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What the Papers Say, May 30, 2013

Kommersant


1. Alexander Chernykh article headlined "Healer of Russian Academy of Sciences" says that Vladimir Fortov has been elected the new president of the Russian Academy of Sciences; pp 1, 5 (885 words).


2. Pavel Belavin article headlined "Camera looking at court" says that the chairman of the State Duma culture committee, filmmaker Stanislav Govorukhin, has suggested fining or imprisoning those doing illegal copies of films shown in cinemas; pp 1, 13 (607 words).


3. Natalya Bashlykova and Natalya Gorodetskaya article headlined "Vladimir Lukin accused of abuse of authority" says that the Federation Council has for the first time ever severely criticized Russian human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin's report for 2012, having found it politically loaded, one-sided and subjective; pp 1, 3 (703 words).


4. Maria Yakovleva article headlined "Labour resources being brought closer to pensions" says that the investment group Russian Funds has bought the Kyrgyz non-state pension fund Kyrgyzstan; pp 1, 10 (958 words).


5. Natalya Gorodetskaya article headlined "Federation Council defends newspapers' rights on party lists" says that the Federation Council has turned down a bill permitting to publish party lists on the internet only because this is a violation of citizens' constitutional rights; p 2 (406 words).


6. Ivan Safronov article headlined "Traces of reform found in Aviaremont" says that the Federal Service for Defense Order (Rosoboronzakaz) has accused former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov of problems that the Aviaremont holding company, a subsidiary of the notorious company Oboronservis, is facing now; p 2 (659 words).


7. Viktor Khamrayev article headlined "Rostelekom ready to broadcast voting from regions" says that CCTV cameras will be installed at polling stations in Russian regions where gubernatorial and parliamentary elections are scheduled for 8 September; p 2 (664 words).


8. Maria-Luiza Tirmaste article headlined "Boris Titov trains ombudsmen" says that a three-day meeting of regional ombudsmen and public council members has been held in Krasnodar Territory; p 2 (795 words).


9. Irina Nagornykh and Maxim Ivanov article headlined "Presidential grants promised to foreign agents" says that presidential grants worth 2.32 billion rubles ($72.5 million) will be given to Russian NGOs in 2013. NGOs financed from abroad may receive presidential grants only if they are registered as foreign agents; p 3 (557 words).


10. Natalya Korchenkova article headlined "Vice-chancellor of Russian Economic School resigns on vacation" says that the Russian Investigations Committee has officially confirmed that the resigned vice-chancellor of the Russian Economic School, Sergei Guryev, had been questioned within the Yukos case. Experts say that Guryev's resignation is linked to his support of the opposition; p 3 (605 words).


11. Taisia Bekbulatova article headlined "Dmitry Medvedev wants to borrow staff at regions" says that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has suggested forming the personnel reserve on the basis of governors' recommendations; p 3 (690 words).


12. Article by chairman of the Civil Initiatives Committee, former Finance Minister Aleksey Kudrin in the column "Rules of Game" speaking about ways to ensure Russia's economic growth; p 6 (654 words).


13. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "Viktor Yanukovych chooses between EU and Customs Union" reports on President Vladimir Putin's visit to Astana where he met his counterparts from the Customs Union and Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych; p 7 (1,188 words).


14. Pavel Tarasenko article headlined "Sergei Lavrov listens to western hemisphere" says that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has held talks with his counterparts from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States in Moscow; p 7 (523 words).


15. Pavel Tarasenko interview with Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Dhimitrios Kourkoulas, headlined "'One cannot destroy what has been built for 40 years'", who speaks about Russian-Greek relations; p 7 (573 words).


16. Sergei Strokan et al. article headlined "Israel ends talks about S-300" says that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has banned ministers from commenting on Russian S-300 supplies to Syria in order to improve relations with Russia, which have worsened after key Israeli ministers hinted at the use of force if missile systems were supplied to Syria; p 8 (742 words).


17. Vice-president of the research PIR-Centre Dmitry Polikanov article published in the regular opinion column headlined "Price of issue" says that everyone will gain from the scandal over Russian S-300 supplies to Syria regardless of its development; p 8 (379 words).


18. Galina Dudina interview headlined "'Hope visas between EU and Russia will be abolished by 2018'" with the foreign policy coordinator of the German ruling coalition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU), speaking about Russian-German relations; p 8 (639 words).


19. Nikolay Marchenko article headlined "Government of communal trust" says that the Bulgarian parliament has approved a new government. Experts forecast a thaw in Bulgaria-Russia relations; p 8 (461 words).


Nezavisimaya Gazeta


1. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Nationalization of elite or its outcome" suggests three reasons behind the Yukos case questioning of the resigned vice-chancellor of the Russian Economic School, Sergei Guryev, who has departed from Russia, and also features expert comments; pp 1, 3 (1,246 words).


