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What the Papers Say, Nov. 27, 2012

Igor Tabakov

Kommersant

1. Khalil Aminov article headlined "VEB Covers Krasnaya Polyana" says that businessman Vladimir Potanin is giving his developers company as a pledge for a VEB bank loan. The money is allocated for construction of a resort in Sochi for the Winter Olympics in 2014; p 1 (680 words).

2. Taisia Bekbulatova and Maxim Ivanov article headlined "Federal Assembly Address to Be Explained on Dec. 20" says President Vladimir Putin is expected to make his Federal Assembly address on 12 December and hold a large news conference on Dec. 20 to speak on the key points of his address; pp 1-2 (651 words).

3. Ivan Safronov article headlined "No State Corporation Observed in Roskosmos" outlines the Russian space sector development plans made public at the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev; pp 1, 3 (541 words).

4. Olga Shestopal et al. report headlined "Bookkeeping in Accordance With Criminal Standards" says that Russian bankers may soon face criminal responsibility for forging their accounts, as the Finance Ministry has drafted a relevant bill; pp 1, 9 (686 words).

5. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "Moscow to Receive G20 in St. Petersburg" reports on preparations for the G20 summit to be held in St. Petersburg; p 2 (776 words).

6. Arina Borodina article headlined "Conversation With Dmitry Medvedev Will Be Broadcast Live" says Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is to be interviewed by journalists from five TV channels on Dec. 7; p 2 (592 words).

7. Yelena Chernenko article headlined "Vladimir Putin Approves International Traffic" says that Putin plans to go on four visits abroad in December 2012: to Turkey, Turkmenistan, Belgium and India; p 2 (491 words).

8. Anna Pushkarskaya article headlined "Vladislav Surkov Starts Dealing With Officials" says the head of the Russian government staff Vladislav Surkov has started checking the way government officials are implementing Constitutional Court rulings; p 3 (600 words).

9. Anna Pushkarskaya interview with the Russian presidential envoy to the Constitutional Court, Mikhail Krotov, explaining why officials ignore the court's rulings; p 3 (523 words).

10. Irina Nagornykh article headlined "Either Changes, or One Thing Out of 2" says acting Moscow Region governor Andrei Vorobyov has unveiled his development plans for the region, which is considered to be his election platform; p 3 (617 words).

11. Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "Pentagon Fills Mediterranean Sea" says the U.S.A. has deployed additional forces to the Mediterranean Sea: around 2,500 marines were sent to four warships by the Israeli coast; p 6 (543 words).

12. Sergei Strokan article headlined "Afghan Operation Prepared for New Conclusion" says U.S. President Barack Obama is shaping his Afghan strategy as the NATO forces are to leave the region in 2014; p 6 (464 words).

13. Yegor Popov et al. report "They Say Hello to Russia in WTO" says that a EU representative in the WTO has voiced a complaint in relation to Russia's failure to observe the organization's rules; p 8 (750 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Mikhail Sergeyev article headlined "Prime Minister's Privatization Games" comments on Medvedev's interview with French journalists, in which he has not made clear the Russian government's economic plans; pp 1-2 (862 words).

2. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Ukraine Hands Over Strategic Facilities to Private Owners" says that part of the Ukrainian port infrastructure may be privatized and partly rented. Russian and US businessmen are said to be interested in the plans; pp 1, 6 (727 words).

3. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "EU Threatens to Enlarge Magnitsky List" says the European parliamentarians are going to ask Putin a number of uneasy questions on human rights violations in the country. They are drafting a list of unwanted Russian officials involved in various violations including the Pussy Riot trial; pp 1, 3 (644 words).

4. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Guards Sent to Heating Pipelines" says the corruption scandal in Oboronservis has made military commanders in Chita send servicemen to guard heating pipelines as a strategic facility and thus prevent providers of public utilities services from cutting heating supply to military units; pp 1, 3 (515 words).

5. Viktoria Panfilova article headlined "Brussels Strengthens Its Positions in Central Asia" says Catherine Ashton, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, has started a Central Asian tour. The EU is concerned about Russia's influence in the region and is developing a new cooperation agreement with Central Asian countries; pp 1, 6 (614 words).

6. Tatyana Dvoynova article headlined "Governor and Mayor Quarrel in Public" says an argument between Primorye region Governor Vladimir Miklushevsky and Vladivostok Mayor Igor Pushkarev over the planned privatization of the Primvodokanal water supplier and the Primteploenergo energy provider has shown that a mayoral election campaign has begun in the city; pp 1, 5 (792 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Nobody Wants to Be Lame Duck" says that both Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin seem to plan to get elected Russian president in five years; p 2 (522 words.

