What the Papers Say, Jan. 21, 2013

Kommersant

1. Maria Yakovleva article headlined "You have got a hope for Cayman" says the Cayman islands risk losing their status of the tax haven as the local authorities want to oblige the companies registered there to make the manes of their directors public; pp 1, 8 (947 words).

2. Anna Pushkarskaya and Darya Nikolayeva article headlined "Forensic medicine" says the Russian president's administrative department wants to relocate a public hospital in St Petersburg to open a hospital for senior judges moving to the city. The plans have already caused controversy in the city; pp 1-2 (892 words).

3. Sergei Goryashko article headlined "Public TV has no funds for broadcast" says the newly-set-up Public TV could not start broadcasting in Russia on 17 January as previously planned due to financial problems; pp 1, 3 (640 words).

4. Anna Petrova and Khalil Aminov article headlined "Investors laying claims for Olympics" says developers are asking the Russian authorities to cancel the moratorium on housing construction in Sochi which comes into effect in January 2013 ahead of the Olympic games; pp 1, 7 (609 words).

5. Viktor Khamraeyv article headlined "Mixed legitimacy system prepared for governors" says the State Duma will soon start working on new regulations for gubernatorial elections which may be substituted by the nomination of governors in some regions; p 2 (888 worlds).

6. Sergei Mashkin article headlined "He recently wanted only rest" reports on the funeral of criminal leader Aslan Usoyan also known as Grandpa Khasan in Moscow; p 4 (1,402 words).

7. Maxim Yusin article headlined "Algerian plant works for war" says the recent developments in Algeria and the role of the country's secret services in the operation to free hostages will make the country involved in the counterterrorism operation in Mali; p 6 (512 words).

8. Sergei Strokan article headlined "Islands without right to hand them over" says the USA has taken the Japanese side in the territorial dispute with China; p 6 (506 words).

9. Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "Hassids ready to negotiate for free" says the U.S. Hassids will not insist on Russia's paying a hefty fine for the failure to handover the Schneerson Library, as the US court ruled. The religious group is ready to look for a peaceful way out of the conflict; p 6 (527 words).

10. Yelena Bolshakova and Ivan Safronov article headlined "Mikhail Sapego did not pass space check" says the head of the Arsenal design office has been removed; p 3 ( 550 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Vladimir Churov's magic technologies" says the Russian opposition are afraid that the use of computer technologies in the voting will make it impossible for observers to monitor the election process; pp 1, 3 (843 words).

2. Vladimir Ivanov article headlined "Pentagon quantum trick" compares the uniform of the Russian servicemen with the camouflage used by the Pentagon; pp 1-2 (918 words).

3. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Uniform handed out to front" says the All-Russia People's Front is to hold its congress in March, President Putin is to attend it to discuss the national issue; pp 1, 3 (768 words).

4. Anastasia Bashkatova and Igor Naumov article headlined "Recipe to fight with poverty prescribed for Russia" says the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which Russia has been dreaming to join for 16 years, has advised Moscow to change its flat taxation rate and invest more money in healthcare; pp 1, 4 (851 words).

5. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Yulia Tymoshenko faces life sentence in prison" says former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko serving her prison sentence is being suspected of involvement into contract killing; pp 1, 6 (873 words).

6. Sergei Arkhipov article headlined "Non-ballet story" gives details of the attack on Sergey Filin, artistic ballet director of Bolshoi Theater; pp 1-2 (734 words).

7. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Mediterranean blitzkrieg of Russian fleet" says the Russian navy exercise has started in the Back Sea and the Mediterranean Sea; p 2 (530 words).

8. Editorial headlined "Prematurity of catastrophic conclusions" looks into the prospects for Gazprom at the European energy market which do not look too bright due to the economic crisis; p 2 (542 words).

9. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Moscow and Baku clash at Greek market" says Gazprom is not certain to win the fight with Baku over the Greek gas company. The USA and the EU are supporting Azerbaijan in the issue; p 4 (850 words).

10. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "Japan creates anti-Chinese block in Asia" says the Japanese prime minister has visited Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia trying to enlist support to the countries in its territorial standoff with China; p 6 (491 words).

11. Artur Blinov article headlined "Barack Obama takes oath for second time" outlines the challenges U.S. President Barack Obama is facing during his second term in office; p 9 (1,127 words).

12. Nikolai Surkov article headlined "Arab Spring helps Islamic radicals" says the West has made a mistake when supporting Islamic radicals in their fight with the Middle East regimes. They are using the weapon which cannot be controlled, the author warns; p 9 (978 words).

13. Article by Russian president's special envoy for cooperation with African countries Mikhail Margelov entitled "Sahel may turn into big Somalia" says the integrity of many African states is under threat; p 10 (1, 000 words).

Vedomosti

1. Maxim Tovkaylo and Yelizaveta Sergina article headlined "Officials left without boards" says top government officials Igor Shuvalov and Arkady Dvorkovich have succeeded in preventing the return of officials to the board of directors of state controlled companies; pp 1, 4 (986 words).

2. Irina Mokrousova and Irina Reznik article headlined "Man with resource" looks into lobbying talent of businessman and Putin's crony Gennadiy Timchenko; pp 1, 20 (4,700 words).

3. Editorial headlined "Cemetery of interests" says the funeral of criminal leader Grandpa Khasan resembled the funeral of a public figure or celebrity in Moscow; pp 1, 6 (400 words).

