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What the Papers Say, Nov. 20, 2012

Igor Tabakov

Kommersant

1. Ivan Safronov article headlined "He Hands Over Space" says Yury Urlichich, earlier dismissed as Glonass chief designer following a corruption scandal, is expected to be dismissed also as head of the Russian Space Systems later this week pp 1-2 (679 words).

2. Oleg Rubnikovich article headlined "Sberbank Happens to Have Bribe for Problematic Asset" says the Moscow City Court has refused to release the deputy director of the directorate for work with problematic assets of the Russians Savings Bank Sberbank, Vyacheslav Pokhlebin, and another manager of the ban, Pavel Konik. According to the investigation, they offered the businessman, who owes 700 million rubles ($22 million) to Sberbank, to resolve his problems for a bribe of 100 million rubles; pp 1, 4 (595 words).

3. Mikhail Trofimenkov article headlined "It Is Hard to Be Science Fiction Writer" says that writer Boris Strugatskiy has died; p 1 (298 words).

4. Vladislav Novy article headlined "Svyaznoi Bites Piece of Apple Off" says that the Svyaznoi mobile phone retail network will become one of Apple's official dealers in Russia; pp 1, 13 (668 words).

5. Maxim Ivanov article headlined "President Looks for Time for Address to Federal Assembly" says President Vladimir Putin will meet heads of the State Duma factions next week. However, he has not yet made public the time of his address to the Federal Assembly; p 2 (435 words).

6. Taisia Bekbulatova article headlined "Boycott Comes Into Effect" says Russian NGOs refuse to name themselves foreign agents despite the fact that the relevant law comes into effect on Nov. 21; p 3 (720 words).

7. Natalya Gorodetskaya and Vsevolod Inyutin article headlined "Oleg Morozov Replies to 'Creative Class'" says the head of the internal policy directorate of the Russian presidential administration, Oleg Morozov, believes that the tough laws on protest activity proved to be right; p 3 (562 words).

8. Yury Belov report "Cartridges Get Stuck at Customs Office" says that Germany has prevented Russia from delivering pistol cartridges to Sudan; p 4 (600 words).

9. Ilya Shepelin article headlined "Pussy Riot Unites in Defense" says the Pussy Riot punk group members, serving two-year sentences, have hired a new lawyer. People close to the girls claim that they were dissatisfied with their lawyers' work; p 6 (683 words).

10. Sergei Strokan article headlined "Barack Obama Crossbreeds Democracy With Dictatorship" says the U.S.A. has started a reset in relations with Burma, as President Barack Obama is visiting the country; p 7 (417 words).

11. Alexander Reutov article headlined "Israeli Armed Forces Look at Clock" gives details of an ultimatum given by Israel to Hamas; p 7 (511 words).

12. Vladimir Solovyev interview with Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin speaking on difficulties in resolving the Transdnestr republic territorial dispute; p 7 (722 words).

13. Yelena Chernenko article headlined "Russia to Offer Customs Union to Asia" says Russia is interested in developing ties in Asia despite the fact that Putin is not taking part in the East Asia Summit in Cambodia; p 7 (535 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Mikhail Sergeyev article headlined "Manual Mode of Pricing in Defense Sector" says that Putin has instructed Deputy Prime Minister Dmitriy Rogozin to bring pricing in the defense sector to order. At the same time, Rogozin acknowledged that it was Putin who had fixed the prices on nuclear submarines; pp 1, 4 (757 words).

2. Sokhbet Mamedov article headlined "Baku Determines Its Enemies" says that Baku has named the Armenian lobby its main enemy; pp 1, 6 (445 words).

3. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Death of Unlimited Access" says that two residents of the Orenburg region have been killed while trying to disassemble a shell at a military range. Improper scrapping of old ammunition has become a plague for Russia, the author notes; pp 1, 3 (692 words).

4. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Militants Stripped of Gold and Currency Reserves" says the FSB has recently cracked down on a gold supply route from the Magadan region to Ingushetia's militants; pp 1-2 (495 words).

5. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Ukraine Ready to Sue Gazprom" says that a new gas crisis may erupt between Russia and Ukraine. Kiev plans to buy little quantity of gas in 2013 and is exchanging ultimatums with Gazprom; pp 1, 6 (1,076 words).

6. Nikolai Surkov article headlined "War of Nerves in Middle East" says Russia has called on Israel and Hamas to stop hostilities in Gaza where the death toll has reached 90 people; pp 1, 7 (545 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Prime Minister in Victory-Free Situation" says Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has made a strategic mistake when he agreed to the terms of position swap with Vladimir Putin as his cabinet is unpopular and risks being disbanded; p 2 (476 words).

8. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Mexican Passions of Presidential Council" reports on rows within the extended human rights council under the Russian president. Many activists oppose working together with the head of the Moscow Human Rights Bureau, Alexander Brod, appointed by Putin; p 3 (492 words).

9. Grigory Mikhailov article headlined "Russia Allocates Yet Another Grant to Kyrgyzstan" says Moscow has allocated $25 million to help Bishkek cover the losses of its gold mines; p 6 (494 words).

10. Artur Blinov article headlined "Obama Supports Democratization in Burma" reports on U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Burma; p 7 (498 words).

Vedomosti

1. Yevgenia Pismennaya article headlined "Opening Up Country" says that in order to develop the Russian Far East, over 100 projects requiring 5,000 billion rubles in funding should be implemented, the Far Eastern Development Ministry has said; pp 1, 3 (845 words).

2. Yelizaveta Sergina article headlined "3 Years for Parting" gives some details of the planned merger of Rostelecom and the Swedish company Tele2; p 1 (346 words).

3. Yekaterina Sobol article headlined "How Can Aviators Save Money" looks at factors hampering the work of discount airline companies in Russia; pp 1, 8 (663 words).

4. Editorial headlined "Market of Consumer" looks at measures which could be taken to reduce alcohol consumption in Russia and urges the authorities to focus on fighting against illegal sale of vodka; pp 1, 4 (563 words).

5. Another editorial headlined "Usual Iutrage" comments on Dmitry Medvedev's criticism of his Cabinet as ministers failed to implement the Constitutional Court's rulings; p 4 (262 words).

6. Irina Novikova report "Forum for Trusted Ones" says that Putin's supporters will hold a meeting at the presidential administration to discuss how the president's pre-election promises are being implemented; p 2 (600 words).

7. Polina Khimshiashvili report "Obama's New People" says that the U.S. president is looking for people who can replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner; p 2 (550 words).

8. Alexei Nikolsky report "Big Batch of Original Items" says that Russia may sell 24 Su-35 aircraft to China; p 2 (500 words).

9. Yana Yakovleva report "Fresh 'New Circumstances'" says that the State Duma is turning into a repressive machine; p 4 (800 words).

10. Anton Osipov report about the reshuffle in the Chinese leadership; p 5 (1,000 words).

11. Roman Dorokhov report "Suspicious Search" says that one of Google's projects has been included in the so-called blacklist of banned websites in Russia; p 11 (600 words).

Izvestia

1. Alexander Grigoryev et al. report headlined "Defense Ministry's Case Makes Investigative Committee and Interior Ministry Quarrel" says the Investigative Committee is carrying out a probe into misappropriations in the Defense Ministry and is displeased with the police leaking some information to the press; pp 1, 4 (700 words).

2. Pavel Panov article headlined "Foreign Religions to Be Allowed to Open Schools" says that the new bill on education is expected to allow foreign religious organizations to set up education programs in Russia; pp 1-2 (600 words).

3. Vladimir Zykov article headlined "Use of Gadgets to Be Limited for Officials" says that a State Duma member believes that officials should not use devices with iOS and Android operational systems for security reasons; pp 1, 4 (600 words).

4. Denis Telmanov article headlined "Shoigu to Get Rid of Yudashkin Uniform" says new Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu will approve the design of new military uniform; pp 1-2 (600 words).

