What the Papers Say, Apr. 8, 2013

Kommersant

1. Vadim Visloguzo and Dmitry Butrin article headlined "Deeper into offshores" says that experts believe that the Cyprus financial crisis and revelations about beneficiaries of companies registered in the BVI will prompt Russian businessmen to look for more sophisticated schemes to conceal asset ownership. However, this money will not come back to Russia, they say; pp 1, 6 (968 words).

2. Kirill Belyaninov et al. report headlined "Magnitsky short-list" says the U.S. administration is due to reveal its final list of Russian officials who fall under the sanctions of the Magnitsky Act by April 13. Some congressmen and rights activists are concerned that the White House will opt for a list of only 15 people to avoid escalating tensions with the Kremlin; pp 1, 7 (756 words).

3. Yevgeny Timoshinov article headlined "Sistema unloads partner" says Vladimir Yakovina is leaving the railway business belonging to the Sistema financial corporation; pp 1, 9 (634 words).

4. Yelizavesta Kuznetsova article headlined "Group of investors lift Red Wings" says Sergei Kuznestov and GHP Group are buying the Red Wings airlines company; pp 1, 9 (596 words).

5. Irina Nagornykh and Roman Badanov article headlined "Chukotka made equal to North Caucasus" says that the United Russia party will this week issue advice to its regional branches as regards the application of a recently enacted law that allows regions to choose between direct gubernatorial elections or the election of regional heads by the parliament; p 2 (740 words).

6. Sofia Samokhina article headlined "A Just Russia closer to front line" says that the A Just Russia is just about ready to join the All-Russia People's Front, which experts believe shows the party's loyalty to the Kremlin; p 2 (611 words).

7. Musa Muradov article headlined "Kremlin finds new Caucasus supervisor" says Kabarda Balkaria Deputy Kazbek Kokov has been offered a post in the Russian presidential administration, in which he will be in charge of North Caucasus matters; p 2 (531 words).

8. Taisia Bekbulatova article headlined "Russian NGOs being brought under confiscation of foreign money" says that a United Russia deputy has proposed taking away the money of NGOs that do not want to register as foreign agents; p 2 (677 words).

9. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "Art-readied visit" reports on the beginning of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Germany; p 2 (677 words).

10. Natalya Gorodetskaya and Irina Nagornykh article headlined "Human Rights Council short on people" reports on an initiative by a member of the presidential human rights council, lawyer Anatoly Kucherena, to enlarge the presidium of the council to include representatives of all commissions and working groups; p 3 (500 words).

11. Anna Pushkarskaya article headlined "Constitutional Court opens 'golden parachutes' for adaptation of ex-deputies" says Russia's Constitutional Court has allowed regional lawmakers to guarantee that they will receive special remuneration packages even if they are stripped of their seats; p 3 (450 words).

12. Alexander Igorev article headlined "Police investigators pointed to corruption, organized crime and [working] faster" takes stock of the priorities for the work of police investigators that were outlined by Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokolstev over the weekend; p 2 (300 words).

13. Dmitry Marakulin article titled "Measure of restraint chosen for waste disposal" says a senior St. Petersburg official has been detained as part of a corruption probe into waste disposal contracts in the city; p 4 (350 words).

14. Grigory Tumanov article headlined "Pussy Riot member to leave colony temporarily" looks ahead to a parole hearing for Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, one of Pussy Riot punk group members; p 5 (528 words).

15. Vladimir Dzaguto article headlined "Georgia excuses Russia from investments" says the Georgian authorities have preserved low tariffs for the customers of the Telasi energy company, which is controlled by Russia's Inter RAO. In exchange, Telasi is no longer required to implement an investment program that was supposed to be financed through higher tariffs; p 6 (611 words).

16. Yaroslav Shimov article headlined "Czech Republic becomes non-nuclear" says 68 kilograms of uranium fuel have been transported from the Czech Republic to Russia as part of an agreement to scrap nuclear waste; p 7 (374 words).

17. Maxim Yusin article headlined "Egypt enters religious war" reports on clashes between Muslims and Christians in Egypt in which five people were killed; p 7 (351 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Interior Ministry and Investigations Committee seem to have come to agreement" reports on apparent progress in the creation of a single investigations body. The Interior Ministry looks set to get new powers, while the Investigations Committee will undergo restructuring.; pp 1-2 (731 words).

