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What the Papers Say, Nov. 2, 2012

Igor Tabakov

Kommersant

1. Pavel Belavin article headlined "Mayor's Office Switches to English" says the Moscow mayor's office is launching the Moscow FM radio station in English to facilitate information work with tourists and expatriots living in the capital; pp 1, 13 (630 words).? 

2. Oleg Rubnikovich article headlined "Woman Arrested for Minister's Summer Cottage" says the head of the center of legal support Ekspert, Yekaterina Smetanova, who was an agent of the company Oboronservis authorized to sell Defense Ministry assets, and her husband, have been arrested on fraud charges; pp 1, 5 (562 words).? 

3. Svetlana Dementyeva and Ksenia Dementyeva article headlined "Deposits to Affect Payments" says the authorities may oblige banks promising high deposit interest rates to pay higher contributions to the deposit insurance fund; pp 1, 10 (820 words).

4. Mariya-Luiza Tirmaste article headlined "Backbone for Small Business to Be Replaced" says the leader of the organization of small and medium-sized businesses Opora, Sergei Borisov, is going to step down soon; pp 1-2 (1,053 words).

5. Musa Muradov article headlined "Reputation Dismissal" says that head of the Kabardino-Balkaria republic Arsen Kanokov has dismissed the republic's government in an attempt to improve his administration's reputation; p 2 (590 words).? ? 

6. Natalya Gorodetskaya and Irina Nagornykh article headlined "More People for Human Rights" says that President Vladimir Putin has met with head of the presidential human rights council Mikhail Fedotov and suggested that some 55 new members who got most of the votes in an online ranking be included in the council, and that a presidium consisting of three to five people should be set up. The article is followed by comments by politicians and analysts in the column "Direct Speech"; p 3 (907 words).? ? ? 

7. Maxim Ivanov article headlined "People Believe in Church, Army and Special Services" says that according to polls by the Levada Center, the president, prime minister, church, army and special services enjoy people's trust most of all. However, the level of trust in the top leaders has not returned to that of late 2010 and the current system is supported mostly because of rational considerations, indifference or fear that otherwise it will be worse; p 3 (466 words).? ? ? 

8. Grigory Tumanov article headlined "Punk for Future Use" looks at a conflict unfolding over attempts to use the Pussy Riot brand for commercial purposes; p 4 (687 words).? ? ? 

9. Alexei Sokovnin article headlined "Platon Lebedev to Mark 10 Years of Imprisonment With Release" says that if the prosecutor's office does not challenge the ruling of the Velsky district court, former Menatep head Platon Lebedev will be released in July 2013; p 5 (868 words).? 

10. Tatyana Drogayeva report "Chief Editor of Ura.ru Not to Be Allowed to Leave or Enter" says that Aksana Panova, chief editor of the Urals news website Ura.ru, has signed an agreement not to leave the country; p 5 (700 words).? ? ? 

11. Kirill Antonov article headlined "Programmers Seize Kazan" says that a special economic zone to specialize in IT projects will be set up in Tatarstan; p 6 (497 words).

12. Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "Hurricane Adds Water to Barack Obama's Mill" says that the urgent measures, taken by Barack Obama's administration to alleviate the consequences of Hurricane Sandy have increased the incumbent president's chances of re-election; p 7 (665 words).? ? ? 

13. Georgy Dvali interview with new Georgian Reintegration Minister Paata Zakareishvili headlined "'This Is Part of Our Strategy to De-Isolate Abkhazia'" in which he speaks about the restoration of the railway between Russia and Georgia via the Abkhaz territory; p 7 (596 words).? ? ? 

14. Vladimir Solovyev and Yelena Chernenko article headlined "It Is Difficult to Imagine Special Representative in Moldova" says that a visit of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin to Moldova set for mid-November may be cancelled as Russian-Moldovan relations are deteriorating over gas supplies; p 7 (638 words).? ? ? 

15. Roman Rozhkov article headlined "Blacklist Causes Great Interest" says the Federal Mass Media Inspection Service has already received 3,500 applications from users asking to include certain websites in the blacklist of websites with harmful Internet content; p 13 (518 words).? 

