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What the Papers Say, Oct. 31, 2012

Igor Tabakov

Kommersant

1. Renata Yambayeva and Yelena Kiseleva article headlined "Norilsk Nickel Tested for Durability" says that Vladimir Potanin has been urged to return to talks with Oleg Deripaska on the Norilsk Nickel mining and metals company; pp 1, 11 (993 words).

2. Pyotr Netreba article headlined "Tough Polymer Used Against Regional Development Ministry" says that another senior official from the Regional Development Ministry has been reprimanded over failure to control the use of polymers in road building; pp 1, 6 (553 words).

3. Maxim Ivanov et al. report headlined "Vladimir Putin Diverts From 'Phone-in Session'" says President Vladimir Putin has decided not to hold his usual phone-in session, but carry out a news conference instead; pp 1, 3 (564 words).

4. Margarita Fedorova article headlined "Art Facility" says that an artist district may be built in Moscow near the River Yauza; pp 1, 12 (639 words).

5. Irina Nagornykh article headlined "Kremlin's Internal Policy Adjusted to Agenda" reports on distribution of powers among deputy heads in the presidential administration; p 2 (535 words).

6. Maria-Luiza Tirmaste article headlined "Dmitry Medvedev Not Ready to Share Electorate With Mikhail Prokhorov" says Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, being United Russia leader, has called on the party to meet business leaders as other political forces may try to make businesses interested in their ideas; p 2 (689 words).

7. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "Tractors Go Over Industry Ministry" gives details of Putin's meeting with representatives of the transportation sector; p 3 (1,142 words).

8. Ilya Shepelin article headlined "Russian March Comes to Fork in Road" says Russian nationalists cannot decide where to hold their march on Nov. 4; p 4 (506 words).

9. Alexander Igorev article headlined "President Grants Wishes of 4 Generals" reports on the reshuffle at the Russian Interior Ministry; p 5 (406 words).

10. Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "America Against Wind" reports on the devastating storm that has hit New York city and neighboring states; p 7 (962 words).

11. Georgy Dvali article headlined "Mikheil Saakashvili Served to Victors' Feast" says the new Georgian parliament has set up a commission to carry out a probe into the crimes committed by Saakashvili's regime; p 8 (691 words).

12. Article by Boris Makarenko, CEO of the Centre for Political Technologies, in opinion column headlined "Price of Issue" welcomes recent developments in Georgia showing the democratic development of the country; p 8 (372 words).

13. Pavel Tarasenko article headlined "Russia and Belarus to Cement Union With Ideology" reports on Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's visit to Minsk, where he discussed ideological issues with the Belarussian authorities; p 8 (499 words).

14. Roman Rozhkov report "Not Enough Room for Mail.ru Group in Russia" says that the company Mail.ru Group will develop its services on foreign markets; p 12 (600 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Russian Themis to Be Reformatted" comments on the plans to merge the Russian Supreme Court with the Supreme Arbitration Court. The move may take two years; pp 1, 3 (956 words).

2. Gleb Postnov article headlined "Their Own Taliban Appears in Tatarstan" report on the spread of radical Islam among Kazan students; pp 1-2 (577 words).

3. Ivan Rodin and Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Legal Shape for All-Russia People's Front" says the All Russia People's Front, that was set up as Vladimir Putin's election project, may be registered as an NGO; pp 1, 4 (895 words).

4. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Alimony Payers to Be Drawn Into Special Fund" says the State Duma plans to set up a special fund for children of divorced parents who do not get paid alimony. On the other hand, parents trying to avoid the payments are facing tough punishment; pp 1, 5 (452 words).

5. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Oboronservis Does Not Warm Up" says that the organizations controlled by the Defense Ministry have failed to prepare many closed military towns for winter; pp 1-2 (637 words).

6. Yury Roks article headlined "'Georgian Dream': Neutralization of Saakashvili" says the Georgian Dream coalition, which lacks seats to have a constitutional majority in the parliament, would like to limit President Mikheil Saakashvili's powers; pp 1, 7 (1,129 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Russia Is Record-Breaker in Instability of Pension System" says that unclear prospects for pension reform in Russia give rise to social tension; p 2 (481 words).

8. Vladislav Maltsev article headlined "Russian Orthodox Church Separates Opposition From People" says the Russian Orthodox Church has joined those who criticize the opposition and called Vladimir Putin's opponents enemies of people; p 3 (568 words).

9. Alexei Gorbachev report "United Russia Begins to Deal With America" says that the State Duma has demanded that the European Parliament deny the prosecutor of Texas entry to the EU; p 4 (650 words).

