Kommersant
1. Yury Barsukov article headlined "Crimea found, debt remains" says that Russia has decided to withdraw from the Russian-Ukrainian agreements on the deployment of the Black Sea Fleet, signed in Kharkiv in 2010. The move threatens Kiev not only with the doubling of gas prices but also with quadrupling of its gas debt to Russia; pp 1, 8 (597 words).
2. Svetlana Dementyeva et al. article headlined "They have fraternal immunity" says that sanctions from U.S. payment systems Visa and MasterCard against the banks controlled by Russian businessmen Arkady and Boris Rotenberg have been effective for two days as it has turned out that there are no legal grounds to block the operations of the banks; pp 1, 8 (1,041 words).
3. Svetlana Dementiyeva article headlined "Peninsula of stability" says that four bills regulating the operations of Ukrainian banks in Crimea and Sevastopol have been submitted to the State Duma. Banks will be operating as usual until 1 Jan., 2015 if they fulfil their obligations. If they do not, they will be shut down. Ukrainian banks that will remain by the set term are to be transformed into Russian ones or quit the market; pp 1, 8 (652 words).
4. Natalia Gorodetskaya article headlined "Municipalities stick to old forms" says that the State Duma is expecting approving comments from regional parliaments and governors on a local government reform that would abolish direct mayoral elections in large cities that are divided into districts. However, municipalities intend to oppose the reform; p 2 (532 words).
5. Ivan Safronov article headlined "Anatoly Shilov accepted to state service" says that the Federal Space Agency, or Roscosmos, has decided to launch the latest electronic reconnaissance and communications satellite Olimp in late May. The result of the launch will determine the future of Roscosmos deputy head Anatoly Shilov, the article says; p 2 (432 words).
6. Anna Pushkarskaya et al. article headlined "Russian laws prepared for Crimea" says that President Vladimir Putin has instructed the government to develop and approve a plan to establish regional directorates of federal agencies in Crimea and Sevastopol. The State Duma is ready to hold extraordinary meetings to pass laws necessary for the new regions' integration with Russia; p 3 (550 words).
7. Andrei Pertsev article headlined "Spin doctors need general cover" says that the Russian Association of Spin Doctors has been established in Russia during the past weekend. Igor Mintusov, the head of the Nikkolo M Strategic Communications Agency, has headed the new organization; p 3 (448 words).
8. Alexei Sokovnin and Andrey Tsvetkov article headlined "Former deputy minister being searched in court" says that a Moscow court will consider today issuing an arrest warrant in absentia for former Deputy Agriculture Minister Alexei Bazhanov, charged with embezzlement of Rosselkhozbank's loan; p 5 (464 words).
9. Tatyana Yedovina article headlined "EU changes polarity of pipes" says that the EU has decided not only to impose sanctions against Russian officials but also to reduce its dependence on the gas supplies from Russia. The article features a Russian pundit's comment; p 6 (505 words).
10. Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "Coalition for isolation" says that U.S. President Barack Obama intends to take advantage of the nuclear security summit that opens today in The Hague to try to strip Russia of G8 membership; p 6 (468 words).
11. Yelizaveta Kuznetsova et al. article headlined "Bombardier heads for U.S." says that Canadian company Bombardier may suspend the setting-up of a joint venture with Russia to produce Q-400 aircraft due to Canada's introducing sanctions against Russia; p 8 (542 words).
12. Natalia Skorlygina et al. article headlined "Lithuania tied to Russia's energy sector" says that Russia and Belarus will coordinate electric energy supplies to Lithuania to avoid competition on its market; p 9 (554 words).
13. Vladislav Novy and Yekaterina Mikhaylina article headlined "Rostelecom leaves salons" says Russian telephony provider Rostelecom will cut its retail sales by 50 percent; p 10 (600 words).
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
1. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "They ask Yanukovych to return" says that the new Ukrainian authorities believe that the presidential election will be held on May 25 despite Crimea's joining Russia and instability in the country's southeast, where rallies in support of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych have been held; pp 1, 6 (1,367 words).
2. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Speeding up of Crimea's integration cuts holes in budget" says that President Putin has instructed the government to set up regional directorates of ministries and federal agencies in Crimea and Sevastopol. Also, the new regions' banking sector is being built into the Russian financial system. The move will cost 45 billion rubles (about $1.25 billion at the current exchange rate), but the Russian authorities are ready for any expenses as regards Crimea, the article says; p 1, 3 (828 words).
3. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "State to defend judge in Bolotnaya case" says that state protection will be provided to judge Natalia Nikishina, who has imprisoned defendants in the so-called Bolotnaya case of the May 6 2012 riots in Moscow's Bolotnaya Ploshchad. Meanwhile, the trial of Left Front activists Sergei Udaltsov and Leonid Razvozzhayev, charged with organizing riots, will resume today; pp 1, 3 (527 words).
4. Yury Paniyev article headlined "Nuclear security overshadowed by crisis" previews the third nuclear security summit that opens today in The Hague. President Putin will not attend the event, on the sidelines of which the G7 group will meet to discuss stripping Russia of G8 membership. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will represent Russia at the summit; pp 1-2 (604 words).
5. Anastasia Bashkatova article headlined "Capital city sets record of being modest" looks at regional officials' salaries in Russia in 2013; pp 1, 4 (1,118 words).
6. Alina Terekhova article headlined "Tymoshenko promises gas divorce" says that following the EU, Ukraine is considering reducing the dependence on Russian gas supplies. The article features Russian pundits' comments; pp 1, 4 (881 words).
7. Editorial headlined "How university earns reputation" reviews the performance of the Russian universities; p 2 (400 words).
8. Vladimir Mukhin article published in the regular Carte Blanche column headlined "Russia does not have plans to conquer Ukraine" tries to explain why Ukraine is still afraid of Russia given that Russian servicemen are no longer deployed at the Russian-Ukrainian border and President Putin has declared that Russia is not planning to invade Ukraine; p 3 (847 words).
9. Mikhail Sergeyev article headlined "Industries taste Crimea" says directors of the Russian industrial enterprises have become more optimistic about the economic effects of the Ukrainian crisis; p 4 (700 words).
10. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "Americans spied on Chinese president" says that the U.S. National Security Agency is said to have penetrated into China's largest telecommunications company Huawei to intercept former Chinese president Hu Jintao's electronic correspondence. This became known the day before a meeting between the U.S. and Chinese presidents in The Hague on the sidelines of the nuclear security summit. The scandal will not worsen U.S.-Chinese relations, a Russian expert said; p 6 (697 words).
11. Boris Nikolayev article headlined "Auxiliary role of transport and energy complex" focuses on a "new vision" of the energy strategy in Russia; pp Energia 1, 10 (900 words).
12. Alexei Khaytun article headlined "Southern variant" says the economic structure of Crimea needs big investments; Energia p 12 (1,000 words).
13. Oleg Nikiforov article headlined "Cost of unification" says the secession of Crimea from Ukraine creates significant economic and legal difficulties for both Kiev and Moscow; Energia p 12 (900 words).
14. Oleg Nikiforov article headlined "Paradoxes of Ukrainian transit" says the energy security of Europe still depends on the gas transit through Ukraine. Gazprom needs to establish cooperation with Kiev to secure deliveries to Europe, it says; Energia p 13 (900 words).
Vedomosti
1. Maxim Tovkaylo et al. article headlined "Tax paradise Crimea" says that the Russian government is considering the prospects for Crimea's socioeconomic development that include making the peninsula a special economic zone, establishing a state-run corporation for Crimea's development and adopting a special federal targeted-development program; pp 1, 5 (500 words).
2. Editorial headlined "Demon of sanctions" comments on the Western sanctions against Russia. The existing situation is advantageous to both Russia and the West since none of the sides is interested in sanctions being toughened. However, Moscow cannot but take measures in response as a lack of the latter will be seen as weakness; pp 1, 6 (400 words).
3. Alexei Nikolsky article headlined "No more Forces" says that almost all the Ukrainian military units in Crimea have been disarmed and occupied by the Crimean self-defense troops and Russian servicemen at support of civil protesters; p 2 (400 words).
4. Polina Khimshiashvili and Svetlana Bocharova article headlined "Decision without consequences" says that the Venice Commission has unanimously recognized the March 16 referendum in Crimea as unconstitutional and nonconforming with European law practice. Conclusions made by the commission are nonbinding and are not valid as judicial decisions, a Russian expert said; p 2 (500 words).
5. Yelena Morozova et al. article headlined "Elections without One Russia member" says that a Novosibirsk court has withdrawn acting mayor Vladimir Znatkov, who is standing in the April 6 mayoral election in Novosibirsk as a United Russia nominee, from the election, thus having satisfied a lawsuit filed by his rival, former Federation Council senator Ivan Starikov; p 3 (200 words).
6. Olga Kuvshinova article headlined "Russia near zero" says it would be hard for the Russian economy to avoid recession, but if the Ukrainian crisis narrows, the recession will not last long; p 4 (700 words).