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Svetlana Gamova article headlined "Kremlin's Experiment in Dniester Region" says that Moscow has promised to allocate 3 billion rubles ($95.7 million) to develop the economy of the Dniester region and increase and re-arm its peacekeeping contingent in the region. Chisinau perceives the statement as confirmation of the Kremlin's line to suspend solution of the conflict; pp 1-2 (742 words).
? ? 
2. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Military and Police Special Supervision" says Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has said that a bill on the military police has been drafted. The announcement came amid rumors about his possible dismissal and prompted experts to ponder the possibility; pp 1-2 (1,045 words).

3. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Budget Pill for People in Uniform" says the government is reducing the financing of social needs of law enforcement officers, so special military hospitals may be closed and almost 8 million servicemen and law enforcement officers may be affected. Under certain circumstances, these people may become protest-minded, which is fraught with new problems for Russia; pp 1, 6 (983 words).

4. Yury Roks article headlined "Ivanishvili Works for Moscow" says that Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili has set up a special agency aiming to settle problems with Russia and build relations with Moscow anew; pp 1, 7 (1,084 words).

5. Andrei Serenko article headlined "Stalingrad Idea of Volgograd Region Committee" says the regional branch of the Communist Party in the Volgograd region is going to be re-named the Stalingrad branch; pp 1, 6 (499 words).

6. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Second Wave of Privatization Awaits Russia" says leading economists point out that the government has not announced clear-cut goals and mechanisms of privatization and doubt the feasibility of the idea; pp 1, 4 (747 words).

7. Viktor Litovkin article headlined "Russian Intelligence Officers at French Military Base" looks at the 11th session of the Russian-French Security Cooperation Council attended by the Russian foreign and defense ministers; p 2 (660 words).

8. Editorial headlined "Day of People's Single-Mindedness" says the Russian Orthodox Church has failed to become a third force to unite people and a mediator between the authorities and dissatisfied people. It has chosen the role of a political player instead, taking sides with the authorities; p 2 (488 words).

9. Viktor Litovkin article headlined "Not a Marriage of Convenience" wonders who is behind the scandal over fraud with state property involving Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov; p 3 (906 words).

10. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Maximum Permissible Leniency" says the Velsky district court has reduced by 3 years the prison term for former Menatep head Platon Lebedev, so he may be released in July 2013; p 3 (773 words).

11. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Blacklist With Limited Access" says the law aiming to protect children from harmful Internet content by allowing the government to take websites offline and include them in a blacklist has taken effect in Russia; p 3 (848 words).

12. Igor Naumov and Mikhail Sergeyev article headlined "Municipal Budgets to End Up Without Revenues" says the Finance Ministry has rejected the state program of development of science and technologies for 2013-20 in an attempt to reduce expenditures; p 4 (813 words).

13. Article by Vladislav Inozemtsev, Ilya Ponomaryov and Vladimir Ryzhkov headlined "Continent Siberia" emphasizes the need to develop Siberia; p 5 (2,257 words).

14. Sokhbet Mamedov article headlined "Season of Rallies Opens in Baku" says that Azerbaijan's opposition is going to stage a picket in front of the Azeri parliament Friday to protest against amendments increasing fines for violations of rules on rallies and pickets; p 7 (457 words).

15. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Gas From Europe Begins to Flow to Ukraine" says that Kiev hopes that Moscow will reduce gas prices after RWE Supply and Trading company has started gas supplies to Ukraine; p 7 (869 words).

16. Yury Paniyev article headlined "Marijuana Goes on Referendum" says that next week, Americans in 37 states will take part in referendums to express their attitude to issues ranging from the death penalty to legalization of marijuana; p 8 (510 words).

17. Nikolai Surkov article headlined "Washington Reorganizes Assad's Opponents" says that Washington is disappointed in the Syrian National Council and is going to set up a new body to coordinate the opposition's activities. Meanwhile, China has offered its own plan to settle the conflict in Syria; p 8 (413 words).

