What the Papers Say, July 11, 2013

Kommersant

1. Anna Pushkarskaya and Yelena Chernenko article headlined "Foreign agents assigned to countries" says that Prosecutor-General Yury Chaika has exposed nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that refuse to register as foreign agents and accused the U.K., U.S., Belgian, Dutch and Swiss embassies of financing political activities of Russian NGOs when delivering a report on the results of mass checks of NGOs to the Federation Council; pp 1, 3 (1,065 words).

2. Yevgeny Timoshinov and Yana Rozhdestvenskaya article headlined "VEB made change its seat from Airbus to Superjet" says that the Grazhdanskiye Samolety Sukhogo (Sukhoi Civil Aircraft) company, engaged in the production of the Sukhoi Superjet 100, has $2 billion-worth debts, including over $600 million to the VEB bank. Ways to save the company from bankruptcy are being looked for; pp 1, 7 (618 words).

3. Alexandraa Bayazitova and Ksenia Dementyeva article headlined "Credit IQ growing" says that the Central Bank has studied the retail portfolios of the largest banks in January-March. Borrowers became less interested in credit cards and point-of-sale credits, the study suggested; pp 1, 8 (662 words).

4. Petr Netreba et al. article headlined "Russian union of prime minister and entrepreneurs" describes Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's meeting with the leadership of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs; pp 1-2 (1,064 words).

5. Yekaterina Yeremenko and Taisia Bekbulatova article headlined "Civil Platform's strong candidates being knocked out" says that the Transbaikal Territory electoral commission has refused to register the Civil Platform party's governor nominee, Alexei Koshelev, having rejected 45 municipal deputies' signatures in support of him; p 2 (454 words).

6. Viktor Khamrayev and Maxim Ivanov article headlined "Army becomes more important than economy for citizens" says that a Levada Center public opinion poll has shown that 75 percent of Russians think that Russia needs a strong leader capable of introducing proper order; some 76 percent of respondents believe that the U.S. wants to turn Russia into the West's source of raw materials and some 46 percent of those polled support militarization of the economy; p 3 (520 words).

7. Unattributed article headlined "How many NGOs needed?" features comments by experts and politicians on the necessary quantity of noncommercial organizations (NGOs) in Russia; p 3 (497 words).

8. Sergei Petunin article headlined "Pugachyov deprived of spirits and police head" says that anti-Chechen protests continue in the Saratov Region town of Pugachyov, caused by the murder of a local man by a Chechen migrant; p 5 (365 words).

9. Vyacheslav Kozlov article headlined "Deputy placed in center of Bolotnaya [square]" says that Dmitry Deynichenko, the head of the Moscow Special Purpose center, has said in the Moscow city court that State Duma deputy from the A Just Russia party, Ilya Ponomaryov, organized mass riots on Moscow's Bolotnaya square in May 2012 together with Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov; p 5 (455 words).

10. Sofia Samokhina article headlined "Russian Academy of Sciences reform to have no summer holidays" says that the State Duma will set up a working group to finish off a bill on reforms in the Russian Academy of Sciences, passed in the second reading. The third reading of the bill is set for autumn; p 5 (477 words).

11. Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "Chemical weapons do not have reaction" says that the U.S. has ignored Russia's evidence that it was the Syrian opposition, and not the pro-government forces, that had used sarin nerve agent and has not given up arms supplies to the Syrian opposition; p 6 (374 words).

12. Olga Kuznetsova article headlined "Muslim Brotherhood dismissed as example" features Russian experts' comments on the Muslim Brotherhood movement's removal from power in Egypt and what lessons other Middle East countries, where Islamists have strong positions, should learn from this; p 6 (553 words).

13. Sergei Strokan article headlined "Egypt fails to negotiate the corner" comments on the latest developments in Egypt and says new leadership of the country is hoping for national reconciliation; p 6 (450 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Darya Garmonenko and Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "European Parliament to monitor Bolotnaya case" says that Russian human rights activists have asked the European Parliament to send a delegation to Russia to watch the trial of the participants in the so-called Bolotnaya case on mass disorders in Moscow's Bolotnaya square in May 2012; pp 1-2 (1,044 words).

2. Svetlana Gavrilina article headlined "A Just Russia members in St. Petersburg deny split" says that the St. Petersburg branch of the A Just Russia party considers recent rumors about a split in the party to be a wrong interpretation of a party member's remarks or a put-up job by the party's opponents; pp 1, 3 (606 words).

3. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Yury Chaika reveals military secret" says that Prosecutor-General Yury Chaika has announced that among the members of the president's human rights council are four representatives of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that perform the functions of a "foreign agent" and three representatives of NGOs that performed these functions before the law on NGOs came into effect; pp 1, 3 (541 words).

4. Igor Naumov article headlined "Foreigners to gain on Russian infrastructure" says that President Putin has discussed with VEB head Vladimir Dmitryev preparations for a working meeting between G20 development institutes heads, to be held in Moscow on 17-18 July. Foreign development institutes may become investors of large infrastructure projects to be implemented in Russia, the article says; pp 1, 4 (746 words).

5. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Car war like between neighbours" says that Russia may introduce new economic sanctions against Ukraine, which will affect its economic sectors that are not linked to car production and sale; pp 1, 6 (839 words).

6. Yevgenia Novikova article headlined "Saudi Arabia and UAE build Egypt for themselves" says that Egypt will receive $8 billion-worth aid from the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Apparently, these countries want to strengthen their influence on revolution-stricken Egypt, the article says; pp 1, 7 (570 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Moral spiritual Pugachyov rebellion" says that according to sociologists, Russians have unprecedented potential of aggression, which will most likely be expressed in ethnic violence. Only the authorities, but not religious leaders, can control the situation, the editorial says; p 2 (501 words).

8. Alexei Gorbachev and Darya Garmonenko article headlined "Ramzan Kadyrov does not like word 'human rights activist'" says that Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has criticized a report by the president's human rights council on kidnapping and tortures in the republic. He as well as local law-enforcers are displeased with human rights activists' performance, the article says; p 3 (812 words).

9. Stanislav Minin article published in the Carte Blanche regular column headlined "Not to be ashamed of one's own look" expresses the journalist's view of protests in Russia and says that journalists should be politically neutral; p 3 (723 words).

10. Mikhail Sergeyev article headlined "Authorities differ with population in budget priorities" says that according to a poll conducted by the Internet portal Superjob.ru in late May, 51 percent of Russians think that education should be the main priority of state spending; 48 percent of respondents say that healthcare is the main priority and a mere 22 percent of those polled consider military spending to be priority; p 4 (900 words).

11. Dmitry Orlov article headlined "Influence rating of Russian regional heads in June 2013" says that acting Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin topped the influence rating of heads of Russian regions in June, followed by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and St. Petersburg governor Georgy Poltavchenko; p 5 (1,561 words).

Vedomosti

1. Anastasia Fomicheva and Maxim Tovkaylo article headlined "Rosneftegaz to buy state stake in Inter RAO" says that the energy company Rosneftegaz has agreed to buy a 13.76-percent stake in the state power producer Inter RAO; pp 1, 13 (776 words).

2. Editorial headlined "Without doctors and teachers" comments on the Supreme Court's ruling clarifying the notions of "bribe" and "kickback" and says that statistics of corruption-related criminal cases may change a lot; pp 1, 6 (428 words).

3. Lilia Biryukova and Maria Zheleznova article headlined "Anomaly in Chita" says that the governor election in Transbaikal Territory may become the most difficult campaign for the Russian authorities and may have two rounds; p 2 (528 words).

4. Yekaterina Sobol article headlined "Company of week: Aeroflot" says that the Russian airlines company Aeroflot has become an official air carrier of the U.K. football team Manchester United; p 7 (408 words).

5. Alexei Nikolskyarticle headlined "Operator under oath" says that two first scientific companies in the Russian army have been half manned; p 2 (363 words).

6. Maria Zheleznova and Lilia Biryukova article headlined "Agents in power" says that Prosecutor-general Yury Chayka has suggested carrying out planned checks of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) annually and specifying the notion "political activity" in the law on NGOs; p 3 (457 words).

7. Maria Eysmont article headlined "Civil society: Era of cynicism comes to end" admires defendant Petr Ofitserov, who is targeted in the KirovLes timber company case, for his refusal to testify against the main defendant Alexei Navalny; p 7 (459 words).

8. Another editorial headlined "Melted society" comments on the latest developments with the Egyptian crisis and its prospects; p 6 (350 words).

Izvestia

1. Nikita Mogutin article headlined "Two guns seized from those who beat deputy Khudyakov" says that four suspects in beating State Duma deputy from the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Roman Khudyakov, during a road incident in Moscow, have been detained; pp 1, 5 (514 words).