2. Anastasia Bashkatova and Mikhail Sergeyev article headlined "Spring flooding reaches budget" considers difficulties in getting insurance compensation for flood damage in Russia; pp 1, 4 (958 words).

3. Alexandra Samarina and Ivan Rodin article headlined "NGOs which are more frightening than Maydan [site of mass protests in Kiev]" looks at the start of Vladimir Putin's visit to Germany in the context of the crackdown on foreign-financed Russian NGOs; pp 1, 3 (1,393 words).

4. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Udaltsov and Razvozzhayev under attack" says that the admission of guilt by an ex-member of the Left Front movement, Konstantin Lebedev, to organizing mass unrest following a protest rally on May 6, 2012, is expected to put greater pressure on two other opposition activists, Sergei Udaltsov and Leonid Razvozzhayev; pp 1, 3 (501 words).

5. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Ukrainian opposition reschedules uprising for May" reports on a protest in Kiev; pp 1, 7 (1,048 words).

6. Darya Tsilyurik article headlined "Demilitarization of CIA" says recent media reports on the use of drones by the CIA will prompt President Barack Obama to develop legislation to control this practice; pp 1, 8 (549 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Gas pipelines to nowhere" criticizes the management of Russian gas giant Gazprom for ignoring the shale gas revolution and investing money in unneeded infrastructure projects; p 2 (486 words).

8. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Magnitsky Act starts working" says the final list of Russians who fall under the U.S. sanctions as part of the Magnitsky Act is set to be approved by April 13; p 2 (685 words).

9. Comment piece by Veniamin Popov titled "Carte Blanche. Russia and partnership of civilizations" considers Russia's role in the BRICS partnership; p 3 (600 words).

10. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Gazprom puts Poland in awkward position" says the Polish authorities have denied Russian reports on plans to build the Yamal-Europe-2 gas pipeline bypassing Ukraine; p 4 (678 words).

11. Igor Naumov article titled "Shell to head to bottom of Artic for oil" says a number of energy cooperation deals are expected to be signed in the course of Vladimir Putin's visit to the Netherlands, which begins today; p 4 (650 words).

12. Dmitry Orlov article titled "Influence rating of regional heads for March 2013" provides data on the influence of Russian governors for March; p 6 (500 words).

13. Yury Paniyev article headlined "Iran asking 5+1 group to ease sanctions" says yet another round of international talks with Tehran held in Almaty has not yielded any results. Experts believe that Iran could only change its stance after the presidential election on June 14; p 8 (751 words).

14. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "U.S. postpone missile test due to Korean crisis" says that as tensions continue to build on the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. has postponed a planned missile test so as not to aggravate Pyongyang further; p 8 (720 words).

15. Mark Neymark piece titled "Light and shade of 'soft force'" is an expert's view on Russia's foreign policy priorities, as outlined in the recently unveiled foreign policy concept; p 9 (2,000 words).

Izvestia

1. Ivan Cheberko article headlined "Roskosmos asks for over 900Bln rubles for space launch sites" says the Federal Space Agency is asking for more funding for its program for the development of space launch sites between 2016 and 2025; p 1, 4 (689 words).

2. Svetlana Subbotina and Alena Sivkova article headlined "Seven richest senators to leave Federation Council" says the deadline for Russian lawmakers to submit their income declarations has been extended until July 1 to give wealthy senators time to leave the Federation Council; pp 1, 4 (514 words).

3. Mikhail Rubin article headlined "Royzman refuses to run for Yekaterinburg mayor" says the founder of the City Without Drugs foundation, Yevgeny Roizman, will not run in the election for Yekaterinburg mayor this autumn. The authorities, meanwhile, have not yet chosen their candidate; pp 1-2 (702 words).

4. Anna Lyalyakina article headlined "Audit Chamber classifies Skolkovo audit" says the Russian Audit Chamber has discovered that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will receive 1.6 billion rubles (around $53 million) from the Skolkovo fund; pp 1, 4 (1,139 words).

5. Mikhail Rubin article headlined "United Russia moving due to money shortages" says United Russia is leaving one of its offices in central Moscow in an attempt to cut costs; p 2 (492 words).

