What the Papers Say, May 16, 2013

Kommersant

1. Yegor Popov et al. article headlined "Ships to be reinforced with tanks" says that Uralvagonzavod top manager Vladimir Shmakov has been nominated for the head of the United Shipbuilding Corporation; pp 1, 9 (866 words).
2. Dmitry Butrin and Pyotr Netreba article headlined "This surely does not exist under grandpa" says that, addressing the International Legal Forum in St. Petersburg, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has cast a shadow on one of the key provisions of the law on foreign investment in Russia; pp 1, 6 (746 words).
3. Yegor Popov article headlined "Car sales drop faster" says that car sales in Russia went down 8 percent in April. The trend is expected to continue; pp 1, 11 (717 words).
4. Nikolai Sergeiev article headlined "Loan payment delayed" says that Rosbank head Vladimir Golubkov has been detained in Moscow on suspicion of getting a large kickback; pp 1, 4 (901 words).
5. Sofia Samokhina article headlined "Sociologists disagree on Vladimir Putin's rating" says that according to a Public Opinion Foundation poll, 62 percent of respondents are ready to back Vladimir Putin in a presidential election if it is held next Sunday. However, a Levada Center opinion poll has shown that only 29 percent of respondents are ready to back Putin; p 2 (611 words).
6. Anna Pushkarskaya article headlined "Valery Zorkin reckons on generals" looks at the initiatives mentioned by Constitutional Court chairman Valery Zorkin at the International Legal Forum in St. Petersburg; p 2 (622 words).
7. Ivan Safronov report headlined "Sergei Shoigu runs into headquarters in kindergarten" describes Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's visit to Novorossisk; p 2 (793 words).
8. Maxim Ivanov and Taisya Bekbulatova article headlined "Ministries checked for transparency" says that according to a study by the RIA Rating agency, the Emergency Situations Ministry and the Foreign Ministry are the most open agencies, whereas the Far East Development Ministry and the Federal Service for Defense Orders (Rosoboronzakaz) are the most closed ones; p 2 (534 words).
9. Viktor Khamrayev article headlined "Russian lawmakers justify themselves before European MPs" reports on a round table meeting between Russian and European lawmakers dedicated to Russian and European NGO laws; p 3 (727 words).
10. Andrei Kolesnikov report headlined "Vladimir Zhirinovsky covers embrasure with another person's breast" says President Vladimir Putin has met the leaders of the parliamentary parties in Sochi; p 3 (1,771 words).
11. Sergei Goryashko article headlined "Anti-corruption centre gives advice to government and State Duma" says that Transparency International Russia experts have studied how the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) is used in Russia and concluded that punishment for corruption in Russia is selective; p 3 (532 words).
12. Ilya Barabanov article headlined "Parties go to different forest borders in Kirovles" describes developments in the trial of opposition activist Alexei Navalny targeted in the Kirovles timber company case; p 5 (868 words).
13. Dmitry Butrin et al. article headlined "Skolkovo tries on supervisors" says that presidential aide Andrei Fursenko will be responsible for the Skolkovo innovation fund's cooperation with the Kremlin; p 6 (649 words).
14. Alexandr Korzun interview headlined "'UN depends on Russia'" with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has arrived in Russia for a visit. The official spoke about the UN's approach to solving global problems and Russia's role in the process; p 8 (699 words).
15. Yelena Chernenko article headlined "Russia slightly opens Arctic region" says that the Arctic Council has acquired six new observers, including China, India and Japan; p 8 (566 words).
16. Expert Mikhail Krutikhin comment published in the "Price of issue" opinion section says that it will be difficult for Russia to defend its interests in the Arctic region given that countries showing interest in the region's development have become observers in the Arctic Council; p 8 (361 words).
17. Anna Solodovnikova and Kirill Melnikov article headlined "Pipe of discord" says that relations between the state-run companies Rosneft and Transneft have worsened again over oil supplies to China; p 11 (618 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Sergei Kulikov and Anastasya Bashkatova article headlined "No getting away from crisis" says a major banking crisis is looming over Russia this year; pp 1, 4 (1,295 words).
2. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Kudrin may still become prime minister" quotes a source in the Russian law enforcement agencies as saying that former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin may replace Dmitry Medvedev as the prime minister by the end of the year; pp 1-2 (872 words).
3. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Russian military specialists are already in Syria" says that military-diplomatic sources have confirmed that Russia has already delivered four sets of S-300 missile systems to Syria; pp 1-2 (589 words).
4. Gleb Postnov article headlined "Frantic rush with Olympic principles" says the opening of Kazan-Arena, a major sports facility being constructed for the 2013 World Student Games, will most likely be delayed again; pp 1, 5 (505 words).
5. Yury Panyev article headlined "U.S. and Russia get on with each other in cyberspace" says that the recent spy scandal has not affected the U.S.-Russian plans to sign five agreements, including the ones on security in cyber space, at the G8 summit to be held in June in Northern Ireland; pp 1, 7 (718 words).
6. Darya Tsilyurik article headlined "Royal drone tested in America" says that the U.S. has become the first country to launch an unmanned aircraft from an aircraft carrier; pp 1, 7 (692 words).
7. Editorial headlined "On way to Geneva-2" says the UN Security Council permanent members have lately intensified activity to find a way out of the Syrian deadlock; p 2 (510 words).
8. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Prison disfavor" says that only 17 people were pardoned in Russia in 2012. Experts say the institution of pardon has been destroyed at one time to prevent former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky and former Menatep head Platon Lebedev from being released from prison; p 3 (681 words).
9. Ivan Rodin report headlined "President meets parliamentary leaders" looks at Putin's meeting with the leaders of the parliamentary factions in Sochi; p 3 (611 words).
10. Igor Naumov article headlined "Open Government tries to find application for it" says the Open Government, created a year ago, is far from being effective; p 4 (953 words).

