What the Papers Say, July 19, 2013

Kommersant

1. Ilya Barabanov article headlined "KirovLes case ends in arrest" says that opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been sentenced to five years in prison for embezzlement of 16 million rubles ($490,000) from the state-owned KirovLes company and taken in custody in the courtroom; pp 1-4 (1,086 words).

2. Olga Mordyushenko article headlined "Phosagro to be returned to family" says that son of Posagro's main shareholder Andrei Guryev will replace the current head of the holding; p 1 (542 words).

3. Khalil Aminov article headlined "Sports generosity without example" says that Luzhniki has handed over to Moscow its big sports arena estimated at 4 billion rubles — this will enable the authorities to begin preparations for the 2018 FIFA World Cup; p 1 (571 words).

4. Sergei Sobolev article headlined "Nobody going anywhere anymore" says that the summer may turn out to be a failure for travel agencies which have already started cutting on their charter operations and adds that one of Russia's oldest travel companies, Ascent Travel, specializing in Croatia and Montenegro, had to cancel all summer tours; p 1 (538 words).

5. Vadim Visloguzov article headlined "Reserve Fund to grow along with deficit" looks at the amended directions of budget policy for 2014-16 revealed by the Finance Ministry; p 2 (463 words).

6. Maxim Ivanov and Sofia Samokhina article headlined "Tax office counts Golos' money" says that the tax office has accused the election monitoring NGO Golos of evading the payment of some 2.38 million as profit tax from the 36 million rubles granted by the USAID; p 3 (676 words).

7. Serafima Kurdyubova and Maria-Luiza Tirmaste article headlined "Yevgeny Urlashov stripped of office" says that a Moscow court has ruled to dismiss Yaroslavl mayor Yevgeny Urlashov from office until a sentence in his attempted bribery case is passed; p 3 (468 words).

8. Sergei Mashkin article headlined "Insurgent but not terrorist" says that the Supreme Court has commuted sentence from 13 to eight years for ex-serviceman Vladimir Kvachkov, convicted of "armed mutiny" and suspect in plot to assassinate Rosnano head Anatoly Chubais; p 3 (515 words).

9. Viktor Khamrayev et al. report headlined "Moscow election waits for measure of restraint" says that Navalny's team does not yet know whether he will withdraw from the Moscow mayoral election campaign as he may be released under a written pledge not to leave the country until the verdict takes effect; p 5 (822 words).

10. Unattributed article headlined "One stood up for Alexei Navalny as best one could" looks at protests against the sentence passed on opposition leader Alexei Navalny staged in Moscow, St. Petersburg and several other major cities; p 5 (693 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Navalny ousted from political system" says that the sentence passed on Navalny has confirmed the authorities' intention to toughen their grip on political opponents. As a result, in addition to former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the Kremlin gets another uncompromising opponent who has become the torch-bearer of the entire Russian opposition; pp 1, 2 (1,228 words).

2. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Tourists motivated to love motherland" says that the authorities plan to support domestic tourism with generous investments in tourist infrastructure; pp 1,4 (590 words)

3. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Serdyukov's ideas materialized" says that the Defense Ministry has finally drafted a bill to grant monetary allowance instead of housing to the servicemen entitled to the benefit; pp 1,5 (776 words).

4. Yury Simonyan article headlined "Saakashvili points out Putin's mistake" says that Georgian President Mikheil Saaksahvili said good-bye to his country in a filmed interview and singled out Russia's mistake in the August 2008 conflict; pp 1,6 (1,058 words).

5. Yevgenia Novikova article headlined "Al-Qaida bucking for chemical weapons in Syria" says that al-Qaida is trying to oust the Free Syrian Army from the areas it has occupied in order to take control over weapons and money from Turkey. Meanwhile, the British top brass are considering sending troops to Syria to prevent al-Qaida from getting hold of chemical weapons; pp 1, 7 (668 words).

6. Daria Tsiryulik article headlined "Snowden may leave Russia prior to 8 August" says that the Russian authorities are going to try their best to send former CIA contractor Edward Snowden to Latin America prior to the meeting of Russian and U.S. foreign and defense ministers on Aug. 8; pp 1, 7 (659 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Opposition reflected in Navalny case" looks at the challenges the opposition is faced with after its most charismatic leader Alexei Navalny was ousted from the legal political field; p 2 (474 words).

8. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Gennady Gudkov may give up struggle" says that opposition activist and former State Duma deputy Gennady Gudkov may withdraw from the Moscow Region gubernatorial election in protest of the sentence passed on Alexei Navalny; p 3 (754 words).

9. Gleb Postnov article headlined "Carte blanche: how Russia rises from knees for billions" looks at the outcomes of the University Sports Games in Kazan; p 3 (805 words).

10. Anton Khodasevich article headlined "Belarussians prefer dollars" says that although banks continue increasing deposit rates, Belarusians keep withdrawing money from banks; p 6 (562 words).

11. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Tymoshenko lays hopes on European court" says that this week the ECHR has got down to former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's second case; p 6 (951 words).

12. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "China to replace USA as superpower" says that the U.S. seems to be losing the fight for influence in the world and features an expert's comment on the trend; p 7 (623 words).

Vedomosti

1. Maria Zheleznova and Anastasia Kornya article headlined "Navalny's defense gathers near Kremlin" says that the sentence on Navalny sparked mass protests across Russia, quotes experts as saying that the advocates of the forceful approach to dealing opposition have won and looks at consequences for the opposition; p 1 (1,767 words).

2. Margarita Papchenkova and Maxim Tovkaylo article headlined "Central Bank sets off on anticrisis trip" says that the Central Bank is going to resort to measures used during the 2008 crisis — to re-finance banks for loans to strategic companies; p 1 (650 words).

3. Editorial headlined "Attack!" says that the jail sentence for Alexei Navalny is deliberately politically motivated and is aimed at cutting short all unsanctioned attempts to engage in politics. In addition, the sentence will definitely expand opportunities for corporate raiding; p 1 (464 words).

4. Anastasia Golitsyna and Dmitry Kazmin article headlined "Checking Google" says that Federation Council senator Ruslan Gattarov has asked the Federal Tax Service to check whether Google has paid all the taxes while working in Russia; p 17 (531 words).

5. Maria Eysmont article headlined "Civil Society: System cannot be talked round" says that by the jail sentence for Alexei Navalny and Petr Ofitserov the system has shown that it has nothing to do with legitimacy and uses force as its only argument; p 6 (712 words).

6. Maxim Trudolyubov article headlined "Republic: School of leadership" says that being a truly free person Navalny has consciously pursued his way despite numerous opportunities to avoid the course that led to a jail sentence; p 7 (493 words).

7. Lilia Biryukova and Maxim Glikin article headlined "Election after sentence" looks at how jail sentence for Alexei Navalny will affect Moscow mayoral election; p 3 (455 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Nikolay Dolgopolov article headlined "Americans to come to Sochi" says that U.S. policy makers have rebuked a Republican senator who called on boycotting the Winter Olympics in Sochi; pp 1, 5 (400 words).

2. Natalya Yachmenkova article headlined "Crash over degrees" says that the Russian Space Agency has voiced the reason behind the latest failure of the Proton-M rocket carrying three Glonass satellites aboard; pp 1, 4 (300 words).

3. Natalya Kozlova article headlined "Overpriced renovation" says that Education and Science Minister Dmitry Livanov and his deputy will be questioned as witnesses in line with a case over embezzlement of funds allocated for the university that Livanov used to head; p 2 (400 words).

4. Andrei Andreyev article headlined "Found guilty" gives details from Kirov courtroom where Navalny case was heard on 18 July; p 3 (1,000 words)

Izvestia

1. Ivan Cheberko article headlined "Zenit launching facilities in Baikonur to be handed over to Kazakhstan" says Russia will hand over part of property it leases on Baikonur cosmodrome to Kazakhstan; pp 1, 4 (400 words).

2. Andrei Gridasov article headlined "Sentence for Alexei Navalny has more questions than answers" wonders if opposition leader Alexei Navalny will still take part in the Moscow mayoral election despite his arrest in the courtroom and a jail sentence; pp 1-3 (979 words).

3. Yulia Tsoy article headlined "Protesters and police stand for Navalny" looks at protests against a jail sentence for Navalny staged in Moscow; p 3 (666 words).

4. Maria Gorkovskaya article headlined "UN compares Syrian crisis to genocide in Rwanda" says that a reform of the UN Security Council is getting in the spotlight amid escalating humanitarian crisis in Syria; p 7 (701 words).

