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What the Papers Say, Oct. 15, 2012

Igor Tabakov

Kommersant

1. Article attributed to the paper's political section headlined "Motherland Does Not Elect" says that a low turnout at the regional elections has shown that Russians have lost interest in voting. The ones who came to polling stations supported United Russia; pp 1, 3 (1,002 words).

2. Sergei Sobolev article headlined "Tour Operators Preparing for Evacuation" says the Russian authorities have developed a procedure for helping tourists whose tour operators declare bankruptcy. People will be brought home free of charge; pp 1, 12 (575 words).

3. Sergei Sobolev and Tamila Dzhodzhua article headlined "JCDecaux Returns for Billboard" says JCDecaux, a French company, wants to become a co-owners of the Russ Outdoor company specializing in outdoor ads in Russia. The French firm wants to buy a 25 percent stake in Russ Outdoor; pp 1, 13 (871 words).

4. Olga Shestopal et al. report headlined "Rosbank Gets Rid of Collectors" says Societe General financial group is to sell the collector agency of Rosbank in an attempt to reduce its expenses; pp 1, 9 (645 words).

5. Maxim Ivanov and Natalya Bashlykova article headlined "Chasing Merry-Go-Round" reports on gubernatorial elections in Ryazan and Bryansk regions, where United Russia candidates reportedly got most of the votes; p 2 (1,343 words).

6. Article attributed to the paper's political section headlined "New Elections in Accordance With Old Technologies" says the Russian opposition are complaining about vote rigging they noticed during the regional elections on Oct. 14; p 3 (942 words).

7. Taisia Bekbulatova article headlined "In Purely Moscow Region Style" says the results of the mayoral election in Khimki does not suit any of the candidates except for United Russia's Oleg Shakhov who won the voting; p 3 (705 words).

8. Kabai Karabekov article headlined "Bakiyev Junior Delayed Again" comments on the arrest of Maxim Bakiyev, the son of the former Kyrgyz president, in London; p 7 (561 words).

9. Sergei Strokan article headlined "Mitt Romney and Barack Obama Pull Debates Over" says the second round of the TV debates by the U.S. presidential candidates is to be decisive; p 7 (559 words).

10. Alexander Reutov article headlined "Syria Sets Its Sights on Sacred" says Syria has closed transit to Mecca for Turkish Muslims as the rift between the two countries is growing; p 8 (490 words).

11. Anatoly Maximov article headlined "Operation in Mali Looks Threatening" analyzes the situation in Mali and warns France against getting involved in a war in Africa; p 8 (536 words).

12. Maxim Yusin article in opinion column headlined "Price of Issue" says the world's leading powers will not tolerate the new stronghold of Islamists in Mali as the UN Security Council has unanimously backed an international military operation in Mali; p 8 (377 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Election 2012: Percentage Does Not Matter, Victory Most Important" says the regional election campaign has revealed the shortcomings of the Russian political system. Experts call for eliminating the so-called municipal filter for gubernatorial elections, but to impose tougher regulations on registering political parties to reduce so-called spoiler parties; pp 1, 3 (1,127 words).

2. Anastasia Bashkatova article headlined "Finance Ministry's Self-Justifying Know-How" comments on the Finance Ministry's reaction to capital outflow from Russia; pp 1, 4 (960 words).

3. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "IMF Doubles Russian GDP" says the Russian GDP per capita doubled compared to the figures of 2002; pp 1, 4 (781 words).

4. Andrei Serenko article headlined "Judge-Prosecutor's Electoral Filter" reports on a village election in the Volgograd region where one candidate tried to cancel the registration of his rival over unrealistic election promises he made; pp 1 — 2 (1,327 words).

5. Grigory Mikhailov article headlined "American Themis Looking for Meeting With Maxim Bakiyev" comments on the arrest of Maxim Bakiyev, the son of the former Kyrgyz president, in London; pp 1, 6 (539 words).