Vedomosti

1. Tatyana Voronova et al. article headlined "Operation 'Clean Loan'" looks at the corruption scandal involving the Rosbank head; pp 1, 18 (636 words).
2. Yekaterina Sobol article headlined "Airports at breaking point" says that Moscow airports have turned to be unprepared for an upsurge in air traffic; pp 1, 13 (505 words).
3. Editorial headlined "Whose button?" comments on U.S.-Russia ties given the recent spy scandal; pp 1, 6 (426 words).
4. Alexei Nikolsky article called "Iveco LMV caught on duties" says the Investigative Committee has opened a new corruption case against the Oboronservis defense company; p 3 (300 words).
5. Margarita Papchenkova et al. article headlined "Kremlin to watch for Skolkovo" says the Kremlin has found a supervisor for the Skolkovo innovation center; p 4 (800 words).
6. Liliya Biryukova article headlined "Cheap but effective" says that the ruling United Russia party will reduce the number of party projects; p 2 (539 words).
7. Another editorial headlined "Selective application" comments on the results of a study by Transparency International Russia as to how the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) is used in Russia; p 6 (295 words).
8. Svetlana Bocharova and Anastasia Kornya article headlined "Filters are harmful but necessary" says that at the meeting with the leaders of the parliamentary parties, Putin has ignored a request to dismiss the education minister and was eager to discuss other issues; p 3 (503 words).
9. Margarita Lyutova article headlined "Russia does not adjust to WTO" says the St. Petersburg Politics fund has studied the first results of Russia's accession to the WTO and concluded that there are both advantages and disadvantages; p 4 (577 words).
10. Politician Grigory Yavlinsky article headlined "Civil society: Ousting citizens from politics" criticizes the Russian authorities' policy on NGOs; p 7 (506 words).
11. Ksenya Boletskaya article headlined "$100 million to be happy" says the Profmedia-TV holding company will spend an unprecedented amount of money to launch a new entertainment channel called Pyatnitsa; p 11 (781 words).
12. Valery Kodachigov article headlined "Iridium legalizes Russia" says that satellite communications operator Iridium has officially begun to operate in Russia; p 11 (468 words).