2. Yulia Tsoi article headlined "Kremlin not to allow Naryshkin to make PR campaign on Russian Academy of Sciences reform" says that the presidential administration has expressed displeasure with State Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin's remarks that a bill on reforms in the Russian Academy of Sciences should be returned for the second reading and amended; pp 1, 4 (653 words).

3. Nikita Mogutin article headlined "Investigators permit Smetanova to live with family" says that a key figure in the Defense Ministry's property fraud case, Yekaterina Smetanova, has been permitted to go to her native city of St. Peterburg to wait for her trial there under state protection; pp 1, 4 (603 words).

4. Yelena Malay article headlined "They want to ban foreigners from working at Olympics" says that the Federation Council has drafted a bill banning foreign workers from working at large-scale international events, like the Sochi Olympics or the FIFA World Cup; pp 1, 4 (521 words).

5. Anna Lyalyakina and Anastasia Dulenkova article headlined "Websites to be closed for condemning attempted suicides" says that a bill giving additional grounds for blacklisting websites in Russia has been drafted; pp 1, 4 (581 words).

6. Viktor Sokirko article headlined "Ratnik put into service" says that the Ratnik combat individual kit has been approved for putting into service in the Russian army; pp 1, 3 (443 words).

7. Sergei Podosenov article headlined "Russians back tough measures against NGOs" says that a Levada center public opinion poll has shown that 19 percent of Russians are critical of nongovernmental organizations' activity, which is by 6 per cent more than in 2012, and 49 percent of respondents back tightening of laws as regards NGOs, which is by 4 percent more than a year ago; p 2 (637 words).

8. Alexandra Yunashev article headlined "Federal Protection Service purchasing typewriters" says that following the U.S. mass surveillance scandal, Russian Federal Protection Service (FSO) has decided to buy some 20 typewriters for typing secret documents; p 3 (600 words).

9. Maria Gorkovskaya article headlined "Congress prevents Obama from supplying arms to Syrian opposition" says that the U.S. Congress' intelligence committees have voted against arms supplies to the Syrian opposition and features Russian experts' comments on the issue; p 7 (486 words).

9. Yury Matsarsky article headlined "Egyptian army declares war to journalists" says that foreign journalists are being driven out of Egypt; p 7 (589 words).

10. Viktor Osipov article headlined "Club of scientists" contemplates the reasons behind Russian scientists' rejection of reforms in the Russian Academy of Sciences; p 9 (599 words).

11. Political analyst Kirill Benediktov article headlined "South against North" comments on Latin American countries' support for U.S. whistle-blower Edward Snowden; p 9 (887 words).

12. Anna Fedorova article headlined "Palaces in bog" says that judging by the Bolotnaya case and some other high-profile criminal cases, the public politics in Russia is a well-paid performance and a show for television and internet; p 9 (574 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Mikhail Falaleyev article headlined "Deputy beaten" details a road incident and following beating of State Duma deputy Roman Khudyakov; pp 1, 7 (1,028 words).

2. Yevgeny Shestakov article headlined "U.S. Congress backs Russia?" praises the U.S. Congress for a decision to suspend military aid to the Syrian opposition as it shows that congressmen understand the actual state of affairs in the country. However, parliamentarians did not want to play up to Russia, the author says; pp 1, 8 (538 words).

3. Maxim Makarychev article headlined "Mirror of Cairo" says that Russian lawmakers have discussed the Egyptian political crisis and concluded that it may pose a threat to the global security in the short term; p 3 (755 words).

4. Andrei Kulikov article headlined "Pugachyov disturbed" looks into spontaneous anti-Chechen protests in the Saratov region town of Pugachyov after a local resident's murder and says the authorities will learn a lesson from it; p 6 (550 words).

5. Vladimir Fedosenko article headlined "Headscarves not to go to school" says that the Supreme Court has found legal a ban on wearing hijabs at schools in Stavropol Territory; p 7 (533 words).

6. Viktor Feshchenko article headlined "Jihadists racing to rescue" says the Muslim Brotherhood will continue holding protest rallies in Egypt during the holy month of Ramadan; p 8 (500 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta (weekly)

1. Yury Snegirev article headlined "Who makes Pugachyov angry?" analyses possible reasons behind the spontaneous anti-Chechen protests in the Saratov region town of Pugachyov; p 4 (1,300 words).

2. Vladislav Vorobyov article headlined "Saying good-bye to Facebook" says more Russians are currently leaving Facebook and other popular social networking websites; p 12 (500 words).

