What the Papers Say, Mar. 27, 2013

Kommersant

1. Vladislav Novyy article headlined "Aleksandr Provotorov goes to market with bonus" says Rostelekom head Aleksandr Provotorov will be replaced by Sergey Kalugin, a former top manager from business structures owned by Yuriy Kovalchuk and Suleyman Kerimov; pp 1, 13 (919 words).

2. Aleksandr Voronov interview with Moscow's chief architect Sergey Kuznetsov speaking on Moscow development plans; pp 1, 4 (2,718 words).
3. Aleksandra Bayazitova and Kseniya Dementyeva article headlined "Responsible money borrowers" says a new service is being offered to Russian banks, namely gathering information about credit histories on would-be money borrowers including their place of residence and relatives' property; pp 1, 10 (833 words).
4. Irina Nagornykh et al. report headlined "Vladimir Putin waiting for warm season" says President Putin is likely to hold his regular phone-in session in late April; pp 1, 3 (820 words).
5. Musa Muradov and Maksim Ivanov article headlined "Ingush One Russia members chose election campaign" says the One Russia in Ingushetia is preparing candidates for two possible scenarios: a gubernatorial election campaign and an appointment of the republican head; p 2 (560 words).
6. Natalya Gorodetskaya article headlined "There is no-one to check senator's citizenship" says the Federation Council senator Vitaliy Malkin is stepping down amid controversy around his purported dual citizenship; p 2 (564 words).
7. Anna Pushkarskaya article headlined "Gennadiy Gudkov's seat splits Constitutional Court" says the Russian Constitutional Court judges are divided on the issue of the ouster of opposition MP Gennadiy Gudkov from the State Duma; p 2 (589 words).
8. Ivan Safronov and Viktor Khamrayev article headlined "Helicopter contract has to be adjusted a little" says that President Putin was expected to sign a contract on the supply of Russian helicopters while visiting South Africa for the BRICS summit, but the contract needs additional work; p 3 (577 words).
9. Aleksandr Chernykh article headlined "Dmitriy Medvedev called for getting proper degrees" says that following a number of scandals with forged dissertations, Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev has announced a large-scale reform of the system for awarding degrees to Russian scholars; p 5 (578 words).
10. Vladislav Trifonov article headlined "Boris Berezovskiy diagnosed with hanging" says that UK police findings suggest that Russian tycoon Boris Berezovskiy committed suicide; p 5 (575 words).
11. Grigoriy Tumanov article headlined "Suitcase, railway terminal, inspection" reports on tough security measures being imposed at Russian railway stations. Passengers will have their luggage screened; p 6 (666 words).
12. Pavel Tarasenko article headlined "DPRK declares war on exercises" says North Korea threatened the USA with a military strike due to a joint US-South Korean military exercise; p 7 (601 words).
13. Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "America to be opened for illegal migrants" outlines measures proposed by US President Barack Obama to help the legalization of illegal migrants in the country; p 7 (501 words).
14. Yelena Chernenko article headlined "Congressmen ask not to buy Russian products" says a group of US Congressmen have called on the Pentagon to break the contract with Rosoboronexport on the purchase of 20 Mi-17B5 helicopters for Afghanistan; p 7 (415 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Aleksandra Samarina and Aleksey Gorbachev article headlined "Russian elite condemned to asceticism" says the ongoing anti-corruption campaign shows that President Putin will form a new ruling elite less interested in material wealth; pp 1, 3 (950 words).
2. Sergey Kulikov article headlined "New revolution in energy sector" says if the experts who believe there's no evidence of global warming turn out to be right, the world energy industry will return to the use of fossil fuels; pp 1, 4 (900 words).
3. Igor Naumov article headlined "Cyprus affiliate of VTB may cost Russian budget quarter billion euros" outlines conditions Moscow is setting to be involved in the bailout of the Cypriot financial system; pp 1, 4 (800 words).
4. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Road feudalism scares people" says tough political decisions are required for bringing traffic in Russia to order, for example, senior officials should be forced to obey the rules like everybody else; pp 1, 3 (1,000 words).
5. Yuriy Paniyev article headlined "BRICS grows to have its own bank" says participants in the BRICS summit in Durban are expected to come to an agreement on setting up an international development bank; pp 1, 8 (800 words).
6. Svetlana Gavrilina article headlined "Flying groups of prosecutors come to NGO" reports on checks at the St Petersburg office of Memorial human rights NGO; pp 1, 6 (800 words).
7. Editorial headlined "About resetting parliament" looks into the possibility of a dissolution of the Russian parliament and an early parliamentary election; p 2 (500 words).
8. Artur Blinov article headlined "John Kerry settles argument with Hamed Karzai" says US Secretary of State John Kerry has managed to resolve problems in relations with the Afghan leadership which were hindering the withdrawal of the US troops from the country; p 8 (550 words).
9. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "Risk of war in Korea growing" features pundit comment on the current state of ties between South Korea and the USA, and how this influences tensions with Pyongyang; p 8 (500 words).