18. Yevgeny Grigoryev article headlined "European Union: Escalation of Budget Dispute" says the U.K., France and Germany have demanded that the planned EU budget for 2014-20 be reduced and says the special EU summit set for late November is going to be complicated; p 8 (615 words).

Vedomosti

1. Yekaterina Kravchenko article headlined "London Against EU" says that Great Britain opposes the idea of setting up a single banking regulator in the EU and the proposal to increase the EU budget's expenditures by 5 percent by 2020; p 3 (402 words).
? ? 
2. Mikhail Fishman article headlined "Public Interest: Alternative to Putin" says that after street protests became less numerous, Putin focused on suppressing political activities of the establishment. The move aims to prevent the appearance of a figure capable of arranging peaceful transition of power; p 4 (650 words).

3. Yevgenia Pismennaya article headlined "Debt Agent" says the Finance Ministry has come up with a candidate for the post of chairman of the board of the Russian Financial Agency yet to be created; p 3 (541 words).

4. Natalya Kostenko et al. report headlined "Chesnakov's Transition" says that deputy secretary of United Russia's supreme council Alexei Chesnakov, who is in charge of information policy and ideology, is going to leave the party in a month. His services as a political consultant may come in handy for Mikhail Prokhorov's party; p 2 (442 words).

5. Editorial headlined "China Lacks People" says the China Development Research Foundation has called on the Chinese authorities to immediately cancel the program of tough birth control and looks at the reasons; pp 1, 4 (550 words).

6. Polina Khimshiashvili article headlined "Candidates' 11 Friends" says that presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have resumed their campaigns interrupted by Hurricane Sandy. The outcome of the presidential election will be determined by 11 undecided states; p 2 (373 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Breathe Deeper" advocates the need for a tough anti-tobacco law in Russia; p 4 (327 words).

8. Alexei Rozhkov report "Who Is Boss" says that officials from the Kremlin and the government continue fighting for the money of the state oil and gas company Rosneftegaz; p 1 (650 words).

9. Dmitry Kazmin report "Prison for Playing at Give-Away" says the Kremlin has drafted a bill against corruption in sport; pp 1, 3 (600 words).

10. Mikhail Malykhin report "Unnecessary Educational Institutions" says that 25 percent of Russian higher educational institutions are ineffective; p 1 (600 words).

11. Alexander Yanov report "How Will Putin's Kickback End Up" looks at the current political and economic situation in Russia; p 4 (1,900 words).

Izvestia

1. Vladimir Voloshin report "Serdyukov Demands That Servicemen's Salaries Be Increased" looks at the argument between the Defense Ministry and the Finance Ministry over servicemen's salaries; pp 1, 3 (600 words).? 

2. Pavel Chernyshov report "Not Enough Money for National Policy" says the government's plan to implement the state national policy in 2011-12 has failed; pp 1, 3 (600 words).? 

3. German Petelin report "Chief Editor of Ura.ru to Be Denied Entry to EU" says the chief editor of the Ura.ru information agency Aksana Panova is suspected of extortion and had to sign an agreement not to leave the country; pp 1, 3 (600 words).

4. Mikhail Romanov interview with chief public health official Gennady Onishchenko, who speaks about the possible resumption of import of wine from Georgia; pp 1, 4 (600 words).? 

5. Darya Mazayeva report "Migrants Ask Sobyanin to Cancel Russian March" says the federation of migrants in Russia is concerned about the Russian March, which is set to be held in Moscow on Sunday; p 2 (550 words).? 

6. Yevgeny Antonov et al. report "Bidzina Ivanishvili Appoints Personal Representative in Russia" says the new Georgian prime minister will have a personal representative for Russia; p 5 (650 words).? 

7. Andranik Migranyan report "Russia at Crossroads Again" analyses the current political situation in Russia; p 9 (900 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Anna Zakatnova and Konstantin Novikov article headlined "March From Center" says that on Sunday several parties and movements plan to stage rallies in Moscow; pp 1-2 (600 words).? 

2. Kira Latukhina article headlined "Big Khural" says President Vladimir Putin has suggested that the presidential human rights council should consist of 65 or even more people and should meet once or twice a year; p 2 (850 words).? 