3. Vladimir Snegirev article headlined "Off-season" speculates on why Egypt has found itself on the verge of civil war; p 24 (1,350 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Irina Bobrova article headlined "To ruin life of young gay" looks at how nationalists fight against pedophiles in Tambov Region and what consequences their fight has; pp 1, 5 (2,602 words).

3. Darya Fedotova article headlined "'Pugachyov rebellion' to be checked on extremism" says that anti-Chechen protests in the Saratov Region town of Pugachyov, caused by the murder of a local man by a Chechen migrant, will be checked on extremism. Meanwhile, law-enforcers have begun to detain nationalists who have come to the town to back locals, the article says; pp 1, 3 (495 words).

4. Viktoria Prikhodko article headlined "They want to give journalists same status as policemen" says that a bill toughening punishment for attacks on journalists has been submitted to the State Duma; pp 1-2 (501 words).

5. Natalya Rozhkova article headlined "Billionaires leave politics. Who to replace them?" says that senator Dmitry Ananyev has quitted the Federation Council allegedly over failure to get rid of foreign assets in time; p 2 (671 words).

6. Ignat Kalinin article headlined "Bolotnaya trial: Ilya Ponomaryov being drawn in Bolotnaya [case]" describes the questioning of Moscow senior policeman Dmitry Deynichenko in the trial of the participants in the Bolotnaya mass disorders case; p 2 (419 words).

7. Melor Sturua article headlined "Not every Snowden can get to Venezuela?" says that a former CIA analyst has advised U.S. whistle-blower Edward Snowden on how he can get to Venezuela, which has agreed to give him political asylum; p 3 (511 words).

8. Matvey Ganapolsky article headlined "Navalny: stranger among one's own people" says that given opposition activist Alexei Navalny's standing in the 8 September Moscow mayoral election, the election will be real and competitive and people's opinion will do mean something, although other opposition activists have criticized Navalny; p 3 (1,114 words).

9. Marina Ozerova interview with A Just Russia member Olga Dmitryeva, headlined "'Serdyukov's girls, Livanov's girls...'", who shares her view of the pending reforms in the Russian Academy of Sciences; p 4 (1,576 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Diana Yevdokimova article headlined "'New law about media is stillborn idiocy'" is an interview with the head of the Glasnost Defense Foundation, Alexei Simonov. He criticizes a bill which could lead all media outlets to joining federal or regional self-regulatory organizations; pp 1, 5 (888 words).

2. Anna Alexeyeva article headlined "This is not standard" says that a Moscow district court has dismissed a complaint filed by two non-profit organizations against a prosecutor's office over alleged wrongdoings during mass checks of NGOs; pp 1, 5 (633 words).

RBC Daily

1. Alexandra Litoy article headlined "NGO solo" says Prosecutor-General Yury ChaIka has spoken in the Federation Council about the spring NGO checks; p 2 (600 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Alexandra Grishin article headlined "Desirable but dangerous" says the U.S. is urging other states to intervene in Syria; p 4 (500 words).

2. Alexandra Grishin article headlined "Who needs Snowden?" says the USA has warned Russia against helping CIA whistle-blower Edward Snowden; p 4 (400 words).

3. Alexandra Kots and Dmitry Steshin report headlined "Revolution takes break for Ramadan" says unrest in Egypt will calm down for a month; p 5 (400 words).

4. Alexandra Khodyakin article headlined "Arab Spring not a threat" says the Egyptian revolution scenario is not possible in Russia, according to some Russian politicians; p 5 (200 words).

5. Nikolay Varsegov and Dmitry Kozurov report headlined "Unrest in Saratov Region: Chechen diaspora take their young out of Pugachyov" shows the situation in the town of Pugachyov, where an ethnic conflict has happened; pp 6-7 (700 words).

6. Maria Semenova article headlined "Navalny files United Russia signatures" says the ruling party has helped opposition politician Alexei Navalny to register as candidate for Moscow mayor; p 8 (300 words).

7. Viktor Baranets article headlined "Shoigu introduces science companies" focuses on the army's new science force; p 11 (400 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda (weekly)

1. Yevgeny Chernykh article headlined "U.S. intelligence services invented internet to spy on planet" says the Soviet Union could have invented its own internet; p 9 (1,100 words).

Zavtra

1. Shamil Sultanov article headlined "Cyber defense front" comments on the situation with CIA whistle-blower Edward Snowden, saying that the U.S. is ruled by closed societies and has a strict hierarchical structure; p 2 (1,100 words).