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What the Papers Say, June 21, 2013

Kommersant



1. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "This flexible word 'freedom'" gives an ironic account of behind-the-scene conversations at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum; pp 1, 3 (1,566 words).



2. Dmitry Butrin article headlined "Samurai of our time" says that the opening of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum was marked by a public fight between supporters and opponents of the stable ruble; pp 1, 6 (939 words).



3. Vitaly Gaydayev article headlined "Cheap money enough for year" says that the statement of the head of the Federal Reserve System, Ben Bernanke, about the plans to ease its bond buying programme later this year, has made world stock markets fall sharply; pp 1, 10 (592 words).



4. Pavel Belavin and Roman Rozhkov article headlined "Deputies attacking" says that the State Duma has ignored amendments to the bill on intellectual property protection proposed by internet companies; pp 1, 13 (539 words).



5. Ilya Barabanov et al. report headlined "Hacker being sought for Yakunin" says that law enforcers have so far failed to figure out who disseminated the fake news about the dismissal of Russian Railways head Vladimir Yakunin; p 3 (754 words).



6. Sergei Mashkin article headlined "Oboronservis lacks women" says that Dinara Bilyalova, former head of the company Mira, has been arrested on suspicion of a major fraud as part of the Oboronservis case; p 4 (723 words).



7. Vladislav Trifonov article headlined "Kirsan Ilyumzhinov's bank searched" says that law enforcers have conducted searches and seized documents at the FIDE-bank owned by former head of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov; p 4 (604 words).



8. Vyacheslav Kozlov and Grigory Tumanov article headlined "Agents seek bypasses" says that Russian NGOs keep looking for ways to avoid registering as foreign agents and looks at several options; p 5 (599 words).



9. Alexei Sokovnin article headlined "Anna Politkovskaya murder case does not attract jurors" says that an attempt to form a jury in the trial of the murder of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya has failed as only eight out of 31 candidates have agreed to become jurors; p 5 (402 words).



10. Petr Netreba article headlined "Finance Ministry approaches White House with limits" says that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has instructed officials to use Vladimir Putin's message on budget policy as guidelines when drafting the federal budget for 2014; p 6 (543 words).



11. Yury Barsukov article headlined "Slowly and steadily" says that the Russian economy is still on the verge of recession as GDP growth in May slowed against April; p 6 (501 words).



12. Pavel Tarasenko article headlined "Venezuela diversifies relations" looks at new Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's visit to Europe and says that he is going to meet President Vladimir Putin on 1 July. Oil and energy contracts are not at risk, but arms supplies may be frozen, experts warn; p 7 (419 words).



13. Kirill Belyaninov and Yelena Chernenko article headlined "U.S demands that Russia bans slavery" says that Russian-U.S relations may worsen as Russia has threatened the U.S with retaliation after the U.S Department of State has for the first time included Russia in the list of countries that may be subjected to sanctions over no progress in the fight against human trafficking; p 7 (710 words).



14. Yelena Chernenko article headlined "Nunn-Lugar programme amended" looks at a new agreement, agreed by the Russian and U.S leaders on the sidelines of the G8 summit in Northern Ireland, which would replace the Nunn-Lugar programme; p 7 (604 words).



15. Dmitry Tratas article headlined "Rules of game" ponders over the statement made by the head of the Federal Reserve System, Ben Bernanke, about winding up the QE3 programme; p 9 (414 words).



Nezavisimaya Gazeta



1. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Markets mark St. Petersburg forum with unanimous slump" says that the St. Petersburg Economic Forum has opened amid an avalanche of negative economic trends: another weakening of the ruble, a slump in stock indices and numerous negative forecasts for the raw materials export; pp 1, 4 (800 words).



2. Anton Khodasevich article headlined "Belarusians to be punished for vagrancy" says that the Belarusian authorities consider introducing punishment for prolonged unemployment. Experts are sceptical of the novelty; pp 1, 6 (700 words).



3. Grigory Mikhaylov article headlined "To exit with ammunition" says that, hoping to obtain financial aid promised by Moscow, the Kyrgyz parliament has broken an agreement on the U.S transit centre at the Manas base; pp 1, 7 (1,000 words).



4. Tatyana Dvoynova article headlined "Only car thieves, illegal migrants and tramps more frightening than police" says that polls conducted in Maritime Territory show that some 20 percent of the polled fear abuse of power by the police; pp 1, 6 (700 words).



5. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Beaten track of 'Bolotnaya case'" says that new charges may be brought against opposition activist Sergei Udaltsov. These charges may be easier to prove after sentences were passed on 12 defendants in the Bolotnaya riots case, Udaltsov's lawyers say; pp 1, 3 (500 words).



6. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Deputies absorbed in intangible rights" says the State Duma is going to pass amendments on protection of intangible rights and to toughen requirements for mass media outlets. Experts remain concerned about implementation of the amendments; pp 1, 3 (1,100 words).



