykova article headlined "Crackdown on 'black accounting'" says the Russian authorities are stepping up control over commercial companies' accounting; pp 1, 5 (399 words).

3. Leonid Radzikhovskiy article headlined "Golden chain of patriotism" comments on the anticorruption law prohibiting Russian officials from keeping money in foreign banks and owning foreign bonds; p 3 (900 words).

4. Natalya Kozlova article headlined "Bench to be left without defendants" comments on the beginning of the hearing of Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergey Magnitskiy case in Moscow. The hearing was postponed until 4 March; p 7 (493 words).

5. Vladislav Vorobyev article headlined "Lavrov feels like laughing" reports on Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's meeting with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in Brussels; p 8 (700 words).

6. Vitaliy Petrov article headlined "In our Brazilian way" says Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev is to visit Brazil and Cuba later this week; p 8 (421 words).

Izvestia

1. Yuliya Tsoy and Svetlana Subbotina article headlined "State Duma demands that Investigations Committee open criminal case into murder of Maksim Kuzmin" says the State Duma is discussing the murder of Russian orphan Maksim Kuzmin adopted by a US couple. Russian MPs demand that the US authorities carry out a probe into the crime; pp 1, 4 (701 words).

2. Yekaterina Kvon and Andrey Gridasov article headlined "Money lost in RusGidro searched for in Moscow" gives new details of large-scale embezzlement revealed in the RusGidro company operating hydropower plants; pp 1, 3 (537 words).

3. Aleksey Mikhaylov and Dmitriy Balburov article headlined "Shoygu starts military police reform" says Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu has ordered to disband the military police set up by his predecessor and work on the new service; pp 1, 4 (442 words).

4. Sergey Podosenov article headlined "Gennadiy Zyuganov's critics not allowed to attend CPRF congress" says the Communists, who do not support CPRF (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) leader Gennadiy Zyuganov, will not be allowed to take part in the next party congress; p 2 (445 words).

5. Yegor Sozayev-Guryev report "State agencies to be protected against terrorist attacks" says that several sets of special road devices to protect the buildings of Russian state agencies against terrorist attacks will be bought in Israel; p 3 (600 words).

6. Mikhail Vignanskiy interview with the former Georgian state security minister currently living in Moscow, speaking on his plans to set up a pro-Russian political party in Georgia; p 7 (513 words).

7. Igor Yavlyanskiy and Mariya Gorkovskaya article headlined "Assange hopes to avoid extradition by becoming Australian senator" comments on the plans of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to set up a political party in Australia and get elected as a senator to get diplomatic immunity; p 7 (428 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Andrey Isayev, deputy secretary of the One Russia General Council, article headlined "Tactics of white ribbons activists destruction of Russian foundations" comments on the protest movement in Russia; p 4 (1,050 words).

2. Aleksandra Sashina article headlined "Aleksey Navalnyy confuses Chelyabinsk with Detroit" says that famous blogger and opposition activist Aleksey Navalnyy has posted online a photo of the aftermath of a meteorite shower that hit Russia on 15 February, but it is the US city of Detroit, not the Russian city of Chelyabinsk on the photo; p 9 (240 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Vladimir Kozin article headlined "Trojan nuclear horse" comments on the US missile defence plans in Europe and further reduction of Russian and US nuclear arsenals; pp 1, 3 (1,300 words).

Novyye Izvestia

1. Yuliya Savina article headlined "Trial could be held only for acquittal" quotes Russian human rights activists as saying that the trial of late Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergey Magnitskiy accused of tax evasion is unacceptable; p 2 (610 words).

RBK Daily

1. Yuliya Sinyayeva interview with Russian Regional Development Minister Igor Slyunyayev; p 5 (2,100 words).

Feb. 19, 2013/BBC Monitoring/©BBC

Related articles:

• What the Papers Say, Feb. 18, 2012
• What the Papers Say, Feb. 15, 2012
• What the Papers Say, Feb. 14, 2012