What the Papers Say, Jan. 22, 2013

Kommersant

1. Khalil Animov and Yekaterina Gerashchenko article headlined "Money for meters" says that the Moscow city Duma wants to pass a law allowing the city mayor's office to sell the flats they receive from developers as part of their investment programs; pp 1, 10 (806 words).

2. Musa Muradov interview headlined "Danger of elections is in society's degradation" with Ingush leader Yunus-Bek Yevkurov who says that regions are not ready for governor elections. Yevkurov is undecided as to whether to take part in the next election of the republican head or not; pp 1, 4 (2,631 words).

3. Maxim Ivanov et al. report headlined "Hackers to be put under pressure by shield and sword" says that the Federal Security Service (FSB) has received broader powers to fight against cyber crime. President Vladimir Putin instructed the service to develop a state system of preventing cyber attacks; pp 1, 3 (792 words).

4. Yevgeny Timoshinov article headlined "Round Arab figure" says the company Gulftainer is to buy a 25-per-cent stake in the Ust-Luga port this spring; pp 1, 7 (562 words).

5. Natalya Korechenkova article headlined "First 'weakest link' found in Moscow Region" says that acting governor of Moscow Region Andrey Vorobyev has sacked the mayor of the town of Zhukovskiy as he has lost people's trust. More mayoral dismissals are expected in the region; p 2 (617 words).

6. Ivan Safronov article headlined "Sergey Shoygu gets rid of extra papers" says that Defenxe Minister Sergei Shoigu has redistributed some administrative functions among his deputies to make his own work easier; p 2 (441 words).

7. Sergei Goryashko article headlined "Communists go on-line to collect signatures" says that Communists have started collecting signatures to ratify the UN convention against corruption. The relevant bill drafted by the party has been waiting for consideration in the State Duma for two years now; p 3 (514 words).

8. Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "US president finds lobbyists" says that analysts expect U.S. President Barack Obama to conduct tough policy during his second term in office. A new lobbyist organization set up on the basis of his electoral headquarters will promote presidential initiatives; p 6 (540 words).

9. Maria Yefimova article headlined "Russia turns down volume of Mikheil Saakashvili's speech" says that Russian-Georgian relations will affect the PACE session that has opened in Strasbourg. The Russian delegation has suggested that the assembly should carry out an inquiry into human rights violations committed in Georgia during Mikheil Saakahsvili's rule; p 6 (484 words).

10. Vladimir Solovyev article headlined "Moldovan prosecutor-general dismissed for shot" gives details of a political scandal in Moldova triggered by participation of senior officials including the prosecutor-general in hunting, where a businessman was accidentally killed; p 6 (512 words).

11. Anna Solodovnikova report "Transneft to call Europe into question" says that the Russian oil company Transneft will present its investment program to European officials for the first time in Brussels today; p 9 (700 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Not safe migration at all" says the Federal Migration Service has registered a 25-per-cent rise in the number of foreigners coming to work in Russia within a year. Sociologists note that Russians are becoming increasingly concerned about the trend; pp 1, 3 (819 words).

2. Viktor Litovkin article headlined "General Staff corrects direction of reforms" says the new Russian military command is discussing ways to amend the Armed Forces reform launched by the previous defence minister; pp 1-2 (739 words).

3. Anastasia Bashkatova article headlined "EU does not want to help Russian off-shore companies" says that Germany will not help the Cyprian economy until Russia writes off the country's debts. The EU also plans to carry out a probe into possible money laundering schemes used by Cyprian companies; pp 1, 4 (830 words).

4. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Battle for Crimea imminent in Ukraine" says that while the Ukrainian authorities pledge to give Crimea more autonomy, the opposition wants to turn it into an ordinary region of the country; pp 1, 6 (779 words).

5. Yuriy Simonyan article headlined "Radicals demand Saakahsvili's resignation" says that several hundred people have staged a rally in Tbilisi demanding resignation of President Mikheil Saakashvili; pp 1, 6 (724 words).

6. Nikolai Surkov article headlined "New policy of old Israeli prime minister" outlines political and economic problems the Israeli prime minister will face after the election; pp 1, 7 (591 words).

