What the Papers Say, Sept. 7, 2012

Kommersant

1. Vladislav Novy article headlined "Russian Post to Be Delivered to Private Hands" looks at the major reform of the postal service the government is drafting; pp 1, 9 (813 words).

2. Tatyana Grishina article headlined "White House Promotes Mega-Regulator" says the government is considering setting up a financial mega-regulator by joining the Federal Service for Financial Markets and the Central Bank; pp 1, 8 (895 words).

3. Sergei Mashkov article headlined "Deputy Director for Poor Flight Performance" says that charges have been brought against the former deputy head of the Yak-Service airline, Vadim Timofeyev, as according to investigators, it is his negligence of duties that caused the crash of the Yak-42 aircraft in which the Lokomotiv hockey team was killed; pp 1, 5 (1,077 words).

4. Kalil Aminov article headlined "Far East Being Prepared for Near Future" says that at the APEC summit in Vladivostok, the government might announce plans to further develop the Far East and Siberia. If the plans remain on paper only, Russia may become a mere supplier of raw materials to booming Asia; pp 1, 10 (1,538 words).

5. Yury Barsukov article headlined "Income From State Property Turned Out to Be Exaggerated" looks at a draft state program for managing state property for the period 2013-15; p 2 (613 words).

6. Sofya Samokhina report "A Just Russia Filtered Out" says that the Just Russia party has managed to register its candidate for governor only in one region; p 2 (800 words).

7. Irina Nagornykh report "Boris Gryzlov, Oleg Mitvol Aggravate Struggle in Khimki" says that United Russia may nominate its own candidate to stand for mayor of Khimki; p 2 (600 words).

8. Maxim Ivanov article headlined "President Acquires Protective Tone" says that in an interview with TV channel Russia Today, President Vladimir Putin backed the idea to limit state officials' right to own property abroad. Experts note that Putin is continuing the process of conserving the political and economic system; p 3 (641 words).

9. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "Above Any Cranes" says that on his way from Moscow to the APEC summit in Vladivostok, President Vladimir Putin used a hang-glider to lead a flock of white cranes; p 3 (1,070 words).

10. Oleg Rubnikovich article headlined "Nationalists Take to Motorway" says that the Prosecutor General's Office has sent to court the case against nationalist writer Pyotr Khomyakov, charged with fraud and with setting up an extremist organization that allegedly plotted a "velvet revolution" in Russia; p 4 (648 words).

11. Yelena Chernenko and Vladislav Trifonov article headlined "Service Passports Submitted for Visa Cancellation" says that Moscow and Brussels are close to cancelling visas for owners of service passports; p 6 (742 words).

12. Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "Bill Clinton Nominates Barack Obama to Stand for President" looks at the Democratic National Convention, where former U.S. President Bill Clinton has nominated the incumbent U.S. president for re-election. Meanwhile, polls show that the presidential candidates' chances of being elected remain even; p 6 (587 words).

13. Alexander Reutov article headlined "China Does Not Accept Secretary of State" says that a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to China may be considered a failure as Beijing has signaled that it will not change its stance on Syria and Iran and will handle its territorial disputes without the involvement of third parties; p 6 (478 words).

14. Dmitry Tratas article headlined "Rules of the Game" ponders the steps that the head of the European Central Bank is taking to overcome the crisis in the euro zone; p 7 (421 words).

15. Vitaly Gaidayev and Tatyana Yedovina article headlined "European Central Bank Goes for Market" looks at a new plan to ease the euro zone debt crisis drafted by the European Central Bank's chairman, Mario Draghi; p 8 (583 words).

16. Vladimir Androsik article headlined "Issue of Price" looks at the situation in the Russian Far East and why development of the region should be stepped up; p 10 (698 words).

17. Khalil Aminov interview with the president of VTB and chairman of the APEC business summit in Vladivostok, Andrei Kostin, headlined "One Should Not Try to Draw Financing From Europe Over to Region," in which he explains why Russia should seek investment in Asia to develop the Far East; p 10 (745 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Tatyana Dvoinova article headlined "Primorye Region Shows Russian Generosity and Slums" says that President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Vladivostok to have a look at the city ahead of the APEC summit, and looks at preparations for the summit; pp 1, 6 (946 words).