2. Anastasia Bashkatova article headlined "Economic revival does not happen in May" says that according to preliminary data, the economic results this May are not striking: negative trends neither have died out nor have aggravated; pp 1, 4 (722 words).


3. Yury Roks article headlined "Russia reduces Georgia's territory" says that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe will consider today the transfer of the South Ossetian-Georgian border deeper into Georgia by Russian servicemen. However, the issue will not be discussed at Russian-Georgian talks in early June in Prague; pp 1, 2 (517 words).


4. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Deputies to be counted in autumn" says that the term for submitting amendments to the law about State Duma elections ends on 31 May. The opposition parliamentary parties have already submitted their proposals; pp 1, 3 (1,066 words).


5. Yevgenia Novikova article headlined "Syria is at no-return point" says that the US, UK and French forces may be engaged in establishing a no-fly zone over Syria. The U.S is also considering supplying arms to the Syrian opposition. Russia is displeased with the West's recent steps, which can wreck the Geneva-2 international conference on Syria; pp 1, 7 (637 words).


6. Editorial headlined "There is no much oil" contemplates Russia's economic dependence on oil prices; p 2 (517 words).


7. Igor Naumov article headlined "For family reasons" contemplates the reasons behind the resignation of the vice-chancellor of the Russian Economic School, Sergei Guryev; p 4 (641 words).


8. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Electronic state procurement fails to defeat corruption" says that Russia had lost 874 million rubles ($27.3 million) on various violations made in the electronic state procurement sector in 2012; p 4 (622 words).


9. Svetlana Gamova interview headlined "Ukraine to open sky for Russia if Moldova agrees" with Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for conflicts Andry Deshchytsya, who speaks about the Dniester region conflict; p 6 (1,279 words).


Vedomosti


1. Svetlana Bocharova et al. article headlined "Yukos case may have third term" says that the resigned vice-chancellor of the Russian Economic School, Sergei Guryev, has departed from Russia because he may be accused of counteracting justice as he had once disagreed with the verdict passed in the so-called second Yukos case; pp 1, 3 (887 words).


2. Timofey Dzyadko article headlined "Guarantee for BP" says that Rosneft shareholders will hold a meeting on 20 June to amend the company's charter to allow BP block certain decisions; pp 1, 12 (414 words).


3. Editorial headlined "Sovereign examination" says that the departure from Russia of the resigned vice-chancellor of the Russian Economic School, Sergei Guryev, indicates that only loyal experts without political convictions are tolerated by the Russian authorities; pp 1, 6 (430 words).


4. Tatyana Voronova interview headlined "'We tried our luck abroad, and now it is time to go home'" features Sberbank president German Gref speaking about the bank's performance, the need for tax amnesty, the Central Bank's new policy and the future of Cyprus; pp 8-9 (3,220 words).


5. Maria Zheleznova and Lilia Biryukova article headlined "Sociologists to ask citizens" says that Russian independent pollster Levada Centre has decided to give up foreign financial aid and is planning to use crowd funding instead; p 2 (442 words).


6. Article by a group of experts headlined "Expert community: Strange agents" expresses concern that prosecutors' checks of NGOs will affect organizations dealing with independent economic analysis; pp 6-7 (971 words).


Izvestia


1. Ivan Cheberko article headlined "Glonass accumulates criminal cases" says that multi-million embezzlement has been revealed during the construction of a GLONASS control centre in the Moscow Region city of Korolev; pp 1, 4 (832 words).


2. Vladimir Zykov and Anastasia Kashevarova article headlined "They offer to imprison viewers of pirated films" says that the Culture Ministry has suggested punishing distributors of pirated content on-line by sentencing them to up to five years; pp 1, 4 (734 words).


3. Alexander Yunashev article headlined "Ukraine makes step towards Customs Union" describes the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council summit in Astana, attended by the Customs Union leaders; p 2 (432 words).


4. Sergei Podosenov article headlined "Communists seek liquidation of spoiler party" says that the Communist Party of the Russian Federation has started collecting documents to make the Cossack Party of the Russian Federation illegal; p 2 (455 words).


5. Alexander Grigoryev article headlined "Navalny and Ofitserov discuss decreasing prices on timber" says that transcripts of telephone conversations between the defendants in the Kirovles timber company case, Aleksey Navalny and Petr Ofitserov, have been read in court; p 3 (640 words).


6. Igor Yavlyansky article headlined "North Korea tired of fighting" says that North Korea has offered South Korea to sign a peace agreement instead of the existing truce and features Russian experts' comments on the issue; p 7 (422 words).


7. Igor Karaulov article headlined "Tornado takes away identification papers" contemplates a "false dissertation" war between Russian officials; p 10 (757 words).


8. Political analyst Boris Mezhuyev article headlined "Flight of exiled princes" comments on the speculation that the resigned vice-chancellor of the Russian Economic School, Sergei Guryev, has fled from Russia; p 10 (747 words).