6. Alexander Yunashev article titled "Merkel frees Putin from protracted photoshoot" takes stock of Vladimir Putin's meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel; p 2 (450 words).

7. Sergei Podosenov article titled "People's Front divides A Just Russia" reports on A Just Russia's plans to collaborate with the All-Russia People's Front; p 3 (650 words).

8. Sergei Podosenov interview with Just Russia leader Nikolay Levichev titled "'If I was invited to the ONF, I would come and speak,'" in which he comments on the party congress over the weekend and the possibility of merging with the All-Russia People's Front (ONF); p 3 (468 words).

9. Anastasia Kashevarova article titled "'This party repulses me'" features comments from Lyudmila Narusova about her expulsion from A Just Russia; p 3 (279 words).

10. Rafael Fakhrutdinov article headlined "Russia considering evacuation of embassy from DPRK" takes stock of the latest developments on the Korea Peninsula; p 7 (400 words).

Vedomosti

1. Alexei Rozhkov and Maksim Tovkaylo article headlined "Unaffordable compulsory car insurance" says the Russian presidential administration has forbidden a rise in compulsory car insurance premiums, while saying that payouts should go up. Insurance companies warn this decision increases the risk of bankruptcies; pp 1, 15 (699 words).

2. Lilia Biryukova article headlined "Mistrust in everything foreign" says the State Duma wants to introduce a ban on officials owning foreign assets even through foreign trust structures; pp 1, 3 (498 words).

3. Editorial headlined "Putin's billion" comments on President Putin's stance on NGO checks and says that the Kremlin wants to take all organizations under its control; pp 1, 6 (430 words).

4. Maria Zheleznova et al article titled "Agents found in unions" says that Vladimir Putin has said that 600 Russian NGOs received almost $1 billion in financing from abroad; p 2 (350 words).

5. Lilia Biryukova and Irina Novikova article titled "Exit for Ponomaryov" says LDPR party deputies want to strip Just Russia Deputy Ilya Ponomaryov of his seat; p 3 (450 words).

6. Margarita Lyutova article headlined "Trade not by WTO" says that teh U.S. has asked Russia to explain why its foreign trade regulations do not comply with WTO requirements; p 5 (450 words).

7. Another editorial headlined "Business without right" looks into what is prompting Russian businesses to register their companies in Cyprus and other offshore zones; p 6 (298 words).

8. Konstantin Sonin commentary headlined "Rules of the game: society to lose in Navalny trial" comments on opposition activist Alexei Navalny's statement about his presidential ambitions and looks into the legal problems he is facing; p 6 (412 words).

9. Maria Zheleznova article headlined "Person of week: Alexei Navalny" welcomes Navalny's decision to announce his presidential ambitions; p 6 (352 words).

10. Igor Bunin et al. article titled "Society has changed" considers attitudes to public protests in the context of results of sociological research; pp 6-7 (1,400 words)

11. Olga Plotonova interview with Yury Isayev, director general of the Deposit Insurance Agency, titled "'80 per cent of bankruptcies are criminal,'" about different types of deposit schemes and punishment for them; p 8 (4,834 words).

12. Maxim Tovkaylo article "Olympic competition for concessions" says investors in the Sochi Olympics are asking the government for tax concessions and loan subsidies; pp 11, 18 (600 words).

13. Irina Kezik article headlined "Gazprom's false start" reports on Gazprom's premature announcement of agreements with Poland on the contraction of the Yamal-Europe-2 gas pipeline and official Poland's subsequent denial of the information; p 13 (300 words).

14. Anastasia Golitsyna article titled "Wikipedia climbing into register" says Russia's media watchdog has blacklisted a Wikipedia article; p 16 (400 words)

15. Investigative piece by Roman Shleynov titled "'If it wasn't for falsifiers, the election would not happen'" considers the make-up of district polling stations that were recently formed for a five-year period; pp 20-21 (1,900 words)

Rossiyskaya Gazeta

1. Vladimir Barshev article headlined "Entry permitted" warns drivers against ignoring traffic police fines as they may end up being arrested; pp 1, 8 (717 words).

2. Tatyana Zykova article headlined "Auto, metro, Arctic" looks ahead to Russia's participation in the international Hannover Messe industrial fair, which kicks off in Germany today; pp 1-2 (338 words).

