 | | |||
| Izvestia Kommersant Vedomosti Nezavisimaya Gazeta Noviye Izvestia Novaya Gazeta Komomolskaya Pravda Moskovsky Komsomolets Obshchaya Gazeta | | ||
| ||||
Izvestia
www.izvestia.ru
The Constitutional Court celebrated its 10th anniversary Thursday. The article describes its significant role in asserting constitutional justice in Russia.
In an interview, head of the BBC's Russian service Elizabeth Robson speaks about the aim of her visit, about her attitude to the problem of freedom of speech in Russia, and about what Russia means to her.
President Vladimir Putin Wednesday signed a controversial law on imports of spent nuclear fuel to Russia. The president also signed a decree concerning the creation of a special commission to control all nuclear imports with Nobel Prize physicist Zhores Alfyorov as its head. Also covered in Kommersant, Noviye Izvestia, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Vremya Novostei and Vremya MN.
Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov Wednesday signed a bill on reforming the electrical energy sector, but the government has not yet decided what form the reforms will take. Also covered in Kommersant and Vremya Novostei.
Ekho Moskvy editor in chief Alexei Venediktov on Wednesday harshly criticized the decision of SPS leader Boris Nemtsov to accept shares of the radio station from Gazprom-Media head Alfred Kokh . Venediktov said he views Nemtsov's behavior as "pillage." Also covered in Kommersant, Noviye Izvestia, Vremya Novostei, Vremya MN and Obshchaya Gazeta.
The newly-built nuclear submarine Gepard (also known as the "Russian cow"), the quietest submarine in the world, is undergoing state tests in the White Sea. The article examines its high-tech features.
State Duma deputy Nikolai Kharitonov said Wednesday that he will ask Mayor Yury Luzhkov to move the Statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky to Novosibirsk. It's the deputy's third attempt to find a "worthy" destination for the statue. The article comments on the initiative.
Legendary British musician Elton John on July 19 will give a concert in the Grand Hall of the Catherine Palace in St. Petersburg. The article highlights this Superstar and several high guests invited to attend the concert.
Though St. Petersburg Vice Governor Valery Malyshev, who has been accused of embezzlement, has sworn not to leave the city before his trial, he has been allowed to go to Moscow to attend a session of the Unity and Fatherland parties. The Malyshev case in St. Petersburg is viewed as political. Also covered in Noviye Izvestia.
The Fatherland movement (headed by Yury Luzhkov) is expected Thursday to merge with the Unity party.
The article examines the gubernatorial election campaign in the Nizhny Novgorod region three days before the voting. The article describes the election race with 4 main rivals. Also covered in Kommersant and Vremya MN.
Slavneft announced its intentions to work alongside YUKOS in eastern Siberian oil reserves. According to Slavneft's calculations, the creation of a basic infrastructure in the region will cost $1.5 billion. Also covered in Vremya Novostei.
The Interior Ministry's Investigative Committee Wednesday forbid registration of the Soyuzplodimport trademark. The article concludes that any attempt to return trademarks of famous Russian vodkas to the state will be futile.
The State Duma on Wednesday passed amendments to the second part of the Tax Code releasing cotton importers from paying VAT. The article reports on how domestic weavers (in Ivanovo) will profit from this legislation.
The World Bank will provide a $200 million guarantee to Russian coal and forestry enterprises so that they can receive loans from commercial banks. The agreement will be signed today in Krasnoyarsk by Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko and WB head James Wolfensohn.
Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Kolotukhin on Wednesday officially confirmed that Russia intends to borrow between $500 million and $1 billion in 2002. The question is whether eurobonds will be released on such a sum, which has not happened since August 1998. Also covered in Kommersant.
Sergei Kiriyenko, presidential envoy in the Privolzhsky federal district, christened Wednesday in Nizhny Novgorod the Srednevolzhskaya Inter-Regional Energy Company (SMUEK) and the Volzhsky hydroelectric power station. The article examines the project.
A congress of the Moslems in the Orenburg region is scheduled for July 13. And the recent extraordinary congress of the Orenburg Moslems has already declared it illegal. The article examines a split in the Moslem community.
Kommersant
www.kommersant.ru
The Gosznak currency-printing factory will see some changes in the near future. According to the draft of a presidential decree (obtained by Kommersant), all 9 factories and mints composing Gosznak will be merged into a state-owned concern. The article examines the presidential decree.
The State Duma on Wednesday passed a bills that will raise the excise rates by 12 percent and increase the frequency of payments (twice) for using water facilities.