Vedomosti

1. Irina Kezik article headlined "Rosneft takes its own" says Rosneft is not going to share TNK-BP assets with the company's minority shareholders, who are now looking for ways to protect their interests; pp 1, 12 (701 words).
2. Editorial headlined "Child for cash" comments on a proposal to cash out the so called maternity capital - certificates that families with second child receive in Russia; pp 1, 6 (450 words).
3. Irina Novikova article headlined "Canada hangs on Malkin" says by resigning from the Federation Council, Vitaliy Malkin avoided coming under increased scrutiny; p 2 (500 words).
4. Anastasiya Kornya and Irina Novikova article headlined "European Court to examine Mordovia" says the Communist Party of the Russian Federation will challenge the outcome of the State Duma election in the Republic of Mordovia in the Strasbourg court; p 2 (600 words).
5. Another editorial headlined "Best of worst" compares the state of roads and traffic safety in Russian regions; p 6 (303 words).
6. Filipp Sterkin article headlined "Figure of the week: 40 per cent" says Cyprus has been punished for its offshore past as some of the depositors of the country's banks will lose 40 per cent of their savings; p 7 (405 words).

Izvestia

1. Anastasiya Alekseyevskikh article headlined "Central Bank drafts blacklists of fly-by-night companies" says the Russian Central Bank has obliged banks to step up control over transactions carried out by suspicious companies; p 1 (668 words).
2. Alena Sivkova article headlined "Nationalists may get into next State Duma" says the Russian Public Chamber expects new nationalist parties to emerge in the country and to win the next parliamentary election; pp 1, 2 (531 words).
3. Anna Akhmadiyev article headlined "Vladimir Solovyev to work for Podmoskovye TV channel" says well-known TV host Vladimir Solovyev will start working for Moscow Region Podmoskovye TV channel; he will interview acting governor Andrey Vorobyev in his first live show; p 3 (500 words).
4. Konstantin Volkov article headlined "Opposition leader takes Al-Asad's place at Arab League summit" says the Syrian conflict is the main issue on the agenda of the Arab League summit under way in Doha; p 7 (442 words).
5. Igor Yavlyanskiy article headlined "Americans hand over prison to Afghanis ahead of John Kerry's visit" says the US forces have handed over the Bagram prison to Afghanistan in an attempt to improve the two countries relations, as US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Kabul; p 7 (460 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Mikhail Falaleyev article headlined "District policeman indebted to us" comments on the new law regulating the work of the district police in Russia; pp 1, 9 (476 words).
2. Mikhail Falaleyev article headlined "Passport in accordance with regime" gives details of the new regulations for issuing international passports for Russians; pp 1, 9 (505 words).
3. Kira Latukhina article headlined "Africa welcomes five" focuses on Vladimir Putin's visit to the BRICS summit in South Africa; p 2 (500 words).
4. Fedor Lukyanov article headlined "German order" looks into the Cyprus bailout deal and tries to predict the further developments in the EU fiscal policy; p 8 (700 words).
5. Viktor Feshchenko article headlined "Death without violence" comments on the findings of the investigation into the death of Boris Berezovskiy; p 8 (642 words).