6. Nikolai Surkov article headlined "Ankara Slams UN Over Damascus" says Turkey has slammed the UN Security Council over its inability to affect the situation in Syria and called for reform of the organization; pp 1 — 2 (474 words).

7. Editorial headlined "European Strictness as Preventive Measure" says the West is taking a tougher stance toward Russia, so no progress in visa talks between Russia and the EU should be expected; p 2 (506 words).

8. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Zyuganov Shelters Behind Stalin" looks into the internal problems of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation where some activists are calling for the dismissal of their leader Gennady Zyuganov; p 3 (645 words).

9. Milrad Fatullayev article headlined "By Justice, Not by Law" comments on a rally in Makhachkala organized by Dagestani wedding guests in Moscow to protest against infringement of Dagestanis in Russia; p 3 (723 words).

10. Yury Paniyev article headlined "Iranian Gas Falls Into Disgrace in EU" says Tehran is showing a readiness to resume nuclear talks with the 5+1 Group of international mediators to avoid new sanctions; p 6 (542 words).

11. Artur Blinov article headlined "In Word: Joe Biden Speaks Out for Barack Obama" comments on the U.S. vice-presidential debates as part of the election campaign; p 8 (456 words).

Vedomosti

1. Timofei Dzyatko article headlined "Do Not Take and Do Not Pay" says Italy's Eni wants to make Gazprom stop using its take-or-pay principle in charging for Russian gas; pp 1, 11 (827 words).

2. Yelizaveta Nikitina article headlined "Prison Instead of Exchange" looks into the problems of the OGO agricultural holding, whose assets are to be sold as members of the board of directors were arrested on money extortion charges; pp 1, 16 (2,258 words).

3. Bela Lyauv article headlined "Moscow Builds at Public Cost" says a new state-controlled construction giant is to commission the construction of most of social facilities being built in Moscow; pp 1, 14 (622 words).

4. Editorial headlined "Devil in Revenues" questions the use of the report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on human capital in Russia. The article notes that the Russian authorities may use the upbeat report to reduce financing of education; pp 1, 4 (534 words).

5. Maria Zheleznova et al. report headlined "Blue — Color of Machinations" says opposition activists noticed numerous cases of violating electoral legislation during the regional polls; p (596 words).

6. Another editorial headlined "Elections in Old Way" says Russian officials did their best to keep regional elections under control, so gubernatorial elections only looked like voting; p 4 (289 words).

7. Maria Zheleznova article headlined "Person of Week: Yekaterina Samutsevich" comments on the release of one of the Pussy Riot punk group's members Yekaterina Samutsevich; p 4 (301 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Sergei Toporkov article headlined "Return of Elections" says regional elections have shown that many more new political parties are taking part in Russia's political life; pp 1, 7 (630 words).

2. Tatyana Panina article headlined "WTO to Pump Oil Out" says the Russian government is considering the adaptation plan for the country's economy as Russia joined the WTO; pp 1, 4 (1,187 words).

3. Anna Fedyakina et al. report headlined "They Fail to Share Fairway" reports on the collision of a U.S. cruiser with a submarine by the U.S. eastern coast; pp 1, 8 (531 words).

4. Sergei Ptichkin interview with Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin speaking on Russian cooperation with India in trade and the military industrial sector; p 3 (2,132 words).

5. Viktor Feshchenko article headlined "2 Steps From War" says Turkey is deploying additional troops to the border with Syria as the standoff between the two countries is escalating; p 8 (588 words).

Izvestia

1. Vladimir Dergachev article headlined "Election Without Surprises" says United Russia candidate Oleg Shakhov has won the Khimki mayoral election despite scandals during the election campaign; pp 1-2 (815 words).

2. Yulia Tsoi and Anton Lednev article headlined "Governors to Be Responsible for Adoption by Foreigners" says a new bill will make Russian regional heads responsible for any incidents that occur when foreigners adopt Russian orphans; p 1 (633 words).