The Prosecutor General's Office on Wednesday released Dododjon Atovulloyev , editor in chief of the Tajik opposition newspaper Charogi Ruz. Atovulloyev has already left Russia for Germany. In a short interview, he speaks about his plans.
Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin arrived Wednesday in Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin. His visit is veiled in secrecy. What is known is that they will discuss issues pertaining to a Transdnestrian settlement.
The board of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs on Wednesday held a session to discuss their upcoming July 16 meeting with Cabinet head Mikhail Kasyanov. After that they plan to meet with President Vladimir Putin. The article comments on their proposals.
In an interview, military journalist Grigory Pasko, who is accused of spying for Japan, speaks about his case, saying that he intends to present new arguments in court.
The U.S. Congress on Wednesday approved a bill on assisting foreign nations in 2002. The article looks at how much financial aid former Soviet republics will receive.
The St. Petersburg-based Pyatyorochka retail chain Wednesday announced its intention to do business in Moscow. The article examines its ambitious plans.
Several members of the organizing committee of the Civil Forum told journalists on Wednesday how they will help the president build a bona fide civil society. The article looks at their project. Also covered in Vremya Novostei.
Two assailants in Moscow killed private notary Galina Perepyolkina on Wednesday. It has not yet been ruled out that the murder was committed to exert pressure on her husband Yury Bushev, head of an audit company. The article gives details. Also covered in MK.
Vedomosti
www.vedomosti.ru
Now that it has control over Gazprom, the government has decided to launch its reform. Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov stated Wednesday that that he plans to divide the gas monopoly into extracting and transporting components, a division that had been opposed by the company's old management.
Telegraphs in the next five to seven years will become a things of the past. In place of telegrams the Communications Ministry intends to organize a fax delivery system.
The Audit Chamber said Wednesday that money was wasted in World Bank-sponsored reforms of the energy sector and social welfare.
According to the State Statistics Committee, inflation July 1 to July 9 amounted to 0.3 percent on the consumer market, while prices increased by 0.2 percent over the same period.
There is no precedent law in Russia, but precedent lawlessness instead. To illustrate this, law enforcement agencies plan to select certain companies as examples of good and bad behavior. The article describes a small bank in St. Petersburg ?€” Financial Capital.
Anti-Monopoly Minister Ilya Yuzhanov read his agency's report at a government session today. The article examines its major provisions.
President Vladimir Putin's demand to unify the railway tariffs will be put into effect starting Aug. 1, which is a month later than he had planned. Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko decided that tariffs on cargo transportation should be raised by 18 percent rather than by 21 percent, as was planned before. The Railways Ministry intends to push for another tariff increase ?€” 15 to 20 percent.
The government decided to withdraw from Sberbank 7.5 million rubles which had been kept there as a depository experiment.
In an interview Natural Resources Minister Vitaly Artyukhov speaks about his agency's plans to develop oil and gas deposits.
Vedomosti. Companies and Markets
The Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs will lobby for banking reforms proposed by MDM-Bank chairman Alexander Mamut. The financier will submit his plan to the government.
Over the years, oil companies have invented numerous ways to evade export barriers. Analysts say that last year domestic oil companies "independently"exported over 8 million tons of crude oil worth nearly $1.5 billion. Transneft is unable to do anything with companies' independent exports, and the Energy Ministry is ignoring a big part of this export.
MDM Bank's plans for taking control of Konversbank have been foiled again. The article explains why MDM-Bank is unable to realize its plans.
The Tyumen Oil Company (TNK) has signed an agreement with Elf Trading S.A. on oil deliveries, which makes it possible for TNK to receive a loan under collateral from American X-M Bank. The $274 million credit will be spent on rehabilitating the Samotlor oil and gas deposit in the Khanty-Mansiisk Autonomous Area.
British Petroleum (BP) suspended plans to develop the Ukrainian market of auto fuel and declined build a chain of gas stations in Kiev. The brief explains reasons behind the decision.
A general agreement on cooperation and collaboration in foreign markets will be signed Thursday between Rosoboronexport and LUKoil.
There is a plan to connect Sheremetyevo with Moscow by a railroad. Officials hope to complete the track by the time the new terminal (Sheremetyevo-3) is completed.
Anglo Siberian Oil shareholders rejected the idea of being absorbed by Sibir Energy, another British company that seeks oil in Siberia. (Fifty-one percent of Sibir Energy shares belong to its CEO, Shalva Chigirinsky of Moscow.)
Noviye Izvestia
The Museum of Decorative and Applied Art has put up a 1,000 item exhibition entitled "Gold and Silver Ware Art in the 20th Century. Russia-USSR-Russia." The exhibition runs until August 19.