Moskovskiy Komsomolets

1. Mikhail Zubov article headlined "Malkin, go home" gives details of the resignation of Federation Council senator Vitaliy Malkin after information of his reported dual citizenship became widely known; pp 1-2 (571 words).
2. Andrey Yashlavskiy article headlined "Aftertaste for Abramovich" comments on the consequences of false news reports on the detention and questioning of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in the USA; pp 1, 5 (495 words).
3. Darya Fedotova interview with political analyst Mikhail Vinogradov who believes that Boris Berezovskiy could have accidentally strangled himself; pp 1, 5 (356 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Dmitriy Smirnov article titled "Africa greets Putin with rain" takes stock of the opening of the BRICS summit in Durban; p 2 (300 words)
2. Yelena Krivyakina article headlined "Supreme Court acquits summer time" says the Russian Supreme Court has found the discontinuation of daylight savings in Russia, introduced by then-President Dmitriy Medvedev, to be lawful; p 3 (200 words).
3. Mikhail Ozerov article titled "Berezovskiy died through hanging" reports on a postmortem of Russian tycoon Boris Berezovskiy released on 25 March and wonders if his death was a suicide; p 4 (650 words).
4. Aleksandr Boyko article with a court medical expert, Viktor Kolkutin, who comments on the results of the Berezovskiy postmortem; p 4 (150 words)
5. Yevgeniy Belyakov article titled "Europe to get new financial reich?" considers the impact of the Cyprus financial crisis on other European countries; p 7 (600 words).
6. Oleg Potapov article headlined "By Rockfeller standards" comments on a Financial Times article which looks at Rosneft's acquisition of TNK-BP; p 7 (700 words).
7. Vladimir Vorsobin article titled "Israeli passport lets down senator" says Federation Council member Vitaliy Malkin has tendered his resignation after a high-profile scandal around his purported dual citizenship; p 8 (350 words).
8. Viktor Baranets article titled "Military stock keeper made R350m out of dust" looks at the latest corruption scandal uncovered at the Defence Ministry, which the article says "flourished under the former leadership"; p 8 (200 words).

Trud

1. Aleksandr Protsenko article titled "Operation 'revival'" comments on Vladimir Putin's pledge to help small business; pp 1, 3 (800 words).
2. Vitaliy Golovachev article headlined "Rich with a seat? That's indecent" reports on a Levada Centre poll which found that Russians believe that there are many very wealthy people in government and various ministries; p 1 (150 words).
3. Pavel Orlov article titled "Little drops on BRICS, but not too strong" looks at the first day of the BRICS summit that got under way in Durban yesterday; p 2 (550 words).
4. The paper reproduces a translated copy of a Financial Times column by Nick Butler which considers Rosneft's acquisition of TNK-BP; p 3 (550 words).
5. Igor Trubnikov article headlined "Roman with FBI" recaps on the controversy surrounding a false report aired by RBK TV about the alleged arrest of Roman Abramovich and the impact of this news; p 3 (550 words).