7. Editorial headlined "People's Front and malfunction of institutes" says the All-Russia Public Movement People's Front for Russia (All-Russia People's Front) seems to be taking on the qualities and functions of a party, government, presidential councils and think tanks, which proves once again that traditional democratic and administration institutions are malfunctioning; p 2 (400 words).



8. Article by political analyst Leonid Radzikhovskiy headlined "Scandal with Yakunin. All fair in war" speculates over reasons behind the hoax with a fake dismissal of head of the Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin; p 2 (900 words).



9. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Voronezh submarine triggers SOS alarm" looks at large-scale drills to practise rescue operations during disasters on nuclear-powered submarines; p 2 (600 words).



10. Sergei Rogov article headlined "Carte blanche: Meeting at fork" comments on new approaches in the U.S nuclear strategy voiced by U.S President Barack Obama and says that Russia should work out a thought-out stance and be ready to put forward its own initiatives at the meeting of Russian and U.S leaders in September; p 3 (800 words).



11. Anastasia Bashkatova article headlined "Pension reform wedges between Russia and OECD" looks at recommendations on pension reform the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has drafted for Russia and features experts' comments; p 4 (800 words).



12. Petr Mordasov article headlined "Russian Caucasus to blossom due to investment" looks at major construction projects in Kabarda-Balkaria which are supposed to stop Russians from leaving the region and make the region more attractive; p 6 (300 words).



13. DarIa Tsiryuik article headlined "U.S blames Russia for slave trade" says that Russia, China and Uzbekistan may face sanctions as the U.S Department of State has downgraded their ratings for not meeting U.S criteria of struggle against human trafficking. The issue is bound to have a negative effect on Russian-U.S relations and to hamper a dialogue on Syria and Iran; p 8 (700 words).



14. Yevgeny GrigorIev article headlined "Seeing Obama off, chancellor flies to Putin" looks at the result of U.S President Barack Obama's visit to Germany and says that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to take part in the St. Petersburg Economic Forum and meet Russian President Vladimir Putin today; p 8 (700 words).



15. Yevgenia Novikova article headlined "Shaykhs turn conflict in Syria into religious war" says that Al-Asad's opponents are trying hard to turn the Syrian crisis into a war between Sunni and Shi'i and Alawites, which is fraught with escalation of violence in the entire region; p 8 (600 words).



Vedomosti



1. Irina Kezik and Lilia Biryukova article headlined "Rosneft without debt" says the Russian state-controlled energy giant Rosneft will increase oil supplies to China; pp 1, 12 (500 words).



2. Editorial headlined "Administration of control" comments on the initiative of the Economic Development Ministry to establish a so-called people's monitoring service to let citizens assess the quality of state and municipal services online; pp 1, 6 (402 words).



3. Lilia Biryukova and Maksim Glinkin article headlined "Bet on high-spirited" focuses on canvassing plans of Moscow's acting mayor Sergei Sobyanin; p 2 (500 words)



4. Editorial headlined "Dependent science" says that the state policy on science has not yielded tangible results so far and looks at the reasons; p 6 (274 words).



5. Anton Oleynik article headlined "Loyalty and goodwill: Ode to whistle" speculates on the scandal escalating in the U.S after revelations of CIA employee Edward Snowden; pp 6-7 (983 words).



6. Milana Chelpanova article headlined "Who to pay for Baykal-Amur and Trans-Siberian railways" says that the government has approved the plan to finance the modernization of the Baykal-Amur and Trans-Siberian railways; p 11 (420 words).



7. Natalia Biyanova and Dmitry Kazmin article headlined "Union of capital outflow" says that fictitious imports from the Customs Union states accounted for almost half of capital outflow from Russia in 2012; pp 10, 14 (602 words).



Rossiiskaya Gazeta



1.Yulia Krivoshapko article headlined "Ruble does not hold on" says the ruble keeps weakening amid disputes about the Russian currency's future; pp 1, 4 (600 words).



2. Kira Latukhina and Vitaly Petrov article headlined "To connect bridges" says the problems of G20 countries have been the main topic of the economic forum in St. Petersburg; p 2 (1,000 words)



3. Vladislav Vorobyev article headlined "Drones arrive" says U.S human rights activists have blamed special services for using drones on the U.S territory; p 8 (300 words).



4. Yevgeny Shestakov article headlined "Karzai ordered to live long" says that the Afghan president has managed to disrupt talks between the Taleban and a delegation of the U.S Department of State; p 8 (600 words).



Moskovsky Komsomolets



1. Konstantin Smirnov article headlined "Fairy tale about tax burden" comments on the idea of governmental officials to introduce progressive taxation in 2018; p 2 (413 words).


2. Natalia Rozhkova article headlined "Gudkov gives up Bulgaria for sake of Moscow Region" says that opposition member Gennady Gudkov has given up his shares in a Bulgarian company in order to run for Moscow Region governor; p 2 (458 words).


3. Ilya Baranikas article headlined "Eager Lion sends unambiguous message to Bashar Assad" says that joint drills of the U.S and its allies are coming to a close in Jordan; p 4 (464 words).