7. Margarita Papchenkova article headlined "Devaluation to rescue Finance Ministry" says Russia may give up taking external loans this year because of the U.S. and EU sanctions, according to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov; p 4 (300 words).
8. Editorial headlined "Example of instability" says that Crimea's joining Russia may escalate the existing territorial disputes in the post-Soviet space; p 6 (300 words).
9. Political expert Yekaterina Shulman article headlined "Speed of dream" criticizes the Russian State Duma for the speedy adoption of laws, including such important ones as the federal law on Crimea's joining Russia, changing Russia's state borders, which was approved within two days; p 6 (800 words).
10. Gleb Pavlovsky article headlined "Global Putin's moment" looks at President Putin in his third presidential term. He is an absolutely different man, who is not afraid of trusting his personal, though trashy feelings, and doing things that earlier he could not imagine. Putin is no longer showing a false face, he is playing and enjoys this game, the author says; p 7 (800 words).
11. Kirill Kharatyan article headlined "Person of week: Barack Obama" disagrees with a view, gaining popularity in Russia, that U.S. President Barack Obama is a weak politician. U.S. sanctions are not aimed against Russia, but personally against Putin, against people who he relies on, the author says; p 7 (300 words).
12. Maxim Buyev article headlined "Dilemma of prisoner" focuses on the Western sanctions on Russia, saying that the European financial system is more dependent on the Russian economy than the US one; p 7 (400 words).
13. Yelena Khodyakova and Yulia Orlova article headlined "Minus nine percent because of Timchenko" says investors are scared that the U.S. sanctions against Russian businessman Gennady Timchenko will damage an associated gas company, Novatek; p 11 (600 words).
14. Roman Shleynov et al. article headlined "Endangered business" says that only four businessmen close to President Putin, who have been included in the blacklist of Russians subject to EU and US sanctions, have solid assets abroad and may have problems with their business; pp 20-21 (1,200 words).
Izvestia
1. Alena Sivkova and Yegor Sozayev-Guryev article headlined "Office of president to check state facilities of Crimea" says the office of President Vladimir Putin will soon check all the state-owned facilities in Crimea, including the hotels and residences; pp 1, 3 (600 words).
2. Alexandra Bayazitova article headlined "Lawmakers demand compensations from Visa and MasterCard" says the Russian lawmakers have suggested that the two payment systems should compensate for the losses they inflicted on Russian citizens in connection with the US sanctions; pp 1-2 (500 words).
3. Svetlana Subbotina and Sergei Podosenov article headlined "Senator suggests that Nobel Peace Prize be taken away from Obama" says Russian senator Lyudmila Bokova has condemned U.S. President Barack Obama's policy of double standards; pp 1-2 (300 words).
Rossiiskaya Gazeta
1. Kira Latukhina article headlined "Constituent parts of Federation" says that President Putin has signed laws on Crimea and Sevastopol becoming parts of Russia; pp 1, 3 (602 words).
2. Vladimir Bogdanov and Sergei Ptichkin article headlined "Striking force" says that Su-34 fighters have been put into service of Russia's Air Force; pp 1, 3 (492 words).
3. Kira Latukhina article headlined "Time to pay back advanced payments" says that President Putin has met permanent members of the Russian Security Council to discuss Russian-Ukrainian relations, including gas cooperation; p 2 (941 words).
4. Vitaly Petrov article headlined "Justice first of all" says that the Federation Council has ratified the treaty on Crimea's joining Russia and the federal constitutional law on establishing new constituent parts of Russia, the Crimea republic and city of federal importance Sevastopol; p 3 (607 words).
5. Igor Zubkov interview with academician Viktor Ivanter, headlined "Five years without slovenliness", who says that Crimea is not a burden, but a nice present for Russia; p 4 (1,211 words).
6. Yelena Domcheva and Igor Zubkov article headlined "Mark with minus" says that international rating agencies Standard and Poor and Fitch have degraded Russia's sovereign rating from "stable" to "negative" over a threat of sanctions against Russian businesses; p 4 (530 words).
7. Yevgeny Shestakov article headlined "'Arsonist' emerges in Britain" looks at anti-Russian sanctions that British Foreign Minister William Hague has called for in an interview with newspaper Daily Telegraph; p 7 (707 words).
Moskovsky Komsomolets
1. Yulia Kalinina article headlined "Victory Day to become day of grief in Ukraine" says that the Ukrainian culture minister has drafted a bill, according to which Victory Day in the World War II will be marked on May 8 as in Europe, but not on May 9 as in Russia. Moreover, May 9 will be marked as the day of remembrance of victims of Soviet occupation; p 1 (448 words).
