What the Papers Say, Mar. 6, 2013

Kommersant

1. Svetlana Dementyeva and Valeriya Pozychanyuk article headlined "Case concerns deposit" says the Russian Central Bank has to pay the clients of AMT-bank which has gone broke. The depositors seek R1bn (around 33m dollars) in compensations; pp 1, 9 (1,300 words).

2. Anna Pushkarskaya article headlined "Constitutional Court to hear right to vote" says the Russian Constitutional Court will consider a number of complaints by opposition activists from many regions about the parliamentary and presidential elections. The complainants could not get other courts to consider their appeals; pp 1-2 (731 words).

3. Anna Perova article headlined "All terms squeezed out of Sochi" says developers have been allowed to continue implementing their construction projects in Sochi until December 2013. It was previously planned to suspend all construction projects in early 2013 due to the preparation for the Olympic Games; pp 1, 12 (644 words).

4. Vladislav Novyy article headlined "Justice Ministry unpacks mail" says the Justice Ministry has sent for additional revision a bill on the Russian post service reform drafted by the Communications Ministry. There are questions about the costly project to set up the state e-mail; pp 1, 9 (606 words).

5. Taisia Bekbulatova article headlined "They do not know yet Andrey Vorobyev, but love him already" says that according to a recent public opinion poll, around a half of Moscow Region residents do now know anything about the work of acting governor Andrey Vorobyev. However, 36 per cent of people are ready to vote for him; p 2 (662 words).

6. Grigoriy Tumanov article headlined "Vladimir Lukin goes to punk" says that Russian ombudsman Vladimir Lukin has appealed to the Moscow city court asking to acquit the members of the Pussy Riot punk group sentenced to two years in a penal colony for their scandalous performance in a cathedral in Moscow; p 3 (549 words).

7. Vladislav Trifonov article headlined "Summons sent to Hermitage head through diplomatic channels" comments on accusations brought against William Browder, co-founder of the investment fund Hermitage Capital Management; p 5 (565 words).

8. Andrey Kolesnikov article headlined "German Gref linked to Internet" comments on the meeting of the Strategic Initiatives Agency chaired by President Vladimir Putin; p 6 (906 words).

9. Pavel Tarasenko article headlined "Hugo Chavez's disease fraught with complications for Venezuela" reports on disagreements within the ruling party in Venezuela as President Hugo Chavez is said to be feeling worse; p 7 (505 words).

10. Olga Berezintseva article headlined "China finishes handover of power" gives details of China's National People's Congress under way in Beijing; p 7 (435 words).

11. Sergey Strokan article headlined "Taleban blessed with combat task" says that Pakistani religious leaders have blessed the Taleban to continue fighting against the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan. The move will worsen relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan and affect NATO troops' withdrawal; p 7 (533 words).

12. Yelena Chernenko article headlined "Germany to open Europe to official passports" says Russia and the EU have moved forward to visa-free travel. Germany no longer opposes the so-called official passports that Russian officials hold; p 8 (815 words).

13. Article by Sergey Utkin, expert from the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in opinion column headlined "Price of issue" speaks out against visas and calls for visa-free travel for Russians and foreigners visiting the country; p 8 (345 words).

14. Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "Approach to Russia remains uncertain" reports on a conference on the relations of the USA and the EU with Russia held in Washington. Russian opposition activists asked the USA to help find information on US assets belonging to Russian officials; p 8 (685 words).

15. Mariya Yefimova and Ivan Safronov article headlined "Iraq goes to contract for quarter of price" says Baghdad is ready to pay only one-third of the amount of the 4bn-dollar arms supply contract signed with Moscow; p 8 (528 words).

16. Yegor Popov report "Igor Sechin makes offer to Sergey Chemezov" says that Sergey Chemezov, head of Rostekh, may become member of the board of directors of Rosneft; p 9 (1,100 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Mikhail Sergeyev article headlined "Modernization of fine ideas" says that Putin has warned the Strategic Initiatives Agency against developing new projects when the previous ones have not yet been implemented. The president thanked the experts for their work in developing the so-called road maps for certain projects; pp 1, 4 (950 words).

2. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "UDAR being prepared for Yanukovych in parliament" says the opposition in the Ukrainian parliament has demanded that President Viktor Yanukovych make a report on the results of his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin; pp 1, 7 (1,600 words).