4. Another editorial headlined "Harbor empty" says businessmen do not hurry to register their companies in Russia and still prefer off-shore registration; p 8 (274 words).

5. Irina Novikova and Polina Khimiashvili article headlined "Lavrov's list" saysMoscow has drafted a list of US citizens who will be denied entry to Russia, there are no well-known political figures in it; p 2 (493 words).

6. Konstantin Sonin commentary headlined "Rules of game: Obama's lessons" reviews U.S. President Barack Obama's policy ahead of his second term in office; p 7 (425 words).

7. Margarita Lyutova article headlined "Globalization bypasses Russia" says Russia is having difficulties to become part of the global economy because of bad investment climate and political risks; p 4 (400 words).

8. Yelana Khodyakova article headlined "Europe overtrades gas" says Gazprom will hardly make any profit out of Europe's peak gas prices; p 11 (550 words).

Izvestia

1. Anna Lyalyakina article headlined "Russia to make over R6bn [200m dollars] on selling Olympic tickets" reviews the price of Sochi Olympics tickets; pp 1-2 (994 words).

2. Ivan Cheberko article headlined "Defense Ministry starts using GLONASS" says the Russian Defense Ministry has signed the document outing GLONASS, Russia's navigation system, into operation; pp 1, 4 (527 words).

3. Alexander Yunashev article headlined "Ambulance to be handed over to private owners" says an experiment allowing private companies to run ambulance services starts in 15 Russian regions, the federal government approved the project; pp 1, 4 (522 words).

4. Alena Sivkova article headlined "Foreign Ministry to help hold Seliger in France" says the Russian Foreign Ministry has backed the initiative by the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs to organize the Seliger pro-Kremlin youth camp abroad; pp 1-2 (661 words).

5. Svetlana Subbotina interview with One Russia MP Aleksandr Sidyakin recently ousted from the post of the coordinator of Volga Federal District in the All-Russia People's Front allegedly due to his comments on the Dima Yakovlev law; p 2 (525 words).

6. Svetlana Subbotina article headlined "They see foreign agency in chess player Karpov" says a group of Russian Parliamentarians have asked the Justice Ministry to check the work of former chess champion Anatoly Karpov as his activity reportedly violated the law on foreign-funded NGOs; p 4 (476 words).

7. Ivan Afanasyev article headlined "Barack Obama's second term promises historical decisions" says US President Barack Obama whose second term in office begins plans to defeat the gun lobby and to resolve the immigration problem; p 7 (1,211 words).

8. Igor Karaulov article headlined "Shadow of Azef" looks at the suicide of opposition activist Alexander Dolmatov; p 9 (800 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Yevgeny Shestakov article headlined "Arab Spring gives metastasis" says the tragic death of hostages is a result of the recent developments in the Middle East known as the Arab Spring; p 5 (300 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Andrei Yashlavsky interview with Alexei Pushkov, head of the State Duma's foreign affairs committee, speaking on Russian-U.S. relations; pp 1, 3 (1,206 words).

2. Yulia Lakinina article headlined "Fuss around Khasan" criticizes the Georgian authorities for their decision banning the funeral of Russian criminal leader Usoyan in Tbilisi; pp 1, 5 (417 words).

3. Melor Sturua article headlined article headlined "Inauguration in two steps" reports on the second presidential inauguration of Barack Obama; p 3 (1,776 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Alexandrr Pumpyansky article headlined "Vietnamese hangover" analyses the political situation in the USA as Barack Obama's second presidential term begins; p 14 (1,168 words).

2. Yulia Latynina article headlined "Their universities" says U.S. millionaires donate money on education while Russian billionaires buy foreign and Russian football clubs; p 6 (535 words).

3. Irek Murtazin article headlined "Navalny under supervision" looks into charges brought by the Russian Investigations Committee against opposition activist Alexei Navalny; p 10 (675 words).

4. Alexander Mineyev article headlined "Negligence or attempted draft?" looks at the death of Russian opposition activist Alexander Dolmatov in the Netherlands; p 8 (600 words).

RBK Daily

1. Ivan Petrov article headlined "Influence of authority" says the murder of criminal leader Usoyan may help the Russian Interior Ministry revive departments fighting against organized crime; p 2 (500 words).

2. Anastasia Fomicheva article headlines "Spam in law" says the new law on communications should stop the practice of spam text messages; pp 1, 10 (400 words).

Novyye Izvestia

1. Nadezhda Krasilova interview with member of the presidential human rights council Irina Khakamada, commenting on the council's decision to prepare a new draft of the bill on protection of believers' feelings; pp 1-2 (500 words).

2. Danil Lykov and Anastasia Maltseva article headlined "All the best to adults" says socially important institutions get more often expelled from "attractive" buildings and looks at the 20 January rally in St. Petersburg where people protested against the closure of an oncological hospital for children; pp 1, 5 (1,000 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Alexander Kots article headlined "Who pushed 'Bolotnaya fugitive' into loop?" analyses the "mysterious suicide" of opposition activist Alexander Dolmatov in the Netherlands; pp 6-7 (2,200 words).

Moskovskie Novosti

1. Pundit Fedor Lukyanov comments in article headlined "Reset. Requiem" on prospects of Russian-U.S. relations during Barack Obama's second presidential term; pp 6-7 in Big Politics supplement (900 words).

Jan. 21, 2013/BBC Monitoring/©BBC