10. Tatyana Ivzhenko report "Central Elections Commission Counts in Its Own Way" says that the West suspects that democracy in Ukraine has ended with summing up the results of the parliamentary elections; p 7 (800 words).

11. Nikolai Surkov article headlined "Algeria Does Not Hurry to Fight Against Islamists" says that the U.S. and French plans to carry out an operation in Mali have been affected by Algeria's unwillingness to get involved in the conflict. Without Algerian support, the West faces more problems with the operation; p 8 (645 words).

12. Yury Paniyev article headlined "Sandy Interferes With Election Campaign" says the U.S. presidential candidates have suspended their campaigns due to devastating hurricane Sandy; p 8 (608 words).

13. Yevgeny Grigoryev report "Deutsche Bank Prefers Romney" says that German sponsors have been involved in the presidential election in the U.S.A.; p 8 (600 words).

14. Dmitry Orlov report featuring the rating of influence of Russia's 100 leading politicians in October 2012; p 10 (800 words).

Vedomosti

1. Yelena Vinogradova article headlined "AvtoVAZ Attracts Dealers" says that the Lada Russian made car may be sold by multi-brand retail networks, as AvtoVAZ promises good conditions and long-term contracts for its dealers; pp 1, 10 (728 words).

2. Margarita Lyutova and Grigory Milov article headlined "They Prefer Budget" says that work in the public sector is becoming more attractive for Russians due to high and stable salaries there; pp 1, 3 (541 words).

3. Olga Plotonova and Maxim Tovkailo article headlined "Oversight Director" says businessman Dmitry Pumpyansky has become the chairman of Rosselkhozbank's board of directors; pp 1, 13 (504 words).

4. Editorial headlined "Lie for the Sake of Honesty" criticizes plans to use bribe provocation as a measure to fight against corruption among officials in Russia; pp 1, 4 (493 words).

5. Natalya Kostenko report "Businessmen Should Not Worry" says that in connection with the campaign to oust businessmen from the State Duma, the ruling party has changed the criteria of selection of Federation Council members; p 2 (600 words).

6. Yekaterina Kravchenko report "New York Halts" says that hurricane Sandy has paralysed New York and suspended the presidential race in the U.S.A.; p 3 (600 words).

7. Another editorial headlined "American Tragedy" compares the devastating storm in the U.S.A. with the deadly flood in Krasnodar Territory earlier this year; p 4 (315 words).

8. Yekaterina Derbilova et al. interview with Rusnano corporation head Anatoly Chubays speaking on the role of the state and foreign investment in development of innovation in Russia; p 6 (3,285 words).

9. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "Who Is Mister Xi?" looks at political and economic situation in China; p 4 (600 words).

Izvestia

1. Alexandra Yermakova article headlined "Transportation Ministry to Build Baikal-Amur Railroad Once Again for 1,000Bln Rubles" says the authorities have supported the plans of Russian Railways to reconstruct the Baykal-Amur Railway and are going to invest 1 1,000 billion rubles ($32 billion) in the project up to 2020; pp 1, 4 (690 words).

2. Darya Mazayeva article headlined "Media Committee Wants to Influence TV Channels' Broadcasting" says the newly set up State Duma committee on media wants to issue recommendations for TV channels regarding their programming policy; pp 1-2 (442 words).

3. Vladimir Gusev article headlined "United Russia Member Demands That Pozner Be Sacked From Channel One" says that a United Russia member has asked Channel One director Konstantin Ernst to dismiss TV host Vladimir Pozner over his criticism of the Investigative Committee check into opposition activist Leonid Razvozzhayev's case; p 2 (433 words).

4. Yury Matsarsky article headlined "Russians Elect Obama" reports on the preferences of the Russian electorate in Alaska; p 5 (821 words).

5. Yanina Sokolovskaya interview headlined "Russia Is Ready to Accept Any Choice of Ukrainians" with Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov speaking on the parliamentary elections in the country; p 5 (930 words).

6. Boris Mezhuyev report "Lost Triumph" looks at the difficulties experienced by the A Just Russia party; p 7 (800 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Natalya Kozlova and Yury Gavrilov article headlined "Accountant Counts for Himself" gives details of a criminal case against a former employee of the Defense Ministry who has embezzled over 4 million rubles (around $129,000); pp 1, 4 (499 words).

2. Irina Omelchenko report "America's Choice" says that today the newspaper publishes in its website Central Elections Commission head Vladimir Churov's article on the observance of people's electoral rights in the U.S.A.; p 2 (200 words).