3. Igor Naumov article headlined "Putin calls on prosecutors to protect citizens and business as well" reports on the meeting of the Prosecutor-General's Office where Putin has set tasks for prosecutors; pp 1, 4 (1,000 words).

4. Aleksandra Samarina article headlined "How William Browder penetrates Gazprom" gives details of a criminal case launched against William Browder, co-founder of the investment fund Hermitage Capital Management, as part of a large-scale campaign to discredit the businessman; pp 1, 3 (1,200 words).

5. Anton Khodasevich article headlined "Lukashenka's image plays dirty trick on him" says Minsk has denied information spread by some foreign media about Belarusian arms supplies to Sudan; pp 1, 7 (600 words).

6. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "UN tries to talk sense into Pyongyang again" says Beijing has backed a new UN Security Council resolution drafted by the USA, which imposes tougher sanctions on North Korea; pp 1, 8 (700 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Putin and society of unsatisfied leftists" says public opinion polls have shown that most Russians adhere to leftist ideas and notes that liberal candidates have no chances of winning elections in the country; p 2 (500 words).

8. Viktor Myasnikov article headlined "Quarter of million of draft dodgers and one-third of people unable to do military service" reviews the results of the autumn call-up campaign in Russia; p 2 (450 words).

9. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Sergey Shoygu's southeast redoubt" looks at Russia's plans to reopen a military base in Vietnam as Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu visited the country; p 3 (700 words).

10. Ivan Rodin report "One Russia and Interior Ministry for return of UBOPs" says that the State Duma has called for reinstating departments for the fight against organized crime within the Interior Ministry; p 3 (1,000 words).

11. Yuriy Tavrovskiy article headlined "Waiting for 'great leap'" says the Chinese leadership are trying to develop new ideology capable of becoming the national idea uniting the Chinese; p 5 (2,300 words).

12. Ivan Nekrasov report "Harlem Shake on armoured personnel carrier" says that teenagers have danced at the war memorial in Sverdlovsk Region; p 6 (400 words).

13. Nikolay Surkov article headlined "White House warns Iran" says Washington has warned Tehran that it will resort to military force if Iran persists in the development of nuclear weapons; however, there is still room for talks, the USA notes; p 8 (900 words).

12. Yuriy Paniyev article headlined "Falklands turning into hot spot" says that Argentine opposes plans to carry out a referendum on the Falklands, in which residents will be asked if they want to keep the status of the UK's overseas territory; p 8 (750 words).

Vedomosti

1. Vasiliy Kudinov and Alexei Nikolskiy article headlined "They got with Browder for buying Gazprom up" says the Russian Interior Ministry has accused William Browder of buying Gazprom shares. Earlier, Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev pledged not to punish buyers using similar schemes to purchase shares; pp 1, 15 (1,250 words).

2. Editorial headlined "We will write to Internet" comments on the presidential decree on Internet petitions and notes that the document gives officials grounds for declining any proposals of web users; pp 1, 6 (451 words).

3. Another editorial headlined "Farm workers on-line" says that a recent study has found out that Russian villagers even having access to the Internet and satellite TV are not interested in the new media and prefer watching Rossiya 1 TV and Channel One; p 6 (268 words).

4. Liliya Biryukova article headlined "Woman or Communist" says the Communists expect Nikolay Vinogradov to get re-elected as Vladimir Region governor; p 2 (519 words).

5. Margarita Lyutova interview with Roman Starovoyt, head of the Federal Road Agency, speaking on the high cost of road construction in Russia; pp 8-9 (2,345 words).

6. Dmitriy Kazmin report "Public relatives" says that heads of almost all state-owned companies will have to disclose information about relatives among suppliers; pp 1, 5 (750 words).

7. Sergey Dubinin report "Three strategies" says that Russia cannot continue relying solely on export of mineral resources and should review its economic strategy; pp 6-7 (2,500 words).

8. Andrey Kolesnikov report "Poisoned tree" looks at three judges of the Constitutional Court who have disagreed with other judges on the bill on rallies; p 7 (650 words).

Izvestia

1. German Petelin article headlined "Serdyukov's dacha seized to become state property" says that the federal property agency Rosimushchestvo plans to confiscate the plot of land and cottage that former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has built illegally in Krasnodar Territory; pp 1, 4 (657 words).

2. Margarita Kazantseva article headlined "Rostekhnologii, OAK, OSK and Uralvagonzavod to be brought to exchange" says that the Russian Industry and Trade Ministry wants to carry out IPO of the 10-per-cent stake in state-controlled corporations; pp 1, 4 (676 words).