RBK Daily

1. Sergey Khayruk article headlined "Right to content" says the Communications Ministry has prepared a new set of criteria for assessing whether the content of a website is legal or not; pp 1, 11 (400 words).
2. Aleksandr Litoy article titled "Don't make Gusev angry" says that the conflict between the Moskovskiy Komsomolets newspaper and the One Russia party will be one of the focal points of a congress of the Union of Journalists that will be held today; p 2 (450 words).
3. Ivan Petrov et al article headlined "No placement of adult services" says that deputies plan to ban the publication of classifieds advertising adult services in print media, which is seen to be a continuation of the One Russia party's row with the Moskovskiy Komsomolets newspaper; p 2 (450 words).
4. Anastasiya Litvinova article titled "Cyprus to blame for everything" says the Ministry of Economic Development is planning to revise its forecast for capital outflow for 2013, partly due to the Cyprus crisis; p 3 (350 words).
5. Galina Starinskaya article titled "Sechin renews personnel" looks at personnel reshuffles in state oil giant Rosneft following its acquisition of TNK-BP; p 7 (500 words).
6. Olesya Yelkova article headlined "Russian Helicopters land in Africa" looks at plans of the Russian Helicopters holding company to boost its presence in Africa; p 8 (200 words).
7. Anastasiya Fomicheva article titled "President doesn't mind" says that the Kremlin approved a change of leadership at the Rostelekom communications giant; p 11 (350 words).

Novyye Izvestia

1. Yuliya Savina article titled "Voluntary exit?" reports on the results of the postmortem examination on Boris Berezovskiy; pp 1-2 (250 words).
2. Vera Moslakova article headlined "Rule-setters of luxury" looks at a Levada Centre poll on Russians' perceptions about well-off officials; p 2 (600 words).
3. Nadezhda Krasilova article titled "'This is not a talk show'" reports on the first day of the BRICS summit; p 2 (400 words).
4. Olga Churakova article headlined "Nuclear blackmail" says North Korea announced a heightened state of combat readiness yesterday and warned it could deliver strikes on US military bases; p 2 (350 words).
5. Sergey Manukov article headlined "Dangerous precedent" says after the bailout measures applied in Cyprus, similar deposit levies could be introduced in other troubled European countries; p 3 (400 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Andrey Kolesnikov article headlined "VKontakte management: 'We have been cooperating with the FSB and the Interior Ministry's Department K for several years, readily giving up information about thousands of users of our social network'" reports on the cooperation between Russian social networks and the law-enforcement agencies and considers its impact on protest activity; p 2 (1,531 words).
2. Yelena Shafran article titled "Where is Obama hurrying to?" considers Barack Obama's recent Middle East trip and its impact on a possible military operation against Syria; p 4 (400 words).
3. Olga Prosvirova article titled "With NTV support" reports on the continuing raids by law-enforcement agencies on the offices of Russian NGOs; p 5 (400 words).
4. Another article by Andrey Kolesnikov headlined "Trap of eternal stalemate" reports on the political legacy of late tycoon Boris Berezovskiy; p 7 (846 words).
5. Commentary by ex-Economics Minister Andrey Nechayev titled "Forget the word 'Cyprus'" considers what will happen to Russian money that used to be kept in Cyprus banks in light of the financial crisis in the country; p 13 (600 words).
6. Natalya Polovinko et al. piece titled "I am ready to vouch for the hostages of 6 May" features comment from prominent opposition politicians and cultural figures in which they speak about their readiness to support a petition calling for the release of the suspects in the case on mass unrest at a 6 May 2012 protest rally; p 24 (600 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Yelizaveta Orlova article titled "Without pause in dialogue" comments on Russian-US talks on missile defence; p 3 (300 words).
2. Marianna Yevdotyeva article headlined "BRICS summit in Africa" looks at the first day of the BRICS summit that got under way in Durban on 26 March (700 words).
3. Andrey Garavskiy article titled "Langkawi welcoming Russians" looks at a military and naval expo that started in Malaysia on 26 March; p 3 (400 words).
4. Viktor Ruchkin article headlined "Arming rebels" comments on a partial UN withdrawal from Syria; p 3 (600 words).

Tvoy Den

1. Anton Stepanov article titled "No doubt" says that British medical experts have concluded that Boris Berezovskiy hanged himself; p 2 (300 words).

Mar. 27, 2013/BBC Monitoring/©BBC?