3. Mikhail Gusman interview with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman headlined "From Loader to Minister" in which he speaks about relations between the countries and his career; p 4 (1,100 words).? 

4. Natalya Kozlova article headlined "Theory to Be Checked" says the Investigative Committee has denied that a criminal case over Leonid Razvozzhayev's abduction in Ukraine has been launched; p 7 (600 words).? 

5. Yekaterina Zabrodina article headlined "Turkish March to Berlin" looks at a visit of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Berlin, where he demanded that the decision on Turkey's membership in the EU should be made prior to 2023; p 8 (600 words).? 

6. Natalya Kozlova report "Serdyukov Not Summoned for Questioning" looks at the investigation of the fraud case involving the Defense Ministry; p 7 (500 words).? 

7. Vladislav Rilsky report "Country Remains to Be Inserted" says the U.S. has worked out a "scheme of interference in the affairs of any state"; p 7 (400 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Zhanna Golubitskaya and Svetlana Pleshakova article headlined "Your Higher Institutions Fail" says the Russian Students Union has made public a list of institutions of higher education that the Education Ministry has declared inefficient; pp 1, 4 (629 words).? 

2. Konstantin Smirnov article headlined "'Raw' Dry Law" says the government of the Sakha republic (Yakutia) has drafted a bill on sobriety and if the regional parliament passes it, the region will be faced with an absolute ban on production, turnover and retail sale of all kinds of alcohol; pp 1-2 (963 words).? 

3. Marina Ozerova article headlined "Gudkov Not to Be Tried" says the Prosecutor General's Office has admitted that a pre-investigative check of former Just Russia Deputy Gennady Gudkov's activities has showed that there were no grounds for launching criminal proceedings against him. However, he will not get back his seat in the State Duma; pp 1-2 (592 words).? 

4. Ignat Kalinin article headlined "Serdyukov Opens All Cards" looks at a session of the Russian-French Security Cooperation Council attended by Russian and French foreign and defense ministers; p 2 (748 words).? 

5. Matvey Ganapolsky article headlined "Father Frost Cancelled" speculates why the Kremlin has decided to cancel the regular online conversations with Vladimir Putin this year and comes to the conclusion that he probably has nothing to say to the country; p 3 (1,220 words).

RBK Daily

1. Anastasia Novikova et al. article headlined "Hot News From Deputy Mitrofanov" says the head of the State Duma committee on information policy, Alexei Mitrofanov, is puzzled by an initiative to expand the high-profile NGO law and mark the media funded from abroad with the status of foreign agents; p 1 (700 words).? 

2. Valeria Khamareva article headlined "Rotation Led to Growth" looks at Putin's proposal to increase the number of presidential human rights council members and says both liberal and loyal experts will form the council; p 2 (400 words).? 

3. Inga Vorobyeva article headlined "Putin May Give Brussels to Medvedev" says that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev may attend the December Russia-EU summit in Brussels instead of Putin due to growing mutual contradictions; p 2 (500 words).? 

4. Alexander Litoi article headlined "Environmentalist With No Jail Terms" says that charges in a new criminal case have been brought against Krasnodar environmental campaigner and opposition activist Suren Gazaryan; however, he will not be put behind bars before trial; p 2 (500 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Political expert Boris Makarenko article headlined "Most Funny Barack in Capitalist Camp" looks at the upcoming presidential election in the U.S. and its possible outcomes; p 3 (550 words).? 

2. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "Medvedev's Fronde" picks up Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's critical comments of Soviet leader Josef Stalin he posted on Facebook on the day of commemoration of Stalin-era repression; p 4 (500 words).? 

3. Maxim Blant article headlined "Pipeline Turns Into Whistle" criticizes Gazprom's investment program; p 8 (600 words).

Tvoi Den

1. Anton Stepanov article headlined "Lady of the Rings" says five cases full of gold and diamonds were found in the 13-room apartment of former head of the Defense Ministry property directorate who is suspected of fraud; p 2 (220 words).

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