Izvestia

1. Alyona Sivkova article headlined "Public Chamber to change leadership" says that Yevgeny Velikhov will step down as the secretary of the Public Chamber by autumn, and that his deputy Mikhail Ostrovsky will resign, too; pp 1, 4 (586 words).
2. Anna Akhmadyeva article headlined "Audit Chamber finds violations at embassies" says that the Audit Chamber has checked how the Russian property abroad is managed and revealed a number of violations at the Russian embassies, the VTB bank and other organizations; pp 1, 4 (527 words).
3. Sergei Podosenov article headlined "62 percent of Moscow voters ready to vote for Putin" says that Putin's approval rating is higher in Moscow than across Russia; pp 1-2 (499 words).
4. Yelena Sheremetyeva article headlined "Defence Ministry official detained over billion rubles" says a Defense Ministry official has been detained in connection with a large-scale fraud with flats; pp 1, 4 (400 words).
5. Alyona Sivkova and Sergei Podosenov article headlined "Ponomaryov risks losing deputy seat over scandal with lectures" says a fault has been found in the income declaration of opposition lawmaker Ilya Ponomaryov related to a fee he received for lectures from the Skolkovo innovation fund; pp 1, 4 (575 words).
6. Alexei Mikhaylov article headlined "Kornet will strike independently" says Russian designers have developed a new version of the Kornet anti-tank missile system; p 3 (600 words).
7. Alexander Yunashev article headlined "Party leaders fail to persuade president to sack education minister" focuses on the agenda of Putin's meeting with the leaders of the parliamentary parties; p 2 (777 words).
8. Yulia Tsoi and Anton Mardasov article headlined "Kremlin to take innovation away from government" says the presidential administration has decided to take control over Russia's modernization as it believes that the government is not able to deal with this task; p 2 (664 words).
9. Yury Matsarsky and Igor Yavlyansky article headlined "Sex female slaves from Russia were in demand in Chelsea" says that a Russian woman and five her accomplices have been detained in London on suspicion of organizing a crime community dealing with money laundering and prostitution; p 7 (438 words).
10. Maria Gorkovskaya article headlined "UK decides to intimidate EU with referendum" features experts' comments on a UK bill which envisages holding a referendum on Britain's withdrawal from the EU; p 7 (474 words).
11. Political analyst Kirill Benediktov article headlined "Cloak and dagger" comments on the recent detention of an alleged U.S. spy in Moscow; p 9 (784 words).
12. Eduard Bagirov article headlined "Navalny should be behind bars" attacks opposition activist Alexei Navalny; p 9 (785 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Irina Krasnopolskaya interview headlined "Crowned killers" with Russia's chief public health officer Gennady Onishchenko, who speaks about new viruses threatening Russia; pp 1, 4 (928 words).
2. Vladislav Vorobyev article headlined "Range of interests beyond Arctic Circle" says that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry have discussed the Syrian issue at the Arctic Council meeting in Sweden; p 2 (619 words).
3. Olga Sukhorukova article "Russia's Open Sky" features an interview with Vladimir Verba, a chief designer of the Vega concern developing the Open Sky aircraft surveillance system; p 4 (1,000 words).
4. Yevgeny Shestakov article headlined "Where will Arab Spring go?" reports on a meeting of the Middle East section of the Valdai discussion club in Morocco dedicated to the Arab Spring and its prospects; p 8 (719 words).
5. Andrei Petrov article headlined "James Blonde shown door" says that Russia has officially expressed protest to the U.S. ambassador to Russia over the exposure of an alleged U.S. spy in Moscow and features an expert's comment on the issue; p 7 (413 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta (weekly)

1. Mikhail Barshchevsky interview headlined "they will reason sensibly" with Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov, who speaks about the International Legal Forum in St. Petersburg; p 8 (997 words).
2. Susanna Alperina article headlined "We will show you" says the Public TV will start broadcasting in Russia on May 19 and names the channel's management; p 26 (842 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Olga Rakhimdzhanova headlined "'Surkov is god!'" features an interview with Vasily Yakemenko, former head of the pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi, who praises and defends the former chief of the government staff, Vladislav Surkov, and rails against Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev; pp 1, 5 (1,684 words).
2. Vladimir Sedov article headlined "Rosbank head receives bribe via SMS during talks" gives details of the detention of the Rosbank head caught red-handed in bribe-taking; p 1 (584 words).
3. Second part of Irina Bobrova interview with writer Yury Felshtinsky, headlined "Inner side of Berezovsky's death," who speaks about the oligarch's life in the UK, his relations with family members and about his assets; pp 1, 4 (2,991 words).
4. Natalya Rozhkova article headlined "U.S. trace found in Targamadze case" contemplates a new version of the origin of the May 6, 2012, riots on Moscow's Bolotnaya Ploshchad voiced by TV journalist Arkady Mamontov in the "Special Correspondent" program shown by Rossia 1 on May 14; p 2 (354 words).
5. Matvei Ganapolsky article headlined "Non-eternal flame" says the recent immoral acts against World War II monuments in Russia have indicated that the current generation and the older generation see WWII differently and that the Russian authorities should revise their patriotic policy to help the youth understand the tragedy and respect monuments; p 3 (1,118 words).
6. Andrei Yashlavsky article headlined "McFaul reprimanded for spy" says that U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry over the recent spy scandal. Nevertheless, the scandal will hardly spoil bilateral relations, the article says; p 3 (1,059 words).
7. Irina Zvezdunova article headlined "'Island of stability' directly ahead" says there is a hope that an international financial center in Moscow will finally be created soon; p 5 (1,308 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Nadezhda Krasilova brief interview with the head of the presidential human rights council, Mikhail Fedotov, headlined "Incident with 'foreign agents' is pure short-lived campaign," who speaks about the council's recommendations sent to Putin as regards audits of NGOs; pp 1-2 (655 words).
2. Yulia Zabavina article headlined "Public exposure" features experts' comments on the detention of an alleged U.S. spy in Moscow; p 2 (401 words).
3. Dmitry Selyavin report "'It is paradoxical thing"' looks at the court hearing in the case of the forestry company Kirovles that has resumed in Kirov; p 2 (400 words).
4. Anna Alexeyeva report "Golos prepares for closure and re-registration" says that the election monitoring NGO Golos will be closed if it does not register as a foreign agent; p 5 (250 words).
5. Diana Yevdokimova report "Neither more nor less" says that the Russian government has obliged foreign charitable and scientific foundations that want to finance Russian researchers to pass the expert review of the Education and Science Ministry; p 5 (800 words).