3. Fedor Lukyanov article headlined "I Am free, I Am No One's Man" says that the results of the parliamentary elections in Ukraine have shown that it has become a real European country; p 3 (689 words).

4. Natalya Kozlova report "They Will Have to Stay in Prison Until Spring" says that the terms of custody may be extended to almost all people detained in the so-called Bolotnaya case; p 6 (600 words).

5. Vladislav Vorobyev article headlined "Lavrov Not to Leave Favor Unanswered" reports on agreements reached by Russia and Belarus during Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's visit to Minsk; p 8 (437 words).

6. Olga Dmitriyeva report "Salary Leads to Minus" says that one in five people working in the UK lives below the poverty line; p 8 (700 words).

7. Vladimir Snegirev interview with Tatarstan head Rustam Minnikhanov speaking on the use of Singapore's experience for Russia's regional development; p 9 (2,709 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Ignat Kalinin article headlined "Deputies' Consciousness Blackened With Smoke" mocks the State Duma's plans to oblige policemen to control implementation of nonsmoking regulations in public places; pp 1, 3 (467 words).

2. Melor Sturua article headlined "Sandy Hits America" says the devastating storm has become a test of the U.S. presidential candidates; p 3 (2,160 words).

3. Stanislav Belkovsky report "Blow Not to Serdyukov" says that the end of Dmitry Medvedev's government is already seen; p 3 (800 words).

4. Konstantin Smirnov report "How Defense Ministry Was Overfed" looks at the recent embezzlement scandal involving the Russian Defense Ministry; p 4 (1,500 words).

RBK Daily

1. Albert Koshkarov and Anastasia Litvinova interview with Russian Pension Fund head Anton Drozdov speaking on the future of the pension system in the country; p 3 (2400 words).

2. Yulia Yakovleva article headlined "For Justice" says that leader of the A Just Russia party Sergei Mironov has spent an evening talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin and trying to save his party from collapse; p 6 (300 words).

3. Anastasia Novikova and Anastasia Fomicheva article headlined "E-mail for Officials" says that State Duma deputies have proposed that a single mail server be created for all state officials, while the opposition has regarded the proposal as a beginning of a total state control over the Internet; pp 1, 6 (600 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Slava Taroshchina article headlined "Why Lenin Needs Plastic Operation?" reviews TV shows aimed to create negative image of the Russian opposition; p 24 (897 words).

2. Yulia Latynina article headlined "Growth and Fading" compares the social and political problems in China and the U.S.A. and expresses regret about Obama's policy making people dependent on welfare services; p 3 (735 words).

3. Alexander Panov article headlined "For Whom Does Sandy Vote?" analyzes the effect of the storm Sandy over the U.S. presidential election campaign; p 6 (1,004 words).

4. Yulia Polukhina article headlined "I Did Not Give Testimony Against Organizers and Participants" features profiles of those charged with organizing mass disturbances at a rally on May 6 and a small interview with Sergei Shushpanov, a lawyer of Maxim Luzyanin, who admitted his guilt completely; pp 7-8 (1300 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Yulia Savina article headlined "Campaign and Companies" says that the Moscow City Duma is to check whether its deputies combine business and deputy activities following high-profile cases of stripping State Duma deputies Gennady Gudkov and Alexei Knyshov of their seats; p 2 (500 words).

2. Sergei Putilov article headlined "To Dispel Global Fears" comments on the first results of Russia's accession to the WTO and says they are more positive than predicted earlier; p 3 (500 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Alexander Alexandrov article headlined "In One Language" comments on the meeting of Russian and Belarussian foreign ministers and says the two countries have same views on acute global problems; p 1 (200 words).

2. Yury Avdeyev article headlined "Russian Air Force to Be Joined by MiG Aircraft" says that State Duma's defense committee has discussed the prospects of Russian military aviation's development; p 2 (2200 words).

3. Yelizaveta Orlova article headlined "Rhetoric Washed Away by Storm" analyzes the influence of Sandy on election campaigns and the rating of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, saying that Romney is likely to suffer more; p 3 (600 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Dmitry Nadezhdin article headlined "5 Generals Sacked From Interior Ministry" comments on the dismissal of five high-ranking officials and features explanations from State Duma Deputy Alexander Khinshtein, who has said the dismissal of general Tyurkin, who was responsible for the ministry's information support, differed from other dismissals; p 3 (600 words).

Trud

1. Sergei Frolov article headlined "Minister Takes Hit" questions whether Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov will be able to remain in power after being involved in the scandal over financial fraud in the Oboronservis company; p 2 (800 words).

Oct. 31, 2012/BBC Monitoring/©BBC? 

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