What the Papers Say, June 20, 2013

Kommersant

1. Ilya Barabanov et al. article headlined "Vladimir Yakunin sacked from wrong IP address" says that a message in the name of the government press service about the dismissal of Russian Railways head Vladimir Yakunin has been posted on the websites of Russian news agencies. However, government officials denied the information as hoax and called the incident a cyber crime; pp 1, 3 (1,600 words).


2. Anna Solodovnikova article headlined "Natural Resources Ministry finds access to shelf" says that the Federal Subsurface Resources Agency will put up for auction coastal areas in territorial waters in Russia's Far East and the Gulf of Ob, which are not regarded as an offshore area, in order to allow private companies to develop Russia's shelf; pp 1, 11 (650 words).


3. Oleg Trutnev et al. article headlined "Higher School of Economics students to meet in court" says that President Vladimir Putin has backed an idea to hand over the buildings of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Arbitration Court in Moscow to the Higher School of Economics after they move to St. Petersburg; pp 1, 12 (700 words).


4. Anna Zanina and Anna Pushkarskaya article headlined "Core deputy advised to Anton Ivanov" says that the higher judges' qualifications board has recommended Sergei Sarbash for the post of the deputy chairman of the Supreme Arbitration Court; pp 1-2 (1,000 words).


5. Viktor Khamrayev and Taisia Bekbulatova article headlined "All stakes made against Sergei Sobyanin" says that all political parties that planned to stand in the 8 September Moscow mayoral election, have nominated their candidates, but experts say that none of the candidates will really rival acting Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin; p 2 (950 words).


6. Yelizaveta Surnacheva article headlined "Funds of important recommendations" looks at independent analytical and political technology institutes in Russia and says that only two think-tanks have proved to be successful; p 2 (850 words).


7. Irina Nagornykh interview with Konstantin Kostin, the head of the Fund for the Development of Civil Society, headlined "'If you want idea to seize masses, give up authorship'", who speaks about his study of the Russian media; p 2 (900 words).


8. Andrei Kolesnikov report headlined "Syria-skinned Vityaz" focuses on Putin's visit to St. Petersburg, where he visited a defense plant specializing in missile systems and chaired a meeting on the state defense order and a state armament program for the Aerospace Defence Troops; p 3 (1,000 words).


9. Natalia Korchenkova et al. article headlined "Personal information pulled to motherland" says that State Duma deputy speaker Sergei Zheleznyak has suggested locating in Russia all servers having Russian citizens' personal data following the recent US secret services internet surveillance scandal; p 3 (900 words).


10. Anna Zanina and Anna Pushkarskaya interview with Supreme Arbitration Court chairman Anton Ivanov, headlined "'None of issues inside judicial system should be settled without superior court's opinion'", who speaks about a new version of the Russian Civil Code and some recent bills, as well as high-profile cases; p 4 (4,900 words).


11. Grigory Tumanov article headlined "Sergei Udaltsov found leader of Bolotnaya" says that the Russian Investigations Committee has brought final charges against Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov and his associate Leonid Razvozzhayev, having charged them with leading the protesters who fought with policemen during the 6 May 2012 riots on Moscow's Bolotnaya square; p 5 (650 words).


12. Aleksandr Zheglov article headlined "Systemic thefts revealed in Glonass" says that criminal proceedings have been initiated against the former heads of an AFK Sistema subsidiary on suspicion of large-scale embezzlement of money allocated for a state program to develop the Glonass navigation system; p 6 (800 words).


13. Yelena Chernenko article headlined "Disarmament that is hard to give up" says that US President Barack Obama has called on Russia to continue reducing strategic and tactical nuclear arsenals during his visit to Berlin. Moscow promised to "thoroughly" study the proposal, the article says; p 7 (850 words).


14. Pavel Tarasenko article headlined "G8 changes practically nothing in Syria" quotes a Russian expert as saying that the results of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland can be really seen as Russia's diplomatic success; p 7 (600 words).


15. Mikhail Serov et al. article headlined "Gazprom to be tied to U.S" says that talks between the Russian gas giant Gazprom and the Chinese company CNPC may drag on once again due to new disagreements over a gas pricing formula; p 11 (700 words).


16. Yegor Popov and Alena Miklashevskaya article headlined "State Duma has no time to equalize car plants" says that WTO member states may sue Russia for failure to make equal the terms of paying a recycling duty for domestic and foreign car producers by 1 July; p 11 (600 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Svetlana Gamova article headlined "Russia draws EU boundary line along Dniester River" says that the Dniester region has announced the administrative border with Moldova to be the state one. Moldova considered the move as an act of provocation and condemned Russia for backing the region; pp 1, 6 (900 words).


2. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Emergency situation of chemical nature" says that the disposal of outdated ammunition at a military range in Samara Region has ended in a major fire and blasts once again; pp 1-2 (550 words).


3. Mikhail Sergeyev article headlined "Fiscal bloodletting" says that according to the Central Bank, the net flight of capital from Russia in May turned to be surprisingly big, about $8 billion dollars, which is twice as much than in April; pp 1-2 (500 words).



4. Viktor Litovkin article headlined "Vladivostok not good by stern" says that the St. Petersburg-based Baltic shipyard has failed to complete the stern of a first Mistral-class helicopter carrier called the Vladivostok and French specialists will deal with the task; pp 1-2 (1,300 words).



5. Aleksandra Samarina article headlined "Observers having shoulder straps" says that the head of the president's human rights council Mikhail Fedotov together with the deputy head of the Federal Penal Service, Anatoly Rudyy, will visit a prison in Nizhny Novgorod Region, where convicts are said to have been regularly beaten; pp 1, 3 (950 words).


6. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Senators fear early dissolution" says that the State Duma will consider today candidates for the Audit Chamber. Meanwhile, the new law on the Audit Chamber has provisions that look dubious and even unconstitutional; pp 1, 3 (900 words).


7. Editorial headlined "Anton Siluanov arranges currency scandal" comments on Finance Minister Anton Siluanov's statement that the devaluation of the ruble will animate the Russian economy, made in an interview to Bloomberg; p 2 (500 words).


8. Alexei Mukhin article published in the Carte Blanche regular column headlined "From taiga to British seas" says that at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland, Russia has for the first time in the last 20 years acted as a strong opponent, which is respected now, and the Russian army, strange as it may seem, is meant to become a tool of a new political dialogue; p 3 (800 words).


9. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Kharkiv-2 agreements expected" says that the Ukrainian parliament has failed to denounce the Russian-Ukrainian agreement on the stationing of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea (the so-called Kharkiv agreements). However, the Kharkiv agreements are of no use without additional accords, the article says; p 6 (800 words).


10. Darya Tsilyurik article headlined "Americans yield Karzai to Taleban" features a Russian expert's comment on peace talks between the U.S and the Taleban in Qatar today; p 7 (800 words).

Vedomosti

1. Yekaterina Sobol article headlined "Rostekh without aircraft" says that the Rostekhnologii state corporation may hand over to the VTB group a contract to buy 50 medium-range aircraft Boeing-737 NG and lease them to the Russian airlines Aeroflot; pp 1, 12 (800 words).


2. Svetlana Bocharova and Anastasia Kornya article headlined "Duma to improve language" says that the State Duma will study about 200 basic Russian laws, including the constitution, and select those that need to be revised; pp 1, 3 (600 words).


3. Editorial headlined "Russian antiutopia" comments on the results of a public opinion poll conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation, which has shown that Russians think that life in Europe is better than in Russia, but nevertheless, they are proud of being Russians; pp 1, 6 (650 words).


4. Maria Zheleznova and Lilia Biryukova article headlined "Party of one round" says that the A Just Russia party has nominated its leader Nikolay Levichev for the post of Moscow mayor. The systemic opposition has nominated such candidates whose defeat at the 8 September election will not do much harm, an expert said; p 2 (800 words).


5. Alexei Nikolsky report "Barack Obama's nuclear legacy" says that the U.S has suggested that Russia reduce nuclear weapons by one-third; p 2 (450 words).


6. Vasily Kashin report "Why Snowden escaped" looks at the fate of former CIA agent and whistle-blower Edward Snowden; p 6 (1,300 words).

Izvestia

1. Aleksandra Yermakova and Anna Akhmadyeva article headlined "Car industry spends 6.7 billion rubles to increase sales" says that a slump in car sales has compelled car producers to increase spending on advertising; pp 1, 4 (1,300 words).


2. Ivan Cheberko article headlined "Embezzlement of Glonass funds found at Sistema subsidiary" says that criminal proceedings have been initiated over embezzlement of money allocated for the development of the Glonass navigation system. Evidence was found during searches at an AFK Sistema subsidiary carried out as part of the probe into the loss of and damage to the company's equipment; pp 1, 4 (700 words).


3. Anastasia Kashevarova article headlined "Medal in honour of late fighter against Yukos to be instituted for mayors" says that a medal named after killed Nefteyugansk mayor Vladimir Petukhov will be instituted in Russia for mayors and municipal heads; pp 1, 4 (600 words).


4. Alena Sivkova article headlined "State Duma suggests depriving of right to speak for month for violating discipline" says that the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia wants to amend the State Duma regulations to take in hand noisy MPs who impede other politicians' speeches; pp 1-2 (750 words).