2. Savely Vezhin article headlined "Nationalization of Elites" looks at a roundtable meeting at the State Duma to discuss a bill banning state officials from having property and bank accounts abroad; pp 1-2 (1,177 words).

3. Anastasia Bashkatova article headlined "Government Accumulates Differences" says that the ministries have failed to come to an agreement on pension reform and seem to be planning to shift responsibility onto top leaders for making the unpopular decision; pp 1, 4 (852 words).

4. Yury Roks article headlined "Security Forces Take Control Over Tbilisi" says that security measures have been stepped up in Tbilisi, officially due to upcoming football matches. A number of observers, however, attribute the move to tension arising from the pre-election situation and the recent special operation near the Russian-Georgian border; pp 1, 7 (696 words).

5. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Ukraine Slows Down Modernization of Black Sea Fleet" says that the only submarine of the Black Sea Fleet, Alrosa, is unlikely to take part in the Kavkaz-2012 (Caucasus-2012) military drill to be held in the Caspian region; pp 1-2 (651 words).

6. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Europe Exerts Pressure on Gazprom" says that the Russian gas monopoly may have to pay a giant fine of 10 billion euros for alleged violations on the European gas market; pp 1, 4 (1,066 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Criterion of Proficiency" looks at a bill banning state officials from having property and bank accounts abroad and wonders what is more important for society: to limit officials in their right to make use of their own legal income or to increase officials' liability for the practical results of their activity; p 2 (465 words).

8. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Vladimir Putin's Unambiguous Order" looks at President Vladimir Putin's interview with Russia Today; p 3 (952 words).

9. Milrad Fatullayev article headlined "Significant Consequences of Insignificant Arguments" looks at the possibility of a military operation in Dagestan amid the deteriorating situation in the republic; p 3 (606 words).

10. Ivan Rodin article headlined "State Association Rossia" says that the Justice Ministry is drafting a bill about public-private and private-public associations that do not exist now but may appear in the near future. Experts link the bill to the authorities' plans on further development of the All-Russia People's Front; p 3 (664 words).

11. Article by expert from the Civil Initiatives Committee Arkady Lyubaryev headlined "With Right to Take Part in Elections" looks at the consequences of liberalizing conditions for registering political parties; p 5 (1,171 words).

12. Article by director of the Institute of Globalization Problems Mikhail Delyagin headlined "Most Independent Court in World?" says that the Russian justice system keeps showing that property rights in Russia cannot be protected and looks at a court ruling that deprived Yelena Baturina, wife of former Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov, of 16 hectares of land in Moscow; p 6 (1,101 words).

13. Anton Khodasevich and Grigory Mikhailov article headlined "Minsk Blackmails Bishkek" says the Belarussian authorities have warned the Kyrgyz authorities that their demands that former Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and his brother be extradited may hamper Kyrgyzstan's joining the Customs Union; p 7 (672 words).

14. Viktoria Panfilova article headlined "Pamir Being Prepared for Pinpoint Mopping-Up" says that additional Tajik security forces units are being redeployed to Pamir as the situation remains unstable there; p 7 (701 words).

15. Artur Blinov article headlined "Barack Obama Is Official Candidate for Re-Election" says that the Democratic National Convention has officially nominated U.S. President Barack Obama for re-election; p 8 (566 words).

16. Nikolai Surkov article headlined "Moscow Names Conditions of Settlement in Syria" says that President Vladimir Putin has called the West's approach to the Syrian crisis short-sighted and warned that it is fraught with grave consequences; p 8 (487 words).

17. Yury Paniyev article headlined "Russian Premiere at APEC" looks ahead at the APEC summit in Vladivostok and Putin's article published in the Asian edition of The Wall Street Journal describing Russia's role as a bridge between the West and the East; p 8 (635 words).