3. Tatyana Zykova et al. report headlined "Middle class changing image" reports on a recent survey that shows that the Russian middle class now comprises more officials and law-enforcement officers than people of other professions; pp 1, 4 (906 words).

4. Kira Latukhina article titled "'There is no need to frighten people'" reports on talks between Vladimir Putin and Angela Merkel; p 2 (900 words).

5. Vladimir Smelov article titled "Munich without translation" recaps on a session of a Petersburg Dialogue working group in Munich on public TV and radio; p 2 (600 words).

6. Oleg Kiryanov and Yevgeny Shestakov article headlined "Pyongyang gives three days to pack" says foreign diplomatic missions have so far ignored Pyongyang's warning to leave the country amid escalating tensions; p 5 (566 words).

7. Viktor Feshchenko article headlined "UN skips chemistry" says the Russian Foreign Ministry has accused the UN of taking the wrong stance in the probe into the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria; p 5 (346 words).

8. Alena Uzbekova article titled "Drowning in greenery" says that more types of Georgian produce, including fruit, tea and honey, may soon return to the Russian market, hot on the trail of wine and mineral water; p 6 (450 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Ignat Kalinin article headlined "Where Putin's billion dollars came from" says NGOs have denied receiving $1billion in foreign funding, as claimed by President Putin in an interview with foreign journalists; pp 1-2 (820 words).

2. Mikhail Zubov article headlined "Boris Nemtsov tells of Solidarity's millions" reports on the weekend congress of the Solidarity opposition movement; p 2 (532 words).

3. Andrei Yashlavsky article headlined "Has DPRK managed to scare U.S.?" comments on the U.S. decision to postpone its missile launch; p 3 (431 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Pavel Felgengauer article headlined "Who makes billions on arms trade" criticizes Russia's decision not to sign the UN international arms trade treaty; p 6 (663 words).

2. Vera Chelishcheva article headlined "Loss of documents on especially large scale" focuses on the ongoing posthumous trial of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky; p 3 (1,100 words).

3. Article by opposition Yabloko party leader Sergei Mitrokhin headlined "How 'deputy with open soul' was jailed" comments on the detention of Krasnodar region Deputy and United Russia member Sergei Zirinov; p 9 (652 words).

3. Yulia Latynina article headlined "Client, you are wrong" reports on poor service provided by Aeroflot that has been recently criticized by TV host Leonid Yakubovich; p 17 (606 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Yulia Zabavina article headlined "Generous soul" says that Russia forgives the sovereign debts of other countries, but fails to convert this into political influence over its debtors; pp 1, 3 (800 words).

2. Vera Moslakova article headlined "Care about legal agents" looks into a bill proposed by the coordinator of the All-Russia People's Front that proposes taking away the money of NGOs that do not register as "foreign agents"; pp 1-2 (900 words).

3. Gennady Savchenko article headlined "They are very hungry" says that North Korea threatens the world with a nuclear war but the international community does not take these threats seriously; p 2 (400 words).

RBK Daily

1. Ivan Petrov article headlined "Courts of repayment" looks into an initiative to provide compensation to Russians who have suffered from purportedly unjust decisions of foreign courts; p 2 (800 words).

2. Yulia Yakovleva article headlined "New interpretation of opposition" looks into the Just Russia party congress and its leader's idea to cooperate with the All-Russia People's Front under certain circumstances; p 2 (700 words).

Moskovskiye Novosti

1. Alexandra Beluza article headlined "A rocket's throw away" analyses the current situation on the Korean Peninsula and the possibility of a nuclear war; pp B2-B3 (1,100 words).

2. Alexandra Beluza interview with retired Colonel-General Viktor Yesin saying that North Korea may posses up to 10 nuclear bombs so its nuclear capabilities are seriously underestimated; p B4 (1,200 words).

Tvoi Den

1. Anton Stepanov article headlined "East is loud" reports on the possible evacuation of the Russian diplomats from North Korea; p 2 (350 words).

Apr. 8, 2013/BBC Monitoring/©BBC

Related articles:

• What the Papers Say, Apr. 5, 2012
• What the Papers Say, Apr. 4, 2012
• What the Papers Say, Apr. 3, 2012