8. Ivan Rodin article headlined "FSB Knows Illegal Migrants by Sight" reports on a new bill drafted by the Federal Security Service to punish the foreigners who were denied entry into Russia and forged their documents to visit the country; p 3 (557 words).

9. Igor Naumov article headlined "Skrynnik Kays Claim on Serdyukov's Laurels" says that the TV channel Rossia 1 is to show a film about the activities of former Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik as part of the ongoing anti-corruption campaign; p 4 (693 words).

10. Artur Blinov article headlined "Washington and Kabul Discuss Plans for Period After 2014" says around 10,000 U.S. servicemen will stay in Afghanistan after NATO withdraws its forces from the country; p 7 (555 words).

11. Nikolai Surkov report "Egypt Is One Step From Fresh Bloodshed" says that the Egyptian president's supporters and opponents are getting ready for new clashes; p 7 (600 words).

12. Yury Solomonov interview with head of research at the Higher School of Economics, Yevgeny Yasin; p 13 (1,500 words).

Vedomosti

1. Natalya Bianova and Tatyana Voronova article headlined "Absolute Blagosostoyanie" says that Absolyut Bank is to be sold to the Blagosostoyanie pension fund owned by Russian Railways; p 1 (723 words).

2. Irina Kezik article headlined "Gas Independence" says Ukraine is declaring energy independence from Russia as an LNG facility is to be built in Odessa; pp 1, 8 (649 words).

3. Bela Lyauv et al. report headlined "More Than With Shoigu" says the Moscow region is to get an additional 30 billion rubles ($1 billion) in funding for road construction; p 1 (371 words).

4. Editorial headlined "Parade of Sovereignties" looks at sovereignty trends in Europe as Catalonia is seeking independence from Spain and Scotland from the U.K.; pp 1, 4 (511 words).

5. Irina Novikova and Natalya Kostenko article headlined "Protest No Longer Topical" says that no critical questions are expected to be raised at Putin's meeting with the leaders of the State Duma factions; p 2 (457 words)

6. Bela Lyauv report headlined "Stripes at Railway Station" says that Moscow Cossacks want to expand their patrol zone in the city. Police and officials say they know nothing about this; p 2 (500 words).

7. Another editorial headlined "Lawyers' Country" comments on a study that links school leavers' choice of future profession with human rights and business guarantees in society. It turns out that young people in authoritarian countries prefer to study law rather than science; p 4 (271 words).

8. Alexei Levinson report "They Behave Like Owners" looks at the problem of nationalism in Russia; p 4 (550 words).

9. Roman Dorokhov report "List's Habit" says that Google, whose service has been put in the list of banned websites for the third time over the week, is displeased with its cooperation with Roskomnadzor (Federal Service for Supervision in Telecommunications, Information Technology and Mass Communications); p 11 (500 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Yelena Mishina interview headlined "Almshouse as Extreme Measure" with Deputy Labor Minister Alexei Vovchenko speaking on a bill allowing businesses to be engaged in providing people with social services; pp 1, 5 (722 words).

2. Vyacheslav Prokofyev article headlined "Ready to Be Maximum Helpful" says that French Senator Jean-Pierre Chevenement has been appointed the French Foreign Ministry's special envoy to Russia; he is to visit Moscow in early December; p 8 (635 words).

3. Vsevolod Ovchinnikov article headlined "Main Task of 5th Generation" outlines the tasks and challenges the new Chinese leadership is facing; p 8 (729 words).

4. Viktor Feshchenko article headlined "Truth About Arafat" says that Russian experts are to take part in the exhumation of the body of Yasser Arafat as traces of polonium have been found on his clothing; p 8 (590 words).

Izvestia

1. Anastasia Alexeyevskikh article headlined "Finance Ministry to Control Foreign Credits of State Corporations" says the Russian Finance Ministry is to control the credit policy of state corporations; pp 1, 4 (858 words).

2. Alexei Mikhailov article headlined "General Staff Asks Shoigu to Set Up 'Commandos'" says the General Staff and the Main Intelligence Directorate have asked Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to set up the special operations command to operate in emergency situations abroad; pp 1, 4 (552 words).

3. Vladimir Dergachev article headlined "All-Russia People's Front Comes Out Against Dmitry Medvedev's Initiative" says that lawmakers and public organizations in Russia have spoken out against the proposal by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to raise fines for drunk driving up to 500,000 rubles ($16,000); pp 1-2 (972 words).