Vedomosti

1. Yekaterina Kravchenko and Olga Petrova article headlined "To Print GDP" says the European Central Bank is ready to buy state bonds of debt-laden countries to prevent a worst-case economic scenario; pp 1, 3 (848 words).

2. Margarita Papchenkova and Alexandra Terentyeva article headlined "Go to Cut Timber With Abramov" says the Russia-China Investment Fund will invest $200 million in a timber company owned by Alexander Abramov and Steven Jennings; pp 1, 8 (602 words).

3. Anastasia Kornya and Lilia Biryukova article headlined "Materialization of Bribes" says the Prosecutor General's Office is drafting amendments to the criminal code to introduce criminal liability for non-monetary bribes; pp 1, 2 (664 words).

4. Editorial headlined "Latch in the East" ponders prospects for development of the Far East using investment and says that a lack of the proper investment climate hampers global projects to modernize the region; pp 1, 4 (532 words).

5. Natalya Kostenko article headlined "Experts for Their Own" says that four expert centers to be headed by former Kremlin officials and United Russia members will be set up soon. The demand for "soft force" is growing as the political situation is getting more complicated, experts say; p 2 (434 words).

6. Mikhail Fishman article headlined "Irremovable Forever" says that a bill prohibiting officials from owning property abroad will provide President Vladimir Putin with additional powerful levers of control over officials and will ideologically make them share Putin's interests; p 4 (433 words).

7. Alexei Nikolsky article headlined "Not to Obey West" highlights some points form President Vladimir Putin's interview with Russia Today; p 2 (396 words).

8. Alexander Yanov report "To Remember History and Not Give Way to Despair" looks at the achievements of the Russian opposition over the past decades and at the current political situation in the country; p 4 (900 words).

9. Ilya Klishin report "Dead Souls 2.0" looks at an attempt by the Foreign Intelligence Service to influence the online community; p 4 (600 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Kira Latukhina article headlined "Russky Starts Speaking English" says that President Vladimir Putin has inspected the facilities built in preparation for the APEC summit in Vladivostok; p 2 (600 words).

2. Kira Latukhina article headlined "Conversation Number One" provides highlights from Putin's interview with Russia Today in which he spoke about the U.S. presidential election, the Magnitsky and Pussy Riot cases, as well as his stance on opposition activities; p 2 (750 words).

3. Yelena Kukol interview with VTB chairman Andrei Kostin headlined "To Enter Top Five," in which he speaks about preparations for the APEC summit in Vladivostok and about whether the huge expenditures will be paid back and looks ahead to the summit; pp 1, 6 (1,500 words).

4. Anna Roze article headlined "Bombophiles" says that, defeating all expectations, Germany has agreed to keep a U.S. nuclear arsenal on its territory and plans to spend some 250 million euros on modernizing its nuclear weapons; p 8 (650 words).

5. Ariadna Rokossovskaya report "Everyone Knew, But Kept Silent" looks at the U.S.'s attitude to the Katyn tragedy; p 8 (700 words).

Izvestia

1. Anastasia Alexeyevskikh article headlined "VTB Minority Shareholders Accuse Navalny of Forgery" says the head of the union of minority shareholders of VTB, Dmitry Udalov, has accused opposition blogger Alexei Navalny of forging documents in a case involving drilling equipment; pp 1, 3 (844 words).

2. Konstantin Pukemov article headlined "Billion to Be Invested in Chips for Glonass" says the government is prepared to allocate 1 billion rubles ($31.2 million) for development of several computer chips for the Glonass navigation system; pp 1, 3 (781 words).

3. Olga Tropkina report "Gennady Gudkov's Mandate Being Prepared for Oleg Shein" says that according to sources in the Just Russia party, Gennady Gudkov's deputy seat that United Russia plans to take away from him is likely to be transferred to another Just Russia member, Oleg Shein; pp 1, 3 (600 words).

4. Margarita Kazantseva report "America Concerned About Hole From Arctic Bagel" says that a U.S. State Department representative has explained to the newspaper why it is important for Russia, the U.S. and other Arctic region countries to work out rules for fishing in the seas that have appeared because of global warming; pp 1, 5 (700 words).