4. Melor Sturua article headlined "Obama's Berliner speech resembles Khrushchev's speeches" speculates why U.S President Barack Obama's calls for nuclear disarmament have not excited Moscow; p 4 (1,403 words).


5. Nikolai Vardul article headlined "How to make Russian investment climate warmer" ponders over scenarios for Russia's future in light of problems discussed at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum; p 5 (1,640 words).


6. Georgy Yalanzhi article headlined "Russia not to withdraw its troops from Dniester region" focuses on tension between Moldova and the Dniester region and on Russia's military presence in the region; p 15 (482 words).



Izvestiya


1. Anastasia Dulenkova and Pavel Chernyshov article headlined "Vekselberg transferred Skolkovo money to his company's accounts" says investigators are checking whether Viktor Vekselberg's Renova Group branch and foreign companies, one of which is owned by a friend of liberal lawmaker Ilya Ponomarev, has really received 140 million rubles; pp 1, 4 (1,200 words).


2. Svetlana Subbotina article entitled "Party of power deals with cleansing regional branches" say United Russia has started cleansing its ranks, identifying unworthy party members; pp 1, 4 (400 words).


3. Yegor Sozayev-Guryev article headlined "Kremlin sets up training department for governors" says a special management training department for governors is being set up in the Kremlin; p 2 (350 words).


4. Tatiana Shirmanova and Anastasia Alexeievskikh article entitled "Chukotka, Moscow and Dagestan are regions with largest debt load" looks at reasons behind the huge debt load of some Russian regions and two largest cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg; pp 1, 4 (500 words)



Novaya Gazeta


1. Yury Revich report "We will not give up byte of our country" says that State Duma deputy speaker Sergei Zheleznyak's proposal to develop Russia's digital sovereignty is a "digital gulag" because it will make all internet users in the country defenceless to Russian special services; pp 1-2 (700 words).


2. Irek Murtazin report "FSB through CIA's prism" says that Russian special services have access to data stored in internet companies' servers; p 2 (550 words).


3. Diana Khachatryan report "Re-swearing in" looks at pro-Kremlin's youth movements and says that the movement Nashi has split and its Seliger forums will be closed soon; p 6 (1,300 words).


4. Semen Novoprudskiy report "Country opposite West" looks at the recent G8 summit and says that Russia is "deliberately following the path of a rogue state"; p 9 (800 words).


5. Irina Petrovskaya report "Mamontov vs. gays" looks at the latest broadcast of the "Special correspondent" programme and slams it as "show of hatred" on Russian official state television channel Rossia 1; p 24 (1,100 words).


RBC Daily


1. Petr Kiryan report "Anton Siluanov's hard day" looks at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and Finance Minister Anton Siluanov's speech; pp 1-2 (700 words).


2. Ivan Petrov report "Cemetery of criminal cases" says that the trade union of the Moscow police has exposed a criminal scheme used by the city's police officers; pp 1, 4 (800 words).


3. Inga Vorobyeva report "Putin calls on business to 'link bridges'" looks at Putin's speech at the economic forum in St. Petersburg; p 2 (650 words).


4. Yulia Sinyayeva report "Will there be recession or not" looks at the discussion of possibility of recession in Russia at the economic forum in St. Petersburg; p 2 (750 words).


5. Yulia Yakovleva report "State compared to casino" says that Alexei Kudrin's Civil Initiatives Committee has appealed to the State Duma to organize public hearing of the administrative code procedure; p 4 (800 words).


Komsomolskaya Pravda


1. Viktor Baranets report "What nuclear doll Obama is trying to palm off on Russia" looks at Barack Obama's proposals regarding nuclear reduction and says why it is dangerous for Russia to agree to them; p 4 (900 words).


2. Maksim Brusnev report "Who 'sacked' president of Russian Railways?" looks at rumours that Russian Railways chief Vladimir Yakunin will resign and says that it is a hoax; p 5 (750 words).


3. Alexander Grishin report "Udaltsov faces up to 10 years in prison" says that Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov may be jailed for 10 years, so he is unlikely to stand in the Moscow mayoral election in September; p 5 (200 words).


Trud


1. Sergei Frolov report "And then fence answered..." looks at gossip about Russian Railways head Vladimir Yakunin's resignation; p 1 (600 words).


2. Gennady Dianov report "Sevastopol to be on watch as from 2017" says that the second Mistral-class helicopter carrier, after its completion in France, will be named Sevastopol and will join the Russian Black Sea Fleet in 2017; p 2 (450 words).


Noviye Izvestiya


1. Valentina Shakhova report "United Russia to rewrite laws" says that the State Duma plans to revise the laws passed over the last 20 years; p 2 (350 words).


2. Vladimir Mashatin report "Satan's last day" looks at the way Russia's nuclear missiles are scrapped; p 13 (1,100 words).


Krasnaya Zvezda weekly


1. Alexander Gerasimov report "Syria: Fight goes on" looks at the situation in Syria discussed at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland; p 3 (900 words).

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