What the Papers Say, Nov. 28, 2012

Kommersant

1. Alexei Sokovnin article headlined "Carelessness Above All" says Dagestani martial arts champion Rasul Mirzayev, accused of dealing a fatal blow to Russian student Ivan Agafonov in a nightclub brawl in 2011, has been set free in the courtroom as he has already served his term. The police are getting ready for mass disturbances by nationalists; pp 1, 5 (1,278 words).

2. Anna Pushkarskaya article headlined "Mass Protest Grows Into Constitutional One" says the Russian Constitutional Court has started considering the law on rallies; pp 1, 3 (735 words).

3. Yelena Kiseleva article headlined "Tomorrow at Tiffany" says that the Russian diamonds manufacturer Alrosa is to sign a long-term contract with Tiffany. The deal means that Russia will export more high-quality diamonds than sell on the domestic market; pp 1, 9 (706 words).

4. Vladislav Novy and Vitaliy Gaydayev article headlined "MegaFon Carries Out Tariff Plan" says that the Russian mobile phone operator MegaFon is getting ready for its London IPO and has been estimated at $11.2 billion; pp 1, 12 (594 words).

5. Ivan Safronov article headlined "Sergei Shoigu Corrects Predecessor's Sight" says new Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has held his first meeting of the ministry's board dedicated to the combat readiness of the Russian Armed Forces; p 2 (571 words).

6. Natalya Gorodetskaya article headlined "Federation Council to Take Part in Elections" says the Federation Council is to approve the bill on election of its members today; p 2 (599 words).

7. Natalya Bashlykova et al. report headlined "Former Governors Prepared for Action" says that former governors, remaining popular in the regions where they worked, are expected to be encouraged to more actively participate in the regional political life; p 2 (602 words).

8. Taisia Bekbulatova report "Dmitry Medvedev Fails to Find Repression in Internet" says that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev does not consider as repressive the Russian law that regulates the internet and introduces blacklists of websites; p 3 (500 words).

9. Grigory Tumanov article headlined "Left Front Made Equal With Law" says the Moscow prosecutor's office has given Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov two months to improve the organization's statute. The opposition believes that the prosecutors' demands may become grounds for closing the movement; p 4 (429 words).

10. Sergei Goryashko report "Patriotism Closes Way for Migrants" says that the poll conducted by the Levada Center has shown that two-thirds of Russians believe that the number of migrants must be reduced in the country; p 4 (600 words).

11. Sergei Mashkin article headlined "Embezzlement in Oboronservis Investigated Without Anatoly Serdyukov" says the investigation does not plan to question former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov as part of the probe into the Oboronservis corruption case; p 6 (517 words).

12. Alexander Reutov article headlined "Nuclear Sample Taken From Yasser Arafat's Remains" says that a group of international experts are trying to establish whether late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has been poisoned by polonium; p 7 (463 words).

13. Yelena Chernenko article headlined "European Union Extends Cancellation of Visas" says Moscow has accused the EU of delaying talks on visa free travel; p 7 (708 words).

14. Pavel Belavin report "Post Found for Yelena Myasnikova" says that Yelena Myasnikova, former head of the publishing house Sanoma Independent Media, has been appointed vice-president of the media holding company RBK; p 12 (600 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Ivan Rodin and Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Valery Zorkin's Constitutional Ethics" says the Russian Constitutional Court is hearing a complaint by the Russian opposition against the new law on rallies; pp 1, 3 (934 words).

2. Svetlana Gamova article headlined "Peacekeepers Offered to Lay Down Arms" says the Transdnestr republic authorities expect Russia to allocate more money for the local armed forces in 2013. Moldova opposes the plans; pp 1, 7 (730 words).

3. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Pinpoint Hitting Justice" says the police cordoned off three squares in the centre of Moscow on Nov. 27 as mass disturbances were expected after the Dagestani martial arts champion charged with killing a Russian student had been set free in the courtroom; pp 1, 3 (728 words).

4. Igor Naumov article headlined "Rosstat Pledges Credible Census in 2020" says the State Statistics Service plans to impose fines on individuals who refuse to take part in the general census in 2020. At the same time, the agency is going to introduce new technologies of handling information; pp 1, 4 (733 words).

5. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Price Grows, Transit Falls" says Ukraine is trying to defend its right to buy less fuel in Russia via the European Energy Community. Meanwhile, Gazprom is unlikely to be fined if less gas is pumped through the Ukrainian gas transportation system; pp 1, 7 (890 words).