5. Yelizaveta Mayetnaya interview headlined "Special Equipment Should Be Used Commensurate With Threat" with Anatoly Yakunin, head of the Interior Ministry's main directorate for Moscow; pp 1, 4 (2,000 words).

6. Olga Tropkina report "They Suggest That Prokhorov Amend Constitution" says that ahead of the party congress for billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov's Civil Platform, contradictions have aggravated within the party; p 2 (600 words).

7. Igor Yavlyansky article headlined "U.S. Does Not Plan to Take Nuclear Bombs Back From Germany" says that U.S. nuclear weapons will remain in Germany at least until 2024; p 5 (485 words).

8. Yury Matsarsky article headlined "Nagorny-Karabakh Gets Chance of Being Recognized" says that the Armenian parliament will consider a bill to declare Nagorny-Karabakh an independent republic after the murderer of an Armenian officer, Ramil Safarov, was extradited from Hungary and pardoned in Azerbaijan; p 5 (394 words).

9. Kirill Benediktov article headlined "Sore Point" says that a leak from the Defense Ministry about the possibility of using military units in Dagestan if attacks on servicemen continue should be regarded as a warning or even as an ultimatum; p 7 (679 words).

10. Vladimir Abelin interview with head of the Russian Paralympic Committee Vladimir Lukin, who speaks about an incident with the Russian team in London; p 12 (600 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Marina Ozerova report "Nervous Life at Okhotny Ryad" looks at the main issues to be discussed by the State Duma at its fall session that opens on Sept. 11; pp 1, 5 (900 words).

2. An open letter by Alexander Minkin to President Vladimir Putin dedicated to the upcoming election of mayor of Khimki and the situation in the town; pp 1, 6 (700 words).

3. Mikhail Zubov report "How Many Mentally Ill People Are There Among Officials?" says that United Russia plans to introduce a bill to the State Duma obliging officials to have psychiatric examinations; pp 1-2 (6650 words).

4. Anastasia Rodionova interview with the head of the central electoral committee of the opposition's Coordination Council, Leonid Volkov; p 2 (600 words).

5. Stanislav Belkovsky report "Putin: Mask and Soul" analyses the personality of Vladimir Putin; pp 1, 3 (700 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Yelena Masyuk piece titled "Pussy Riot: 'We Are Not Enemies of the Church'" features an interview-by-correspondence with the imprisoned members of the Pussy Riot punk band; p 2 (1,000 words).

2. A Georgy Ilyichev interview with former United Russia member Olga Kryshtanovskaya titled "Putin in a Zugzwang," in which Kryshtanovskaya forecasts that the new crop of the political elite that emerged under former President Dmitry Medvedev may become one of the proponents of a forthcoming revolution in Russia; pp 3, 4 (1,400).

3. Olga Bobrova article titled "Better a Crane in the Sky" mulls the emerging territorial dispute between Chechnya and Ingushetia; p 5 (800 words).

4. Alexander Mineyev article headlined "Europe Pushing the Gas" considers problems looming over gas giant Gazprom in light of the European Commission probe into suspected breaches on the European market; p 7 (650 words).

5. Alexander Pumpyansky article titled "Obama Has 3 Opponents at the Moment" analyses Barack Obama's prospects in the U.S. presidential election; p 8 (1,000 words).

6. TV critic Irina Petrovskaya comments on the media campaign surrounding Vladimir Putin's flight with endangered cranes in an article titled "God, Why Didn't You Give Me Wings?"; p 24 (700 words).

Moskovksiye Novosti

1. Yevgeny Gladin article titled "Occupyembassy" says that 20 exchange students from Guinea-Bissau who have been studying in Russia are unable to get home because their government has not provided them with return tickets or any money. The students have decided to "occupy" the country's Moscow embassy in protest; p 2 (400 words).

