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What the Papers Say, Oct. 9, 2012

Igor Tabakov

Kommersant

1. Alexei Shapovalov article headlined "Time to Work" says the World Bank has noted that Russia needs investment and a highly skilled labor force for its further economic development; pp 1, 8 (774 words).

2. Maxim Ivanov and Taisia Bekbulatova article headlined "Specially Singled Out Opinion" says the Russian government has backed a bill prohibiting officials from owning foreign assets. The ministers, however, expressed concern that the new regulations would prevent business managers from working in government's posts; pp 1, 3 (861 words).

3. Alexei Sokovnin article headlined "Victims in Justice Deal" says the children of journalist Anna Politkovskaya believe that the policeman, who has made a justice deal, named the wrong person as ordering the contract killing of their mother; pp 1, 6 (841 words).

4. Anna Balashova et al. report headlined "MegaFon Moves Closer to Entrance" says the IPO of the mobile phone operator MegaFon is scheduled for Nov. 1; pp 1, 12 (545 words).

5. Yevgenia Sycheva and Sergei Petunin article headlined "United Russia Member Removed From Elections in Accordance With New Criminal Code" says a Sakhalin region court has cancelled the registration of A United Russia member as a candidate standing in the local Duma election due to his criminal past; p 2 (582 words).

6. Natalya Korchenkova article headlined "Law on Party Opens Way to Spoilers" says the newly set up party Communists of Russia is getting ready to replace the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. The new law on registering political parties allows spoilers to take part in elections; p 2 (646 words).

7. Maria-Luiza Tirmaste et al. report headlined "There Are Critically Few Candidates for Bryansk Governor Left" says the Yabloko party and the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia have withdrawn their candidates from the Bryansk gubernatorial election following the cancellation of the registration of United Russia candidate Nikolai Denin. The governor election may be disrupted, the authors warn; p 2 (840 words).

8. Yelena Chernenko article headlined "Russia and U.S.A. Allocate Hotlines to Internet" says Russia and the U.S.A. will try to discuss coordination of their actions in case of a cyber attack; p 7 (572 words).

9. Georgy Dvali article headlined "Course Set for Georgia" comments on the Georgian Cabinet formed by Bidzina Ivanishvili, leader of the Georgian Dream coalition that has won the parliamentary elections in the country; p 7 (515 words).

10. Maxim Yusin article headlined "Venezuela Fails to Fulfil Hugo Chavez's Plan" says the number of Venezuelans who supported Hugo Chavez in the presidential election (54.5 percent), was smaller than expected. The opposition claims that the country is split in half; p 7 (492 words).

11. Kirill Melnikov report "AAR Sends Refusal to Rosneft" says that AAR, the consortium of Russian shareholders of TNK-BP, does not want to be a partner of state-run oil company Rosneft; p 9 (600 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "World Bank Gives Old Prescriptions to Russia" says the World Bank has advised Russia to improve its investment climate, make labor more efficient and pursue tougher fiscal policy to have steady economic growth; pp 1, 4 (778 words).

2. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Tiraspol Makes Claims to Kiev" says the Transdnestr republic's authorities have expressed dissatisfaction with Kiev demarcating the border with the republic because there are many disputable areas along the border; pp 1, 6 (692 words).

3. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Kremlin's 'Officers in Civilian Clothing'" says the staff of the Russian presidential administration receive higher salaries than any other officials; pp 1-2 (613 words).

4. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Peacekeeping Redoubt of Collective Defense" reports on the military exercise held in Russia and Kazakhstan by the member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization pp 1, 5 (571 words).

5. Yury Simonyan article headlined "Ivanishvili Forms Executive Branch of Power" comments on the public figures to join the new Georgian Cabinet; pp 1, 6 (597 words).

6. Nikolai Surkov article headlined "Erdogan Prepares Turks for War at any Time" says that aggressive rhetoric by the Turkish authorities accompanied by deployment of troops near the border with Syria shows that Ankara is getting ready for a military operation against its neighbor; pp 1, 7 (466 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Military Bureaucratic Zigzag" comments on the ineffective organization of the work to recruit contract soldiers to the Russian Armed Forces; p 2 (452 words).

8. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Vladimir Putin's New Majority" comments on President Vladimir Putin's interview with the NTV channel; p 3 (742 words).

9. Brief unattributed article based on Interfax report says that the lawyers of the Pussy Riot group have referred to Putin's statement that the verdict to the female punk band members is fair as pressure on court; p 3 (100 words).

10. Viktoria Panfilova article headlined "Putin and Nazarbayev to Speak About Erosion of Western Values" reports on the beginning of the Kazakh president's visit to Moscow; p 6 (746 words).

11. Yury Paniyev article headlined "NATO to Leave, Conflict to Continue" says the Taliban have declared victory in Afghanistan. The situation in the country is now being discussed at a NATO conference; p 7 (684 words).

12. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "Moscow and Islamabad to Meet Each Other Halfway" looks at Russia-Pakistan relations that are said to be improving despite the fact that Putin has cancelled his planned visit to Islamabad; p 7 (520 words).

13. Viktoria Panfilova report "Caspian Disagreement" says that the Caspian region countries are actively looking for new consumers of their gas; p 13 (1,900 words).

Vedomosti

1. Yekaterina Sobol article headlined "Zone of Alienation" says that the Rospotrebnadzor consumer rights watchdog has got involved in Sheremetyevo Airport's plans to build a third runway. The agency demanded that people living near the airport should be moved to new places first; p 1 (750 words).

2. Natalya Kostenko and Maria Zheleznova article headlined "Categories Being Cancelled" says governors are expected to suggest at a State Council meeting that there should be no more land of different categories; moreover, people who have failed to register their plots of land in time, should be stripped of their land; pp 1-2 (683 words).

3. Yelena Vinogradova article headlined "New Classics" says that the Lada Granta has become a bestseller on the Russian car market; pp 1, 13 (669 words).

4. Editorial headlined "Eternal Agenda" says the Russian government is busy developing all kinds of concepts and programs, but it does not bother to implement its plans; pp 1, 4 (507 words).

5. Natalya Kostenko et al. report headlined "New Mission for Colonels" says that former Interior Ministry expert and State Duma Deputy Ivan Solovyov has become head of the anti-corruption committee in the Russian presidential administration as the fight against corruption among lawmakers has been stepped up; p 2 (415 words).

6. Another editorial headlined "Foreign Agent Darwin" slams United Russia's initiative to start teaching the creationist theory of the origin of people at schools; p 4 (292 words).

7. Timofei Dzyadko report "Gift for Putin" says that the Nord Stream gas pipeline has been launched despite the fact that there is surplus of gas in Europe; p 9 (600 words).

Izvestia

1. Tatyana Shirmanova and Dina Ushakova article headlined "VEB Loses One-Third of Russians' Pension Savings" says Vneshekonombank, which keeps pension savings of some 58.5 million Russians, has lost one-third of the money due to inflation; pp 1, 4 (815 words).

2. Anastasia Dulenkova article headlined "Excise Duties on Vodka and Tobacco to Grow Considerably" says the Russian government plans to raise excise duties on alcohol and tobacco; pp 1, 4 (477 words).

3. Sergei Kashin report "Finance Ministry Recognizes Chechen Budget as Most Effective" says that according to the Finance Ministry, success in effective budget spending may yield Chechnya 95.7 billion rubles; pp 1-2 (600 words).

4. Ivan Cheberko report "VimpelCom to Build Network for Era-Glonass" says that major Russian phone operator VimpelCom will participate in the navigation technology project Era-Glonass; pp 1-2 (650 words).

5. Alexei Mikhailov article headlined "Fleet to Get Plastic Frigate" says the first warship made from carbon is being tested in the Barents Sea; p 3 (458 words).

6. Darya Mazayeva and Alyona Sivkova article headlined "Media Committee Sets Up Council of Bloggers" says the State Duma media committee is setting up a public council of bloggers; p 3 (524 words).

7. Anna Akhamadiyeva report "'Anatomy of Protest 2' Loses to Part 1" says that the film "Anatomy of Protest 2" broadcast by NTV was less popular with the mass media than the first part of the film; p 3 (500 words).