7. Alexei Gorbachev and Alexei Bukin article headlined "There is no lawyer's secrecy for security agencies" says a retired police officer has claimed that law-enforcement agencies are wiretapping conversations between arrested people and their lawyers in detention centers, which is illegal; p 3 (691 words).

8. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "African instability not to benefit Gazprom" says that Gazprom is unlikely to increase its gas export to Europe as the Algerian crisis may cause only short-term disruption in gas supplies from the country; p 4 (884 words).

9. Yury Paniyev article headlined "Islamists threaten with new attacks in Algeria" says new attacks by Islamists cannot be ruled out in Algeria as the country's authorities are dealing with the aftermath of the recent hostage-taking, in which 57 foreigners have been killed; p 7 (725 words).

10. Roza Tsvetkova report "American orphan" looks at the anti-Magnitskiy law banning U.S. citizens from adopting Russian children and at its consequences for Russia; pp 9-10 (1,400 words).

11. Nikolai Gulbinskiy report "Non-childish slaps" says that having approved the anti-Magnitsky bill, Russia has harmed not only orphans, but also its own reputation; pp 9, 15 (2,400 words).

12. Roza Tsvetkova interview with Boris Reznik, the only State Duma deputy from One Russia, who has voted against the anti-Magnitskiy bill; p 14 (2,500 words).

Vedomosti

1. Dmitry Kazmin and Igor Tsukanov article headlined "Secret of off-shore companies to be exposed in court" says the Russian Supreme Arbitration Court has ruled that in order to receive legal protection in Russia, an off-shore company has to make information about its owners public; pp 1, 4 (691 words).

2. Editorial headlined "Whipping ministers" analyses work of the Russian government and notes that the role of the current cabinet gives grounds for criticism of President Vladimir Putin; pp 1, 6 (451 words).

3. Anton Filatov and Anastasiya Golitsina article headlined "Kaspersky house" says the Kaspersky Lab software company is buying an office in Moscow for 350m dollars; pp 1, 18 (392 words).

4. Natalya Kostenko article headlined "Elections not for weak ones" says that only three governors in eight regions where governor elections will be held in autumn, have good chances of keeping their posts. They are the heads of Moscow Region, Khakassia and Chukotka; p 2 (624 words).

5. Alexei Nikolskiy report "Great demand for fighter jets" says that the annual export of weapons from Russia reached its record high in 2012; p 2 (500 words).

6. Yekaterina Kravchenko and Polina Khimshiashvili article headlined "He takes office for second term" reviews election promises of US President Barack Obama and looks at prospects for their fulfillment; p 4 (700 words).

7. Alexei Levinson report "New year, old path" says that now, only 27 per cent of Russians believe that Putin is irreplaceable, while 55 per cent believe that a replacement for him can be found; p 7 (500 words).

Izvestia

1. Yelena Sheremetova at al. report headlined "Emergencies Ministry starts evacuation of Russian citizens from Syria" says the Emergencies Ministry will send two aircraft to Lebanon to evacuate the Russian nationals who have fled to Beirut from Syria; pp 1, 4 (694 words).

2. Anastasia Alekseyevskikh and Mariya Kunle article headlined "Six people aspire to Central Bank head post" looks at the candidates, who could become new Russian Central Bank head after the third term in office of the current chairman Sergey Ignatyev expires in June 2013; pp 1, 4 (751 words).

3. Viktoriya Ryabtsova and Aleksandra Yermakova article headlined "Russia invests in Kurils" looks at the Russian Far Eastern project that the federal government plans to invest money in; pp 1, 4 (476 words).

4. Dmitry Runkevich article headlined "Church wants to open Russian language courses for migrants" says the Russian Orthodox Church plans to engage in adaptation of labour migrants coming to work in the country; pp 1, 3 (450 words).

5. Alexei Mikhailov article headlined "Russia to build global intelligence system for R1,000bn [around 33bn dollars]" saysthat the Defense Ministry and the Russian Space Agency have started developing a satellite intelligence system; p 3 (556 words).

6. Alexander Yunashev report "State Duma fails to draft 'Pozner bill'" says that according to official theory, a lack of information impedes the ban on foreigners working on federal TV channels; p 5 (650 words).