6. Svetlana Gavrilina article headlined "Specially Guarded VIP Territory in St. Petersburg" says that a number of local deputies are displeased with the authorities' plans to make Kamenny Island a specially protected nature reserve inaccessible to general public; pp 1-2 (561 words).

7. Editorial headlined "3D School of Future Crimes" says the Russian penal system does not correct people's behavior and serves only to intimidate the population; p 2 (534 words).

8. Alexandra Samarina et al. report headlined "Bloc for Blocs" says State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin will meet representatives of non-parliamentary parties on Nov. 30 to discuss prospects to allow political forces to create alliances and blocs during election campaigns; p 3 (726 words).

9. Yury Paniyev article headlined "Putin to Raise Visa Issue" says President Vladimir Putin is said to raise the issue of visa-free travel at the Russian-EU summit in December; p 8 (782 words).

10. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "Japanese Army Grows Muscles" says that Japanese rightists are calling for an end to the country's pacifism as the territorial disagreement with China is escalating; p 8 (547 words).

11. Nikolai Surkov article headlined "Experts Follow Polonium Trace" says that a group of international experts including Russian ones have taken part in the exhumation of the body of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to find out if he was poisoned by polonium; p 8 (609 words).

Vedomosti

1. Tatyana Voronova et al. report headlined "It Will Be a Pity if Turbanov Leaves" says that Alexander Turbanov, deputy head of the Insurance Agency, may be replaced by United Russia lawmaker Yury Isayev early next year; p 1 (584 words).

2. Maxim Tovkailo and Ksenia Dokukina article headlined "Test for Conflict" says that another corruption scandal is to break in the Russian energy sector. The check of MRSK Tsentr has revealed a large number of violations in carrying out purchases; pp 1, 3 (701 words).

3. Oleg Salmanov et al. report headlined "Money Losing IPO" says the mobile phone operator MegaFon is to lose money on its own IPO because the shares it is to sell have been bought from Altimo for the price that is 20 percent higher than the currently offered sum; p 1 (500 words).

4. Editorial headlined "Margin of Unemployed One" reviews the Russian government's plans to reduce welfare payments for jobless people as unemployment is low in the country; pp 1, 4 (521 words).

5. Another editorial headlined "Story About 2 Cities" says Moscow has to learn from London the way to treat foreigners. London is making millions on so-called "legal tourism" and immigration of rich businessmen; p 4 (311 words).

6. Maria Zheleznova article headlined "Figure of Week: 500,000 Rubles" comments on Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's proposal to impose hefty fines for drunk driving; p 4 (311 words).

7. Irina Novikova report "Feelings to Be Checked" says that it has been decided to postpone until spring the bill introducing responsibility for insulting believers' feelings; p 2 (700 words).

8. Alexei Nikolsky report "Witness Skrynnik" says that the TV channel Rossia 1 has showed a film about corruption at the Agriculture Ministry; p 2 (500 words).

9. Anastasia Golitsyna report "Blacklist Looks for Editor" says that the Federal Service for Supervision in Telecommunications, Information Technology and Mass Communications (Roskomnadzor) is not coping with compiling the blacklist of harmful websites; p 7 (550 words).

Izvestia

1. Margarita Kazantseva article headlined "FSB Demands Combat Readiness from Russkoye More" says the Federal Security Service (FSB) has approved participation of Gennady Timchenko's Russkaya Rybnaya Kompania in the privatization of the Arkhangelsk Trawl Fleet, as the deal does not threaten Russia's national security; pp 1, 4 (672 words).

2. Dmitry Yevstifeyev article headlined "Promoters Prepare Career for Rasul Mirzayev" says that organizers of ultimate fights are ready to organize new competitions for Dagestani martial arts champion Rasul Mirzayev, who has just been freed; pp 1, 4 (583 words).

3. Article by State Duma lawmaker and former successful athlete Alina Kabayeva headlined "Line Must Not Be Crossed" speaks on the bill she has drafted and submitted to the State Duma, banning media from naming victims of pedophiles; pp 1, 10 (616 words).

4. Unattributed article headlined "Public TV Concept Lacks Money" says the planned presentation of the Public TV concept scheduled for December will be postponed due to problems with financing; p 2 (476 words).

5. Alexei Mikhailov article headlined "Insurance From 'Kaczynski Catastrophe' Created for Russian Navy" says that a new system of landing aircraft in bad condition is being developed in Russia; it will help the navy aviation; p 2 (506 words).