5. Petr Kozlov article headlined "People's Front does not recognize personal transport" says that the federal and the regional leadership of the All-Russia Public Movement People's Front for Russia (All-Russia People's Front) has decided not to buy premium class cars for official use; pp 1, 3 (600 words).


6. Anastasia Kashevarova and Yelena Teslova article headlined "Hackers dismiss Yakunin in name of government" says that a number of Russian news agencies have reported, quoting the government press service, that the Russian Railways head Vladimir Yakunin has been sacked. The reports were denied as hoax; pp 1, 4 (700 words).


7. Boris Mezhuyev report "Russia strives for combat draw on one's own" looks at the results of G8 summit; p 9 (1,300 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Vladislav Kulikov article headlined "Click of complaint" says that the Russian government is considering creating a federal state information system, through which people can complain about everything they are concerned about; pp 1, 7 (850 words).


2. Taras Fomchenkov article headlined "Barrel to cash" says that the G8 member states have agreed to take joint measures to fight against money laundering, offshore areas and tax evasion. Russia will undoubtedly benefit from them, Russian experts say; pp 1-2 (750 words).


3. Kira Latukhina article headlined "Guarantees in air" reports on Putin's visit to St. Petersburg; p 2 (1,000 words).


4. Irina Rybnikova article headlined "Score opened" says that acting Moscow Region governor Andrei Vorobyev has been officially nominated for the 8 September governor election from the United Russia party and the All-Russia Public Movement People's Front for Russia (All-Russia People's Front); p 3 (400 words).


5. Political analyst Alexei Zudin article headlined "Puzzle of ONF" comments on the setting-up of the All-Russia Public Movement People's Front for Russia (All-Russia People's Front) and says that the move has opened a new chapter of the Russian politics; p 4 (1,300 words).


6. Tamara Shkel article headlined "Always with plus" says that the outgoing Central Bank head Sergei Ignatyev has delivered his last report to the State Duma; p 6 (1,600 words).


7. Alexander Gasyuk article headlined "Missile arithmetic" says that both Moscow and Washington are critical of US President Barack Obama's new initiatives concerning nuclear arms reduction; p 8 (800 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta (weekly)

1. Mikhail Barshchevsky interview with the chairman of the State Duma education committee, Vyacheslav Nikonov, headlined "What is not taught at schools", who speaks about education problems in Russia and the recent attacks on the Russian education minister; p 8 (1,100 words).


2. Sergei Ptichkin article headlined "To go out with Sukhoi" describes the Le Bourget air show in France; p 22 (1,300 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Olga Bozhyeva and Yelena Gamayun article headlined "'... I was blown away by blast wave'" says that a criminal case over violation of safety rules at explosive facilities has been opened following blasts at a military range in Samara Region; pp 1, 3 (800 words).


2. Yeva Merkacheva article headlined "Werewolves sit here and there" reports on the life of former officers of law-enforcement and security agencies in special prisons; pp 1, 6 (1,500 words).


3. Viktoria Prikhodko article headlined "Putin and G8: One to one" calls the results of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland victory of Russian diplomacy; p 2 (700 words).


4. Alexander Minkin article headlined "Enemies in Russia", written as a letter to Putin, criticizes Russian officials and doubts that they deserve their posts; pp 1, 3 (1,400 words).


5. Zurab Nalbandyan interview headlined "'What Europe wants for Russia does not always coincide with what Russia wants for itself'" with British Labour Party politician, Lord Peter Mandelson, who speaks about the British economic situation and the Russian economy; p 7 (800 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Nadezhda Bulanova article headlined "'Real' election" says that acting Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin has suggested drafting a memorandum on fair Moscow mayoral elections, which should be signed by all mayor nominees. Experts say Sobyanin wants to win the 8 September election honestly to prove to Muscovites that he is legitimate; p (500 words).


2. Grigory Volf article headlined "Zheleznyak's curtain" features a Russian blogger's critical comment on State Duma deputy speaker Sergei Zheleznyak's initiative to ban Russians from storing their personal data on foreign servers; p (440 words).


3. Konstantin Nikolayev article headlined "Concealed becomes disclosed" comments on US peace talks with the Taleban in Qatar today; p 2 (360 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Viktor Ruchkin article headlined "Opposition slams summit" says that a declaration adopted by G8 leaders at a summit in Northern Ireland has been criticized by the Syrian opposition; p 3 (450 words).

Zavtra

1. Andrei Zhukov and Alexander Nagornyy article headlined "What is ahead?" comments on the founding congress of the All-Russia People's Front; pp 1-2 (1,450 words)

Related articles:

• What the Papers Say, June 19, 2012
• What the Papers Say, June 18, 2012
• What the Papers Say, June 17, 2012