7. Konstantin Volkov report "Foreigners allowed to enter North Korea with mobile phones" says that the North Korean authorities have let foreigners use mobile telephones in the country; p 7 (600 words).

8. Maxim Kononenko report "Chasing 'Red October'" says that Putin has issued a decree to set up the state system to fight against cyber attacks on Russia's information resources; p 10 (700 words).

9. Ivan Cheberko report "Gennadiy Raykunov to take post of Yuriy Urlichich" looks at a possible replacement of the head of the Russian Space Systems; pp 1, 4 (800 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Mikhail Falaleyev article headlined "Closed-door day" looks at the bill regulating access of law-enforcement agencies to people's housing; pp 1, 9 (727 words).

2. Irina Muravyeva interview headlined "Acid attack" with general director of Bolshoi Theatre Anatoliy Iksanov, who speaks about the recent attack on the theater's ballet director, Sergey Filin; pp 1, 7 (1,000 words).

3. Ivan Yegorov article headlined "Secret agents to spread net" says that Putin has instructed the Federal Security Service to develop a system to prevent cyber crimes; p 3 (517 words).

4. Alexander Gasyuk and Igor Dunayevskiy article headlined "Twice 44th" reports on the US presidential inauguration ceremony and gives details of the changes to take place in the US presidential administration; p 8 (565 words).

5. Natalya Sedykh interview with expert Rais Suleymanov who looks at female suicide bombers in Russia; p 12 (2,700 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Marina Ozerova article headlined "Mutant ballot paper shown to Russia" says a hike in the number of political parties registered in Russia may result in record long ballot papers in the next parliamentary election; pp 1-2 (743 words).

2. Mikhail Zubov article headlined "Who is in our political bureau?" comments on a report drafted by a group of experts, who have polled 60 Russian most powerful politicians and drawn their conclusions about the "political bureau" governing Russia; pp 1-2 (1,020 words).

3. Alexander Melman article headlined "As if Public TV" says problems with financing the Public TV have shown that the authorities' talk about the Public TV means nothing; pp 1, 3 (678 words).

4. Article by LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovskiy headlined "Grumbling of Bolotnaya" slams the Russian opposition and refers to its activists as losers; p 3 (1,525 words).

RBK Daily

1. Yulia Yakovleva article headlined "To learn in 90 minutes" outlines the agenda for the upcoming meeting of parliamentary factions representatives with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev; p 2 (450 words).

2. Alexander Litoy article headlined "Victim of democracy" comments on the resignation of the mayor of the town of Zhukovskiy, Aleksandr Bobovnikov; p 2 (400 words).

3. Anastasia Novikova and Anna Levinskaya article headlined "Life after WTO" says that the One Russia party is to monitor the change in prices on goods after Russia's succession to the WTO and to come up with a special survey that would help to regulate the situation; p 4 (500 words).

Novyye Izvestia

1. Vera Moslakova article headlined "Main thing to be in the know" says the Russian Investigations Committee plans to spend R1,1m for monitoring media coverage of its work; p 2 (718 words).

2. Nadezhda Krasilova article headlined "Nostalgia for serfdom" says the toughening of the registration procedure will turn millions of Russian citizens into law violators; pp 1-2 (1,200 words).

3. Vladimir Zakharov article headlined "Vow of silence" says that Patriarch Kirill has banned the archpriest, who publicly asked to free the Pussy Riot punk band members, from communicating with the media; p 1 (250 words).

4. Yulia Savina article headlined "To catch hacker in net" says that the Russian Federal Security Service is to create a system of tracking and preventing cyber attacks; p 2 (500 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Sergei Vladimirov article headlined "Against, as usual" says that the members of the opposition Coordination Council fail to work out the agenda and to agree on financial issues; p 5 (600 words).

2. Anastasia Pleshakova interview with Sergei Filin, the artistic director of the Bolshoi ballet company, who received chemical burns from acid thrown in his face; p 21 (850 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Andrey Gavrilenko article headlined "In off-shore maritime zone" comments on the inter-fleet group exercise in the Mediterranean and Black Seas; p 1 (700 words).

2. Sergei Medvedev article headlined "Islamists step back" comments on the current situation in Mali; p 3 (450 words).

Jan. 22, 2013/BBC Monitoring/©BBC