3. Sergey Podosenov report "LDPR promises amnesty to people with many children and to pregnant women" says that the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia has proposed a large-scale amnesty in 2013; pp 1-2 (600 words).

4. Yuliya Tsoy report "Duma opposition threatens to challenge bill on elections" says that the State Duma opposition believes that the new bill on elections runs counter to the Russian constitution; p 2 (1,200 words).

5. Petr Kozlov et al. report says that criminal proceedings have been instituted against co-founder of Hermitage Capital Management William Browder; p 3 (792 words).

6. Anastasiya Kashevarova interview with Pskov Region governor Andrey Turchak speaking on his property in France and decision to get rid of it; p 5 (780 words).

7. Viktor Loginov report "Federal Antimonopoly Service wants to regulate radio frequencies" says that the frequency resource is limited in Russia, so there is a risk that a monopoly may appear; p 9 (600 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Mikhail Falaleyev interview with commander-in-chief of the Internal Troops Gen Nikolay Rogozhkin speaking on changes in the work of the troops which will comprise only contract servicemen; pp 1, 17 (1,767 words).

2. Mikhail Falaleyev report "Your word, Mr Browder" says that the Interior Ministry has made new accusations against the head of Hermitage Capital Management, Bill Browder; p 2 (650 words).

3. Fedor Lukyanov article headlined "Tale about lost time" says the recent Russian-Ukrainian summit has raised the same issues as usual: gas and economic cooperation, while no steps forward in the development of the two countries' relations have been made; p 3 (714 words).

4. Yevgeniy Solovyev article headlined "'New shift' takes it all" says the new generation of leaders will come to power in China as a result of the National People's Congress; p 8 (336 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Natalya Rozhkova article headlined "Russians come to love Stalin" says that 36 per cent of Russians have a positive opinion about Stalin; the number of people who are negative or indifferent towards the tyrant is much smaller; pp 1, 11 (839 words).

2. Marina Raykina report "Theatre of reporting actions" says that a Moscow theatre has received an inquiry from a prosecutor's office to report about extremism in some of the theatre's plays; pp 1, 3 (700 words).

3. Mikhail Zubov interview with opposition activist Ilya Yashin speaking on his recent questioning; p 2 (465 words).

4. Comment by economist Stanislav Belkovskiy headlined "Ban on foreign adoption is giant economic fraud" looks at economic reasons for a campaign to protect Russian orphans and comes to the conclusion that the organizers of the campaign want to make money on state support to the children; p 3 (1,217 words).

5. Igor Subbotin article headlined "Who will replace Chavez?" says the Venezuelan authorities have acknowledged that the life of President Hugo Chavez is in danger; p 3 (410 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Anastasiya Pleshakova article headlined "Did chief choreographer of Bolshoi Theater suffer acid attack because of woman?" says Bolshoi soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko may have attacked choreographer Sergey Filin because of a ballerina; pp 1, 22 (900 words).

2. Part two of a wide-ranging interview with the head of the Russian presidential administration, Sergey Ivanov, conducted by KP editor in chief Vladimir Sungorkin and KP military observer Viktor Baranets; part one was published on 5 March; pp 1, 12-13 (3,100 words)

Novaya Gazeta

1. Diana Khachatryan article headlined "Pure Monday" comments on the dismissals of editors in chief of Gazeta.ru and Kommersant FM radio station; p 10 (647 words).

2. Irina Gordiyenko article headlined "Credit for bribe" says Dagestani policemen have revealed instances of corruption in their service; p 12 (800 words).

Novyye Izvestia

1. Margarita Alekhina article headlined "Lawyer's speech" says Russian children's rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov may be called to account for stating recently that it is pedophiles who want his dismissal. A lawyer from Kazan believes that Astakhov has offended many people who are simply displeased with his work; pp 1, 5 (519 words).

2. Sergey Manukov article headlined "China's expenditures beyond clouds" comments on China's plans to increase the defence budget announced at the National People's Congress; p 3 (528 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Aleksandr Aleksandrov article headlined "New impetus to cooperation" focuses on Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's visits to Vietnam and Burma; p 1 (300 words).

Mar. 6, 2013/BBC Monitoring/©BBC

Related articles:

• What the Papers Say, Mar. 5, 2012
• What the Papers Say, Mar. 4, 2012
• What the Papers Say, Mar. 1, 2012