3. Maria Kiseleva article headlined "FAS Against Merger of Moscow Airports" says the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) has spoken out against the planned merger of Moscow's airports as it will leave the new transportation giant without competition; pp 1, 4 (700 words).

4. Svetlana Subbotina article headlined "United Russia Wins Due to Opposition's Weakness" says regional elections held in Russia on Oct. 14 saw no violations of electoral legislation; p 2 (748 words).

5. Olga Zhermeleva article headlined "Nationalists to Launch Their Own Media Covering National Conflicts" says Russian nationalists and some North Caucasus movements will set up new media to cover ethnic relations; p 2 (557 words).

6. Yury Matsarsky and Konstantin Volkov article headlined "Russia Not to Quarrel With Turkey Because of Plane" says Russian diplomats are not disclosing the details of talks with Turkey over the incident in which a plane going from Moscow to Damascus was forced to land in Ankara; p 5 (601 words).

7. Mikhail Vignansky interview with Irakly Aslania, a candidate for the post of the defense minister in the new Georgian government, speaking on the country's foreign policy and military plans; p 5 (650 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Anastasia Rodionova and Dina Karpitskaya report "Shakhov Elections" says a record large number of observers were monitoring the mayoral election in Khimki and a record large number of violations were reported; pp 1 — 2 (2,756 words).

2. Yulia Kalinina article headlined "Undeveloped Murderers" criticizes the "irresponsible" driver whose speedy driving resulted in an accident that killed a famous Russian actress; pp 1, 3 (544 words).

3. Natalya Vedeneyeva interview with Vitaly Lopota, deputy chairman of the State Commission for Flight Tests of Manned Space Systems; p 6 (1600 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Kirill Rogov article headlined "Anatomy of Reaction" looks into the reaction of the Russian authorities to the protest mood and explains the pressure on the Russian opposition by the wiliness to curb protest activity; p 9 (920 words).

2. Alexander Panov article headlined "Fathers and Sons: Draw" says neither Republicans nor Democrats won the vice-presidential election debate; p 5 (769 words).

3. Semen Novoprudsky article headlined "Too Honest Elections" says the Kremlin is working out a new scheme of "honest" elections for its gubernatorial candidates; p 11 (583 words).

4. Dmitry Oreshkin and Vladimir Kozlov article headlined "Short-Term Appearance of People" investigates the details of the population increase in St. Petersburg by 200,000 people during the presidential election; pp 2-3 (1100 words).

5. Yulia Polukhina article headlined "Bolotnaya Ploshchad Gave Them Birth, 'Bolotnoye' Case Will Kill Them" looks into a criminal case launched against 17 people charged with organizing mass disturbances during the Moscow rally on May 6; pp 7-8 (1900 words).

6. Lina Zernova interview with Yury Shmidt, lawyer of Mikhail Khodorkovsky; pp 12-13 (1100 words).

RBK Daily

1. Yulia Yakovleva et al. article headlined "Look for Voter" says that the voting turnout at gubernatorial elections in various regions of Russia has been low, as Russians are tired of elections and fraud at previous elections has put them off participating; p 1 (650 words).

2. Yulia Sinyaeva article headlined "Price for Free Trade" says that WTO membership will cost Russia $75 billion; p 3 (600 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Vera Moslakova article headlined "Particular Procedure for Disturbances" says that one of those charged with organizing mass disturbances during the Moscow rally on May 6 who admitted his guilt may be convicted soon, with his example being used by the courts when sentencing other defendants ; p 2 (600 words).

2. Margarita Alyokhina article headlined "Won't Go Far" says that the Pussy Riot band members behind bars may serve their sentence in Moscow's remand prison instead of going to a penal colony; p 400 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Alexander Grishin article headlined "Khimki to Disappoint Opposition" says that opposition activist Yevgenia Chirikova has come third in the mayoral election in Khimki and gives details of the election process there; p 2 (550 words).

Oct. 15, 2012/BBC Monitoring/©BBC 

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