8. Vladimir Gusev report "Russia's Breaking Relations With PACE Would Result in End of Council of Europe" provides the comments of Alexander Sokolov, head of the international group of the Russian Public Chamber, on the current situation at the assembly in Strasbourg; p 5 (600 words).

9. Viktor Toporov article headlined "Retired NTV Head" satirically describes career of fugitive businessman Vladimir Gusinsky, who has turned 60; p 7 (975 words).

10. Dmitry Drobnitsky report "Innocence of Anatomy" looks at NTV's film "Anatomy of Protest 2"; p 7 (800 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Leonid Radzikhovsky article headlined "Anatomy of Emptiness" says that opposition activist Sergei Udaltsov is not going to sue NTV over its recent controversial film as facts stated there are true; p 2 (700 words).

2. Vladislav Vorobyev article headlined "Ankara's Secret" says the Syrian armed opposition has fired at Turkish territory as it controls the border area, so Ankara may use the situation to invade Syria; p 8 (700 words).

3. Yevgeny Shestakov article headlined "Whose Are You?" reports on the work over the new Cabinet in Georgia; p 8 (700 words).

4. Andrei Vasyanin interview "Peace to Mir" with head of the TV and radio company MIR Radik Batyrshin speaking on the company's work and editorial policy; p 10 (800 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Anastasia Rodionova interview with opposition activist Sergei Udaltsov and Leonid Razvozhayev headlined "Anatomy of Protest — 2: View From Left Front," in which they give their explanation of the facts stated in the recent anti-opposition film by NTV; pp 1-2 (1,111 words).

2. Nikita Kartsev article headlined "Putin Instead of Putin" compares a documentary on Putin made in 2002 with the NTV show dedicated to the president, which was broadcast this October; pp 1-2 (864 words).

3. Vyacheslav Nikonov article headlined "Putin in Figures" praises Vladimir Putin's achievements in the 12 years he has been in power; p 3 (1,629 words).

RBK Daily

1. Alexander Litoi article headlined "Channel for Heroes" says the Young Guard pro-Kremlin youth movement is launching an Internet TV station. The project is being positioned as youth-oriented and non-party-affiliated; pp 1-2 (300 words).

2. Tatyana Kosobokova article headlined "First One Leaves" says Regional Development Minister Oleg Govorun has decided not to return back to work after Putin's criticism. The move is attributed to unclear powers and responsibilities of the ministry; p 2 (600 words).

3. Yulia Kalachikhina article headlined "Venezuela Did Not Want Any Changes" says that the victory of Hugo Chavez guarantees that Venezuela will keep its multi-billion contracts with Russia and China; p 4 (600 words).

4. Yelena Shesternina interview with head of Moscow United Energy Company Andrei Likhachev; p 7 (2000 words).

Moskovskiye Novosti

1. Irina Novikova article headlined "Chirikova Loses in Khimki" says that the most recent poll conducted in Khimki, a city in the Moscow region, has shown the leadership of acting Mayor Oleg Shakhov and a rise in the protest mood; p 2 (500 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Yelena Krivyakina article headlined "Businessmen to Be Lured to North Caucasus" says that at a meeting with deputy prime ministers, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has noted that Caucasus republics and the Stavropol region cannot develop without private investment and has ordered that the latter should be found; p 2 (300 words).

2. Alexander Grishin article headlined "Who Dipped Into 'Bolotnaya's Common Fund'" says that one of the opposition members, Nikolai Belyaev, has disappeared together with 500,000 rubles gathered by opposition leaders for common purposes; p 10 (700 words).

3. Yevgeny Arsyukhin article headlined "Navalny Took Power Over Stock Market" says that posts of prominent blogger and opposition leader Alexei Navalny directly influence the Russian stock market; p 10 (300 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Alexander Alexandrov article headlined "Check of Peacekeeping Brotherhood" looks at the first stage of a joint peacekeeping exercise of the member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO); p 1 (400 words).

Oct. 9, 2012/BBC Monitoring/©BBC? 

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