5. Vladimir Gusev report "Prokhorov's Party Writes Laws and Gets Ready for Election" says that the leadership of the Civic Platform party will discuss the party strategy at a meeting on Nov. 23; p 2 (650 words).

6. Vladimir Dergachev report "They Threaten Kremlin With Ethnic Explosion" says that amendments to the national law on citizenship may lead to catastrophic consequences; p 3 (650 words).

7. Oleg Shevtsov report "Syrian Opposition to Open Embassy in Paris" looks at a meeting of French President Francois Hollande with the head of the Syrian opposition; p 5 (550 words).

8. Vladimir Barinov report "Russian Foreign Ministry Extradites Its Fellow Countrymen to Libyan Insurgents" says that the Russian embassy in Libya has in fact given up two Russian men to local rebels; p 5 (600 words).

9. Kirill Benediktov report "Theater of Shadows" looks at the armed conflict between Hamas and the Israeli army; p 9 (800 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Olga Bozhyeva and Yulia Kalinina article headlined "End to Serdyukov Was Visible From Very Beginning" says that the paper predicted the dismissal of Anatoly Serdyukov from the post of the Defense Minister several years ago; pp 1, 4 (2,923 words).

2. Pavel Chuvilyayev article headlined "State People" says that managers receiving the highest salaries work in state-controlled companies in Russia; pp 1-2 (512 words).

3. Marina Ozerova report "Where Was New Law on Media Lost?" looks at a meeting between the State Duma information policy committee with heads of Russia's largest mass media outlets; p 2 (550 words).

4. Anastasia Rodionova interview headlined "Udaltsov Will Collect Fine in Coins" with Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov; p 2 (500 words).

5. Georgy Mirsky report "No One Needs Ground Operation" looks at the armed conflict between the Israeli army and Hamas; p 3 500 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Article by economic expert Yakov Mirkin headlined "Project 'Russia 3.0'" comments on economic development forecast for Russia drafted by the Institute of the World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences; pp 1, 6 (1,206 words).

2. Vladislav Kulikov article headlined "Get Paid, Your Honor" says the State Duma is revising the law on judges' salaries; pp 1, 7 (606 words).

3. Leonid Radzikhovsky article headlined "Resettlement of People" looks at ethnic problems of Russia; p 3 (844 words).

4. Yevgeny Shestakov article headlined "Halfway to Peace" says that the current conflict in Gaza will be settled within two to four weeks and will not result in a large-scale war; p 8 (614 words).

5. Vladislav Vorobyev article headlined "Lavrov Stays on Ground" reports on Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's visit to Cambodia to take part in the East Asia Summit; p 8 (614 words).

6. Viktor Feshchenko article headlined "It Becomes Uncomfortable in London" says that Google, Starbucks and Amazon are withdrawing money they have made from the U.K. because the country's authorities have declared a war on transnational companies; p 8 (521 words).

RBK Daily

1. Yulia Yakovleva article headlined "They Turn Away From Fame" says the jailed members of the Pussy Riot punk group have replaced their lawyers. Irina Khrunova from the Agora human rights NGO will now represent the interests of the girls; p 2 (400 words).

2. Alexander Litoi article headlined "Payment for Repression" says the Russian opposition is urging Mars, L'Oreal, Nestle and other Western companies to stop advertising their products on NTV as the TV company has become a "tool of political repression"; p 8 (500 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Yelena Krivyakina interview with the chairman of the State Duma's newly established committee on information policy, information technology and communications, Alexei Mitrofanov; pp 16-17 (2,100 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Viktor Ruchkin article headlined "At Last Line" comments on the last developments in the conflict between Israel and Gaza Strip, analyzing the combat operation codenamed Pillar of Cloud; pp 1, 3 (1,000 words).

2. Alexander Alexanderov interview with the Russian president's special envoy to Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov on NATO military presence in Afghanistan; p 3 (1,600 words).

Nov. 20, 2012/BBC Monitoring/©BBC

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