2. Marina Perevozkina article headlined "Ukrainian servicemen go to Crimea" says that most servicemen at the headquarters of the Ukrainian Navy's coast Defense in Simferopol have decided to serve Russia; pp 1, 3 (624 words).
3. Natalia Vedeneyeva article headlined "Black holes of Russian space" looks at the Russian space sector, problems facing it and the pending reforms in the Federal Space Agency, or Roscosmos; pp 1, 5 (2,845 words).
4. Igor Subbotin article features a piece of radio communication between one of the pilots of the Malaysian aircraft that has gone missing two weeks ago and an air traffic controller; p 2 (1,073 words).
5. Oleg Bazak article headlined "Mr. candidate Dmytro Yarosh" says that former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has taken advantage of Crimea's joining Russia to enlist support from as much Ukrainians as possible ahead of the May 25 presidential election. Right Sector head Dmytro Yarosh has also declared his presidential ambitions; p 3 (610 words).
6. Yelena Gamayun article headlined "Squadron of mine workers" reports on the anti-government rallies in Donetsk that took place in the city during the weekend; p 3 (300 words).
Novaya Gazeta
1. Sergei Kanev report "Criminal" looks at the situation in Crimea and says that although the redistribution of property has not ended in the peninsula, the new redistribution is looming; p 7 (1,100 words).
2. Alexei Polukhin report "To cede cards" says that U.S. President Barack Obama has presented an enlarged sanction blacklist in relation to Russia. This list significantly coincides with the list published by opposition activist Alexei Navalny in his column in The New York Times and includes Putin's close associates; p 8 (1,200 words).
3. Irina Gordyenko report "Name of Dokka Umarov's successor announced" says that the leadership of the banned organization Imarat Kavkaz (Caucasus emirate) has said that Caucasus insurgency leader Dokka Umarov has died, and named his successor; p 9 (750 words).
4. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "Heroes of Russia or 'Ozero school'" says that Obama has "punished members of the cooperative Ozero". Their property and assets in the U.S. are frozen and they are banned from entering the U.S.; p 10 (450 words).
5. Newspaper publishes excerpts from Mikhail Khodorkovsky's book "Prison people" that comes out in May; p 19 (1,100 words).
RBK Daily
1. Yelena Malysheva et al. report "Service of one income" says that the government is discussing the possibility of merging Russia's tax and customs services; pp 1, 3 (800 words).
2. Ivan Petrov report "Russian sailors not lucky" says that the fact that Crimea has become part of Russia will result in a considerable decrease in the salaries of Russian seamen serving in Crimea; p 2 (700 words).
3. Ivan Petrov report "Envoy from Slavyanka" says that Crimea has become Russia's ninth federal district. A person from the Defense Ministry-controlled Oboronservis holding company will become Putin's envoy there, article says; p 2 (550 words).
4. Maria Makutina report "Term of return" says that as from May 9, calls for actions aiming to return Crimea to Ukraine will be made an imprisonable offense in Russia; p 2 (600 words).
5. Andrey Kotov report "Obama's European tour" looks at the Nuclear Security Summit opening in The Hague on March 24; p 4 (450 words)
Noviye Izvestia
1. Yekaterina Dyatlovskaya report "Ninth district" says that Crimea is being built into the Russian system of state power. Putin has issued instructions to approve a plan to set up territorial offices of Russian ministries and agencies in Crimea and Sevastopol; pp 1-2 (550 words).
2. Mark Agatov report "Last aerodrome" says that practically all military facilities of the Ukrainian army in Crimea are controlled by Russia; p 2 (600 words).
3. Valery Yakov report "Crimean syndrome" says that "Western countries have recognized Russia's victory in Crimea". Author refers to the EU's sanctions against Russia as "helpless"; p 2 (500 words).
Komsomolskaya Pravda
1. Alexei Ovchinnikov report "'Sevastopol waits, Kamchatka waits, Kronshtadt waits"' says that 10 Ukrainian warships have "sided with Russia"; p 6 (350 words).
2. Maxim Brusnev report "'You are married to representative of Department of State. What happened to your reputation?"' looks at how Russia's permanent representative at the UN Vitaly Churkin has reacted to accusations of a CNN journalist; p 7 (600 words).
3. Anton Araslanov interview "Three men refused this post" with Crimea's new prosecutor-general, Natalya Poklonskaya; p 9 (650 words).
March. 24, 2014 / BBC Monitoring / ©BBC