RBK Daily

1. Galina Starinskaya article headlined "Sechin looks at TNK-BP staff" says that Rosneft has advised some TNK-BP employees to voluntarily resign in exchange for jobs at Rosneft; pp 1, 6 (800 words).
2. Yulia Yakovleva article headlined "Gennady Gudkov crosses MKAD [Moscow Ring Road]" says that former Just Russia lawmaker Gennady Gudkov has accepted a proposal from the leader of the Yabloko party, Sergei Mitrokhin, to stand for Moscow region governor as a candidate of the united opposition; p 2 (750 words).
3. Svetlana Makunina report "They live in Stalin times' looks at a meeting of State Duma deputies with members of the European Parliament. The deputies tried to convince their European colleagues that the Russian law on foreign agents is useful; p 2 (500 words).
4. Inga Vorobyeva report "Filter vs. Churov's foot wrap" says that the leaders of State Duma factions have asked Central Elections Commission head Vladimir Churov to introduce a "filter" in the next parliamentary elections due to a large number of parties; p 3 (650 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Alexander Meshkov report "Why American spy walked with compass in Moscow" looks at the detention of an alleged U.S. spy in Moscow; pp 1, 9 (750 words).
2. Dmitry Smirnov report looks at Putin's meeting with the leaders of State Duma factions; p 2 (750 words).
3. Yelena Chinkova report "'Chinese understand importance of Orthodox factor"' looks at Patriarch Kirill's visit to China; p 3 (450 words).
4. Alexander Gamov report "Lenin mausoleum reopened" says that Lenin mausoleum has been repaired; p 3 (300 words).
5. Vitaly Klimov report "Kadyrov posts photo with former convict" comments on a photo of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov with a former criminal posted in the internet; p 4 (650 words).
6. Valentin Mikhaylov report "Muscovites support Putin" says that according to a poll conducted by Civil Society Development Foundation, 62 percent of Muscovites support Putin; p 5 (800 words).
7. Semen Shapkin report "CIA has its own Magic Kingdom" looks at devices used by American spies; p 9 (500 words).
8. Alexander Khodyakin report "U.S. ambassador summoned to Foreign Ministry" says that U.S. ambassador Michael McFaul has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry for a protest over the detention of an alleged American spy; p 9 (250 words).
9. Alexander Grishin report "Fogle was detained in tough way for impudence" looks at how an alleged U.S. spy has been detained in Moscow; p 9 (150 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Viktor Ruchkin report "It is necessary to sit down at negotiating table" looks at Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's statements he has made after talks with U.S. State Secretary John Kerry at the Arctic Council meeting in Sweden; pp 1, 3 (950 words).
2. Alexander Tikhonov report "Persona non grata" looks at the detention of an alleged U.S. spy in Moscow; p 3 (800 words).

Zavtra

1. Alexei Gordeiev report "Patriarch in China" looks at the visit of Patriarch Kirill to China; p 1 (800 words).

Tvoi Den

1. Anton Stepanov report "Go away" says that the Foreign Ministry has declared U.S. diplomat Ryan Fogle persona non grata following a spy scandal; p 2 (200 words).

May 16, 2013/BBC Monitoring/©BBC