9. Yaroslav Timofeyev interview with editor in chief of the Snob magazine Nikolay Uskov, headlined "'Kadyrov is not shy to show himself as he is'", who speaks about his recent visit to Chechnya and praises Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov; p 11 (686 words).


Rossiiskaya Gazeta


1. Yelena Kukol interview with the Federal Registration, Cadastre and Cartography Service (Rosreyestr) head, Natalya Antipina, headlined "Invitation to state standards", who speaks about a new property tax; pp 1, 7 (2,187 words).


2. Yulia Krivoshapko article headlined "Not children, but gold" looks at Russia's richest heirs; pp 1, 5 (503 words).


3. Yury Gavrilov article headlined "Beyond Mannerheim Line" focuses on Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's visit to Finland; p 2 (469 words).


4. Tamara Shkel article headlined "Division with balance" says that nonpartisan State Duma deputies from the All-Russia People's Front have suggested establishing a faction inside the ruling One Russia parliamentary group; p 7 (435 words).


Moskovsky Komsomolets


1. Olga Bozhyeva article headlined "How one Serdyukov feeds all generals" says that an Audit Chamber check has revealed that the money allocated in 2010-12 for increasing salaries of servicemen and civil staff was spent on the army's top brass instead; pp 1, 3 (300 words).



2. Mikhail Rostovsky and Sergei Yegorov article headlined "Medvedev's 'right arm' being torn off" says that the hidden political motive behind vice-chancellor of the Russian Economic School Sergei Guryev's resignation and departure from Russia is to undermine the positions of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, who is very close to Medvedev; pp 1, 3 (500 words).


3. Lina Panchenko interview with Moscow city court chairman Olga Yegorova, headlined "Moscow city court chairman confirms legality of Pussy Riot verdict" who, among other things, speaks about high-profile criminal cases and conditions in Russian jails; pp 1, 3 (500 words).


4. Viktoria Prikhodko article headlined "Prime minister finds scapegoats" says that Prime Minister Medvedev has met the Russian official personnel reservists; p 2 (400 words).


5. Matvey Ganapolsky article headlined "State of crooks and thieves" says that there is no end to corruption in Russia; p 3 (800 words).



Noviye Izvestia


1. Vera Moslakova article headlined "Springboard for front" says that the One Russia party has rejected an initiative by nonpartisan State Duma deputies from the All-Russia People's Front to establish a faction inside party's parliamentary group. Experts say One Russia is losing its positions, whereas the Front is trying to assert itself; p 2 (731 words).


2. Anatoly Stepovoy article headlined "Both defendant and plaintiff" says that opposition activist Aleksey Navalny is not only targeted in the Kirovles timber company case, but is also suing the police for searches at his office in Kirov on 9 May; p 2 (517 words).


3. Yulia Zabavina article headlined "En route sovereign economy" features experts' comments on the resignation of vice-chancellor of the Russian Economic School Sergei Guryev and his departure from Russia; p 3 (1,015 words).


4. Alexander Kolesnichenko article headlined "Russian sociologists stand up for Levada Centre" says that a group of Russian scientists has posted an open letter in support of the Levada Centre and other Russian NGOs on the website support-levada.ru, specially established to this effect. The letter is addressed to Prosecutor-General Yury Chayka and Constitutional Court chairman Valery Zorkin, the article notes; p 5 (313 words).


RBC Daily


1. Alexander Litinsky article headlined "Innovation of falsifications" says that despite tough pressure, the election monitoring NGO Golos will launch training for opposition activists who have managed to enter district electoral commissions; p 2 (600 words).


2. Alexander Litoy and Yevgeny Novikov article headlined "'Chancellors should not be subjected to pressure'" features comments by scientists and politicians on the resignation of the vice-chancellor of the Russian Economic School, Sergei Guryev; p 6 (500 words).


3. Nadezhda Gurina article headlined "Margarita Simonyan drums up Larry King" says the prominent US showman will host a program on Russia Today (RT) news channel; p 9 (300 words).


Moskovskye Novosti


1. Anna Nikolayeva and Alexander Bogomolov interview with Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin, speaking on his everyday job, Moscow's transport and housing problems as well as Russian domestic politics in general; pp 5-10 (5,400 words).


Krasnaya Zvezda


1. Viktor Ruchkin article headlined "Embargo on stability" looks at the EU decision to lift embargo on arms supplies to Syria; p 3 (700 words).


2. Former Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and US ex-deputy Secretary of State Ellen Tauscher article headlined "To mutually guaranteed stability" features expert comments on the current state and prospects of the Russian-US bilateral relations; p 3 (1,100 words).


Komsomolskaya Pravda


1. Maria Remizova interview with former bodyguard of late Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, speaking on possible reasons behind oligarch's alleged suicide and funeral; p 6 (900 words).

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