6. Olga Zhermeleva report "They Demand That Shoigu Sharply Increase Conscription from Dagestan" says that 11 State Duma deputies from Dagestan have written an appeal to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu saying that more men from the republic should be called up to the Armed Forces; p 2 (600 words).

7. Yury Matsarskiy article headlined "Arafat Consolidates Islamic World Again" says that a group of specialists from Russia, France and Switzerland have exhumed the remains of Yasser Arafat to check them for polonium; p 5 (600 words).

8. Leonid Zlotin report "Cursed Thoughts, Undercover Thoughts" looks at Medvedev's interview with French journalists and at his political prospects; p 10 (700 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Olga Dmitriyeva article headlined "Europe to Be Blamed for Everything" says three adopted children have been seized from a British couple who are members of the party calling for the UK's withdrawal from the EU and tougher migration policy; pp 1, 8 (643 words).

2. Fedor Lukyanov article headlined "Stop Feeding Strangers?" analyzes the growing separatist sentiments in the EU; p 3 (670 words).

3. Viktor Feshchenko article headlined "Arafat: Body as Case" reports on the exhumation of the body of Yasser Arafat; p 8 (764 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Mikhail Rostovsky article headlined "Mirzayev Released, Questions Remain" says that the verdict to Rasul Mirzayev has split Russian society; pp 1, 3 (947 words).

2. Irina Bobrova article headlined "Riot of '6th One'" reports on the situation in the prison after a mutiny of its inmates in Kopeisk, the Chelyabinsk region; pp 1, 4 (1,692 words).

3. Mikhail Zubov article headlined "Senator, Do Not Make Letterhead Paper Dirty" criticizes plans to develop the so-called ethics code for senators, as it will not stop violations by the Russian Federation Council members; pp 1-2 (502 words).

4. Article by economic expert Mikhail Delyagin headlined "Collective Serdyukov Not Under Jurisdiction of Courts" says former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov is likely to escape prosecution; p 3 (1,174 words).

5. Mikhail Zubov article headlined "Single Note of High-Profile Cases" polls political analysts who speak on the ongoing anticorruption campaign in Russia; p 4 (2,066 words).

6. Ignat Kalinin report "Defense Ministry Does Not Drastically Change Course" looks at the board meeting of the Defense Ministry; p 2 (500 words).

RBK Daily

1. Yevgeniy Basmanov article headlined "Banker for Obama" reports on the planned resignation of U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner and tries to predict who will replace him; pp 1, 5 (400 words).

2. Alexander Litoi article headlined "They Managed to Do Without Extremism" says the prosecutor's office has not found the actions of the Left Front opposition movement to be extremist. The opposition, however, expects the tightening of the screws after their protest on Dec. 15; p 3 (550 words).

3. Katerina Kitayeva article headlined "Sergei Minayev Ready to Go on Air" says TV presenter Sergei Minayev, producer Artak Gasparyan and former NTV chief editor Anton Krasovsky are launching their online information and entertainment channel Kontr TV; p 12 (500 words).

4. Anastasia Novikova article headlined "Opposition Had Enough of 'Merry-Go-Round'" says that Russian State Duma opposition factions have proposed to introduce criminal responsibility for ballot stuffing during elections; p 3 (500 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Yulia Polukhina interview with Georgian politician Giorgi Targamadze, speaking on the scandalous NTV film alleging that he plotted a coup in Russia; pp 8-9 (2,970 words).

2. Yulia Latynina article headlined "Generous Prime Minister" says that Medvedev's proposal to raise fines for drunk driving will only give rise to more corruption; p 7 (719 words).

3. Andrei Sukhotin article headlined "Cleaning of Budget Money" looks at fraud cases within the Slavyanka joint stock company related to scandal involving the Russian Defense Ministry; p 10 (1,100 words).

Moskovskiye Novosti

1. Vasily Kolotilov article headlined "Circus Without Horses" reports on the first day of the Cossack patrols in Moscow; p 3 (800 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Yevgeny Arsyukhin article headlined "What Is Former Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik Accused of" says that Russian state TV has attacked Skrynnik over fraud in the ministry; pp 1, 10 (700 words).

2. Alexander Grishin article headlined "Vasilyeva Will Be Questioned in Her Flat" says that the former head of the Defense Ministry's property department, Yevgenia Vasilyeva, will not leave her flat and investigators will have to come to her place in order to question her; p 5 (400 words).

Nov. 28, 2012/BBC Monitoring/©BBC 

Related articles:

• What the Papers Say, Nov. 27, 2012
• What the Papers Say, Nov. 26, 2012
• What the Papers Say, Nov. 23, 2012