4. Yelizaveta Mayetnaya and Gennady Zubov article headlined "Its Own Magnitsky May Appear in Oboronservis Case" says that one of the suspects in the Oboronservis corruption case, Dmitry Mityayev, has been transferred to a prison hospital as he reportedly has a serious heart disease; pp 1, 4 (935 words).

5. Pyotr Kozlov article headlined "FSB to Teach Future Officials How to Use Internet" says that the special courses for the students of Moscow leading universities, who are likely to become officials, will teach them to work in social networks without violating security regulations; p 2 (512 words).

6. Vladimir Gusev article headlined "Ketchum Continues Work on Russia's Image" says the Kremlin has prolonged a contract with the U.S. company Ketchum engaged in shaping Russia's image abroad; p 3 (530 words).

7. Anastasia Alexeyevskikh article headlined "Central Bank Instructs Banks to Spy on 'Foreign Agents'" says that the Central Bank has issued instructions for banks obliging them to report on operations with the NGOs that receive funds from abroad; p 3 (600 words).

8. Yanina Sokolovskaya interview with Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan speaking on the Customs Union, relations with Russia and European integration; p 5 (579 words).

9. Igor Yavlyansky article headlined "Judges Rebel Against President in Egypt" says the powerful union of judges has called for a national strike against controversial rulings by the president allowing him to control courts; p 5 (540 words).

10. Stanislav Khotuntsev report "2nd Election Campaign and Strike on Iran" looks at the situation in the Middle East; p 9 (700 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Alexander Minkin article headlined "Prime Minister Casts in Granite Again" says Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has made it clear in his interview with French journalists that he would like to return to the president's post; pp 1-2 (1,119 words).

2. Darya Fedotova article headlined "3 Days Without Right to Correspondence" says that neither relatives of prisoners nor rights activists can find out what is going on in the prison in Kopeisk after a mutiny broke out there; pp 1, 3 (530 words).

3. Alexei Lebedev article headlined "2 Troubles: Fools and Money" slams Russian football club owners for their ill-thought-out policy; pp 1, 8 (293 words).

4. Yekaterina Petukhova report "Verdict to Peoples' Friendship?" says that the verdict on Rasul Mirzayev, a martial arts champion charged with killing a student, will be pronounced today; pp 1, 4 (1,700 words).

5. Vladislav Inozemtsev article headlined "Time to Leave" analyzes the U.S. and EU government support to the agrarian sector and slams Russian officials for their failure to help domestic farmers; p 3 (1,200 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Anastasia Maltseva article headlined "Limit of Possibilities" says that more platforms popular among bloggers and online libraries are being closed in Russia as part of the new measures against the so-called harmful content on the Internet; p 1 (565 words).

2. Nadezhda Krasilova article headlined "Lessons of Survival" says that the Russian NGOs affected by the bill on foreign financing have to ask people for help. For example, Moscow Helsinki Group has asked Russians for financial support not to get registered as a foreign agent; p 2 (536 words).

3. Vera Moslakova article headlined "Less and Less Possible" quotes pundits as saying that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev does not have much chance of being re-elected president; p 2 (300 words).

4. Margarita Alyokhina article headlined "Mystery Beyond Barbed Wire" says that human right activists are still unable to get objective information from the Kopeisk prison; p 5 (600 words).

RBK Daily

1. Yulia Yakovleva article headlined "Court Non-Stop" says the argument between Pussy Riot punk group members and their former lawyers is likely to end up in a lawsuit; p 2 (400 words).

2. Interview with acting Moscow region Governor Andrei Vorobyov speaking on his plans to take part in the governor election; p 3 (400 words).

3. Polina Stroganova article headlined "BP to Join Nord Stream" says BP is conducting talks with Gazprom over participation in the Nord Stream project; p 6 (450 words).

4. Ivan Petrov and Alexander Litoi article headlined "Support 'From Outside'" says that according to a preliminary investigation, the relatives of inmates were the cause of unrest in a prison in Kopeisk; however, Chelyabinsk region Governor Mikhail Yurevich blames the Federal Penal Service instead; p 2 (450 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Viktor Baranets article headlined "Former Official Asks to Remain Under House Arrest With Private Cook, Hairdresser and Ability to Visit Theater" investigates the latest developments in the case of Yevgenia Vasilyeva, former head of the Defense Ministry's property department; pp 1, 7 (700 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Viktor Ruchkin article headlined "Kurds Strike Back" looks at the situation in the northeast of Syria; p 3 (800 words).

Nov. 27, 2012/BBC Monitoring/©BBC 

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