2. Alexandra Ilyina article headlined "Chip Coming to the Rescue" says Russians may be issued electronic ID cards that would replace "internal" domestic passports, by 2015; p 3 (350 words).

3. Interview with Vitaly Zarudin, the chairman of the coordination council of the Safe Fatherland anti-corruption body, widely seen as a government-approved version of Alexei Navalny's Rospil foundation, about the work of the organization, titled "Tell Us About State Purchases"; p 3 (800 words).

4. Alexandra Beluza considers highlights from President Vladimir Putin's interview with TV channel RT in a piece called "'Everything Will Be Against Us'"; p 4 (700 words).

5. Marina Lepina report titled "Orthodox Become Visible" looks ahead at court sessions set for Friday in which three Orthodox believers will try to get compensation for pain and suffering from Pussy Riot over their February punk prayer; p 4 (450 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Alexander Gamov article titled "'I Hope You've Drunk an Amount That Allows You to Come to Work Today'" describes President Vladimir Putin's arrival at the APEC summit in Vladivostok; p 2 (400 words).

2. Unattributed article titled "'I Am Completely Staying Away From the Pussy Riot Case'" provides highlights from Putin's interview with TV channel RT that was broadcast Thursday; p 2 (300 words).

3. Yelena Chinkova article headlined "Bill Clinton: The U.S. Leader Should Be the Person Who Married Michelle!" comments on Barack Obama's official nomination as the Democratic presidential candidate; p 4 (350 words).

4. Vladimir Vorsobin piece titled "Valentina Matviyenko: 'Fears About China Are Phobias'" takes stock of a visit to Beijing by Federation Council speaker Valentina Matviyenko; p 7 (450 words).

RBC Daily

1. Galina Starinskaya article headlined "Steps Aside" says that state-owned company Rosneft has suspended talks on the purchase of BP's share in the Russo-British joint venture TNK-BP, presumably until mid-October; p 7 (400 words).

2. Anton Khlyshchenko and Andrei Zhukov article titled "USC Drops Anchor by Severnaya Verf" says the state-owned United Shipbuilding Company has acquired a 96.78 percent stake in the St. Petersburg Severnaya Verf shipbuilding plant; p 8 (500 words).

3. Katerina Kitayeva article titled "Sanoma Losing Captain" says the managing director of the Sanoma Independent Media publishing house, Yelena Myasnikova, is leaving the media holding; p 12 (400 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda (weekly)

1. Viktor Khudoleyev article titled "September Promises to Be 'Hot'" looks ahead at military drills the Airborne Troops plan to hold in September; p 3 (200 words).

2. Viktor Ruchkin article headlined "Syria — Ambiguous War Silhouettes" comments on the latest developments in Syria; p 3 (700 words).

3. Dmitry Andreyev article titled "New Technologies in the Ranks" looks at the new automated system of combat controls being developed for Russia's Strategic Missile Forces; p 3 (200 words)

4. London-based Vitaly Makarchev article titled "The East Is a 'Delicate Affair'" considers political developments in Egypt and Iran; p 14 (2,000 words)

Noviye Izvestia

1. Anatoly Dmitriyev article titled "Protest Equilibrium" says that about one-third of polled readers believe that planned September protests will be even more populous than spring ones. Yet about the same number of respondents said that in fall, protests would be the realm of only politicians and active opposition supporters; pp 1-2 (150 words).

2. Vladivostok-based Nadezhda Krasilova article headlined "Manually Controlled APEC" gives a brief rundown of the first day of the APEC summit in the Russian Far East; p 2 (250 words).

Tvoi Den

1. Anton Lednev writes in his article "Let Him Be Questioned" that Pussy Riot lawyer Mark Feigin has been summoned to the Investigative Committee for questioning as a witness in the case surrounding unrest at a May 6 opposition rally at Bolotnaya Ploshchad; p 2 (150 words).

Sept. 7, 2012/BBC Monitoring/©BBC

Related articles:

• What the Papers Say, Sept. 6, 2012
• What the Papers Say, Sept. 5, 2012
• What the Papers Say, Sept. 4, 2012