Andrei Testov, spokesman for the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department, stated that the number of robberies and apartment thefts in the city has increased in the first six months of this year. A brief cites figures to illustrate the point.
The story reports on how oligarchs in the Orenburg region win the confidence of governors and use their power to exert control over regional budgets.
Novaya Gazeta
www.novayagazeta.ru
A story offers several concrete examples of arbitrary rule used by Moscow's law-enforcement officers. The officers often have no other choice than to exercise such means as they are given daily or monthly quotas concerning number of people the to catch or fine.
The Moscow Arbitration Court made the decision to liquidate Natsionalny Kredit Bank, once a leading commercial bank in Russia. The story examines how and when its bankruptcy procedure started and who was behind it.
In an interview, Andrei Makarevich, leader of the famed rock group Mashina Vremeni, speaks about his group, its musicians with their styles of performance and about the group's guest performances.
Komomolskaya Pravda
www.kp.ru
President Vladimir Putin Wednesday signed a federal law to limit smoking. The story comments on the document focusing on how smoking deputies regard this legislation.
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma answers questions from Ukrainian KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA readers about Kiev-Moscow gas relations, the appointment of Viktor Chernomyrdin to the post of Russian Ambassador to Ukraine, and about his successor.
St. Petersburg writer Dmitry Cherkasov assures that the sunken Kursk submarine will not be raised, saying that the planned operation is technically unfeasible.
A story take a looks at all the seven presidential representatives from each Federal District, focusing on the results of their work in during the past year, on their places of residence, as well as on their supporters and adversaries and their most pressing problems
Moskovsky Komsomolets
www.mk.ru
An article examines the life of a gifted, young, Moscovite, 14-year-old Nastya Zaitseva, who has finished school this year with a gold medal and who will become a student at the Bauman Technical University. Her dream is to study computer technology to be qualified as a computer programmer.
The Culture Ministry has officially allowed treasure finders in St. Petersburg to search for the treasure that once belonged to Tsar Nicholas II's mistress, ballerina Matilda Kseshinskaya. Her descendant, State Duma Deputy Konstantin Sevenard, stated that in the early '90s he learned about the "treasure of the century" from people who are now dead. An article reveals the secret about the treasure.
First class test pilot Marina Popovich shares her view on the recent crash of the Tu-154 plane, saying that the State Commission's conclusions about the tragedy have produced many questions that in official commentaries have been left unanswered
The Grand Hall of the State Duma will undergo major renovations while the Duma is in recess. What will be changed, above all, are the deputies' chairs, as they are too small. A story looks at the project.
The Moscow City Duma Wednesday made the decision on creating special agencies of justices of the peace in Moscow. A story reveals the essentials behind the decision.
Estonia's Ambassador to Russia Tiit Mtasulevich had to quit his post and return to Tallinn after he was accused of financial violations. A story gives details.
A story offers a comprehensive analysis of the draft of the new Labour Code focusing on how it differs from the Soviet-era document.
The Moscow City Duma is expected to pass a draft bill on public noise levels. A story asserts that if passed, the law will affect car owners above all. A story comments on the draft, revealing its tough provisions.
The property of the late prima ballerina Galina Ulanova has become of a point of contention between the Culture Ministry and Tax Inspectorate No. 5. A story describes the conflict.
Obshchaya Gazeta
www.og.ru
Chinese Chairman Jiang Zemin and President Vladimir Putin will sign the Treaty on Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation two days from Thursday in Moscow. The treaty between the two countries is already being called "epoch-making A story comments on the document, focusing on how it was drafted by both sides.
In an interview, First Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Ulyukayev sums up results of the country's economic activity during the first half of this year, focusing primarily on the major positive and negative macroeconomic factors.
A story features several servicemen, who fought in Afghanistan and in Chechnya, and who returned home as heroes with medals and orders, but after a time became contract killers.
In an interview, Tamara Morshchakova, deputy head of the Constitutional Court, explains who has triggered heated debates on the issue of the death penalty. She also says how the court regards this difficult problem.
Economist Salambek Maigov, leader of the political movement "Chechen Solidarity", appeals to President Vladimir Putin with a request to put an end to the war in his republic, offering a definite program of a peaceful settlement.
Colonel Yury Budanov's lawyer Mr. Mukhin told journalists what had happened to his client over the past week in court, an why an interval was called.
Poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko spends 7 month a year in American and five months in Russia. This year he is organizing the First International Poetry Festival in Siberia. In an interview, the poet speaks about the event's program.