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What the Papers Say, Nov. 9, 2012

Igor Tabakov

Kommersant

1. Irina Nagornykh article headlined "Region of Temporary Government" says President Putin has proposed to Andrei Vorobyov, the head of the United Russia faction in the State Duma, to become acting governor of the Moscow region. The deputy accepted the offer; pp 1-2 (1,012 words).

2. Svetlana Mentyukova et al. report headlined "Ukraine Blocks Way to Borjomi" says a court in Lviv has arrested all Ukrainian assets of ID Borjomi following a request by the Russian Investigative Committee looking for traces of former tycoon Boris Berezovsky's business; pp 1, 9 (602 words).

3. Sergei Mashkin and Oleg Rubnikovich article headlined "New Deal Prepared for Anatoly Serdyukov" says suspects in the Defense Ministry's property fraud case have started giving evidence; pp 1, 5 (1,087 words).

4. Sergei Dyupin interview with Patros Garibyan, senior investigator at the Investigative Committee, speaking about the probe into the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya; pp 1, 4 (2,382 words).

5. Ivan Safronov article headlined "Combat Experience Brought to General Staff" says new Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has started a reshuffle within the armed forces command; p 2 (541 words).

6. Maxim Ivanov article headlined "All-Russia People's Front Made More Organized" reports on preparation for the founding congress of the All-Russia People's Front movement; p 4 (498 words).

7. Alexei Chernyshov and Nikolai Sergeyev article headlined "93M Rubles Fail to Attend APEC Summit" says searches have been held in the Regional Development Ministry's offices in Moscow and Vladivostok as nearly 100 million rubles ($3.2 million) have gone missing from the funding allocated for the preparation of the APEC summit; p 5 (625 words).

8. Tatyana Yedovina article headlined "Chinese Socialism Turns Into Supermarket" outlines a new vision of Chinese economic development discussed at the congress of the country's Communist Party; p 6 (611 words).

9. Maxim Yusin article headlined "Syrian Opposition Disintegrates Based on New Principles" says that despite some attempts by the West to unite the Syrian opposition, they still cannot come to an agreement over the shadow government; p 7 (478 words).

10. Sergei Strokan article headlined "Japanese Prime Minister to Wait Until New Year" says a visit of the Japanese prime minister to Russia scheduled for December has been postponed; p 7 (507 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Russian Armed Forces Under Shoigu Will Become Army in the First Place" says new Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has started a reshuffle within the ministry and an audit of its finances; pp 1-2 (850 words).

2. Anastasia Bashkatova article headlined "Every Second Patient to Undergo Treatment at His Own Expense by 2015" says the lack of funding of the Russian healthcare system makes it impossible to implement the plans to improve medical services in the country; pp 1, 4 (900 words).

3. Vladislav Maltsev article headlined "State After Image and Likeness of Kingdom of Heaven" says spokesmen for the Russian Orthodox Church have started speaking about the need to be guided by religious standards in Russian public life. People oppose the plans; pp 1, 3 (550 words).

4. Gleb Postnov article headlined "Zero Tolerance Shown to Russians in Tatarstan" says activists with the Russian Culture Society in Tatarstan plan to boycott the day of tolerance to be marked in the republic on Nov. 17 in protest against the discriminatory policy of the local authorities toward Russians; pp 1 — 2 (400 words).

5. Tatyana Dvynova article headlined "Money of APEC Summit Searched for in Primorye Region" reports on searches in the Primorye region directorate of the Regional Development Ministry over misuse of public funds during the construction of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum facilities; pp 1, 6 (320 words).

6. Yury Roks article headlined "Saakashvili Shocked by Arrest of August War Hero" says Mikheil Saakashvili's party has spoken out against the arrest of former Defense Minister and Interior Minister Bacho Akhalaya on abuse of office charges; pp 1-2 (600 words).

7. Editorial headlined "State Umbrella Above Science" looks into state funding for science and calls for a more effective way of managing scientific research; p 2 (400 words).

8. Sergei Rogov article headlined "Obama's Challenging Victory: 2 Americas" says the changing demographic situation in the U.S., where the white population is growing smaller compared with African Americans and hispanics, helped Barack Obama to get re-elected; p 3 (400 words).

9. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Opposition Eager to Become Members of Election Commissions" analyzes the chances of the Russian opposition to get positions in election commissions to be formed for the next five years; p 3 (700 words).

10. Yevgeny Grigoryev article headlined "Bundestag Drafts Instructions for Merkel on Russia" says German parliamentarians are considering relations with Russia ahead of a Russian-German summit; p 8 (650 words).

11. Darya Tsilyurik article headlined "Cameron to Propose to Obama to Change Syrian Course" says U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron has urged Washington to take more drastic actions in Syria; p 8 (420 words).

12. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "China to Become Great Sea Power" says China is set to announce plans to build a strong navy at the congress of the country's Communist Party; p 8 (600 words).

Vedomosti

1. Natalya Kostenko and Maxim Glikin article headlined "Young and Energetic" says United Russia member Andrei Vorobyov, just appointed acting governor of the Moscow region, will try to use his personal friendship with Sergei Shoigu to win the support of the electorate and win the gubernatorial elections to be held next September; p 1 (750 words).

2. Alexandra Kreknina article headlined "Goods Under Surveillance" says the company Media Market has started developing technology that makes it possible to trace the supply of goods to all stores in Russia; p 1, 10 (720 words).

3. Ksenia Dokukina and Irina Kezik article headlined "Gazprom Loses Russia" says 40 percent of Gazprom's long-term gas-supply agreements to Russian consumers end in 2013; p 1 (550 words).

4. Editorial headlined "High Culture of Tweeting" comments on the Kremlin's instructions to regional heads to use Twitter carefully to avoid scandals caused by thoughtless comments on social networks; pp 1, 4 (600 words).

Izvestia

1. Alexander Gudkov article headlined "Igor Sechin Disagrees With Government Over TNK-BP Estimate" says the Economic Development Ministry cannot approve a deal reached with Rosneft and TNK-BP shareholders to buy the joint venture for $17 billion; p 1, 14 (920 words).

2. Mikhail Rubin article headlined "Vorobyov Vacated United Russia for Volodin" comments on the appointment of United Russia member Andrei Vorobyov to the post of acting governor of the Moscow region; pp 1-2 (700 words).

3. Mikhail Romanov article headlined "Alyokhina Convoyed to Bereznyaki After Complaint" says a complaint to rights activists by Maria Alyokhina could become the reason for her fast transfer to a penal colony; pp 1, 3 (550 words).

4. Ivan Cheberko article headlined "Russia to Give Guarantees to World Community to Maintain Glonass" says Russia is set to offer the world community the opportunity to use its Glonass navigation system for free; pp 1, 4 (630 words).

5. Konstantin Volkov article headlined "Foreign Ministry Does Not Believe in Peace for Syria" looks at the Foreign Ministry's stance on Syria; p 5 (540 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Yevgeny Solovyev article headlined "Way China is Heading" reports on the Chinese Communist Party congress, where a new leader is to be elected; pp 1, 8 (1,032 words).

2. Boris Yamshanov interview with Deputy Prosecutor General Alexander Zvyagintsev headlined "Prosecutor General's Office Goes to Defense." The senior official speaks about the work of the prosecutor's offices; pp 1, 5 (1,351 words).

3. Alexander Samozhnev interview with International Atomic Energy Agency director general Amano Yukia headlined "Between Hurricane and Iran," in which he speaks about the Iranian nuclear problem; p 4 (1,381 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Olga Bozhyeva article headlined "Aivazovsky Sent to Reserve" alleges that paintings found during a search in a flat of former Defense Ministry official Yevgenia Vasilyeva were seized from a culture club that previously belonged to the ministry; pp 1-2 (350 words).

2. Yelena Berezina article headlined "Long Live Migrant Workers!" says the Moscow transportation system and infrastructure cannot cope with the influx of people coming to live and work in the city from other regions; pp 1, 3 (650 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Yelena Masyuk interview with Lyudmila Narusova, mother of opposition TV personality and socialite Ksenia Sobchak, speaking about her career, the end of Narusova's work in the Federation Council and the ruling elite; pp 1-4 (2,900 words).

2. Alexander Panov article headlined "Obama's 'Secret Weapon'" comments on smear campaigning during the U.S. presidential election; p 6 (600 words).

3. Alexander Pumpyansky article headlined "Obama-2" looks at the reasons for Barack Obama's re-election; p 6 (400 words).

4. Irina Petrovskaya article headlined "Pozner Closes. Malakhov Plus Returns" reports on the decision of well-known TV host Vladimir Pozner to quit his work at Channel One to move to France after United Russia's criticism; p 24 (620 words).

RBC Daily

1. An excerpt from Civil Platform party leader and billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov's interview with business channel RBC TV. Prokhorov comments on the nomination of the leader of the United Russia faction in the State Duma, Andrei Vorobyov, to the post of acting Moscow region governor and says that Vorobyov is not experienced enough for the job; p 2 (500 words).

2. German political analyst Alexander Rahr article headlined "Putin's Health a Strategic Factor" comments on recent rumors that President Vladimir Putin has a serious back injury; p 6 (500 words).

Nov. 9, 2012/BBC Monitoring/©BBC? 

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