5. Tatyana Baikova and Daria Tsoy article headlined "Russia becomes main slave market in CIS" says that human trafficking in Russia is on the rise; p 7 (496 words).

6. Anna Fedorova article headlined "No sentence yet" says that the jail sentence for Navalny will benefit neither acting Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin nor the Kremlin especially given that Navalny may still take part in the Moscow mayoral election; p 9 (528 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Alexander Minkin article headlined "First five years" comments on the reasons behind a tough sentence for Navalny; p 1 (808 words).

2. Natalya Rozhkova and Dmitry Katorzhnev article headlined "Fortune favours the brave" gives account of the court hearing where a jail sentence on Alexei Navalny was passed; p 1 (1,145 words).

3. Stanislav Belkovsky article headlined "Russia: life or death?" says that a tough sentence for Navalny was inevitable and looks at the reasons behind; p 3 (1,354 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Vera Moslakova interview with member of the Russian Public Chamber Nikolay Svanidze headlined "On all counts Navalny can be considered a political prisoner", in which he calls on members of the presidential human rights council to carry out an independent probe into the Navalny case and KirovLes — the verdict in the Navalny case is an absolutely political decision, Svanidze says; p 1 (500 words).

2. Vera Moslakova article entitled "The verdict is in" says Russian human rights activists and opposition leaders are confident Navalny is a political prisoner, while pro-Kremlin politicians believe there are no political implications in his case; p 2 (700 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Yevgeny Feldman report from Kirov headlined "Presidential sentence" gives details of the KirovLes trial and says that as soon as the verdict was passed and the sentence became known, people in the street started shouting "Putin is a coward" and "Shame"; pp 2-3 (700 words).

2. Observer Andrei Kolesnikov article entitled "Marker verdict" says the verdict in the Navalny case marks a new stage Putin's regime has entered — that of political deep freeze and single-track one-way movement that does not envisage any concessions to civil society; p 1 (500 words).

3. Natalya Zotova report from Navalny's mayoral election headquarters entitled "Let us send jokes to Navalny, he will be launching in courtroom and we shall see it on television" says when the sentence was announced, people started getting ready for a rally in support of Navalny in Manezhnaya square; p 3 (300 words).

4. Diana Khachatryan and Maria Yepifanova article headlined "To be released only after inauguration if president" features opinions by famous politicians about Navalny's verdict; pp 4-5 (1,000 words).

5. Nikita Girin article headlined "Will Navalny be able to run for president?" says the verdict against Navalny prevents him from running for president; p 6 (300 words).

6. Yulia Latynina article headlined "Mistake of resident" says the Russian authorities have made a mistake by sentencing Navalny as this has improved his leadership status; p 6 (300 words)

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Nikolay Varsegov and Natalya Ko article headlined "Navalny, seat down, five..." is a report from Kirov, where a verdict against Alexei Navalny was handed down yesterday; pp 1, 3 (600 words).

2. Unattributed article headlined "Question of the day" features opinions of various famous Russians on the verdict against Navalny; pp 3-4 (700 words).

3. Alexander Gamov article headlined "'He will not become Mandela, Tymoshenko or Khodorkovsky'" is an interview with Russian pundit Sergei Markov about Navalny; p 4 (600 words).

4. Alexander Gamov article headlined "'To become real opposition member one needs to serve sentence'" is an interview with Russian journalist Yulia Latynina about Navalny; p 4 (200 words).

5. Sergei Polosatov article headlined "Alexei Navalny — to Pyotr Ofitserov: Maybe we should appoint moron to take unpopular decisions" features excerpts from Navalny's intercepted phone conversations with the other accused in his case, Pyotr Ofitserov; p 5 (600 words).

6. Alexander Grishin article headlined "Not commander, not on brave horse" is a commentary on the verdict against Alexei Navalny; p 5 (200 words).

7. Vladimir Vorosbin article headlined "Two parallel iconostases" is a commentary on the verdict against Navalny; p 5 (200 words).

RBC Daily

1. Stepan Opalev article headlined "Disgusting five years" focuses on verdict against Navalny; p 1 (500 words).

Trud

1. Sergei Gusev article headlined "Navalny gets five years while Kvachkov sentence reduced" focuses on the sentence against Navalny and features some expert comments; p 2 (500 words).

Tvoy Den

1. Vagram Arutyunyan article headlined "Navalny comes to Kirov with one-way ticket" focuses on verdict against Navalny; pp 1, 4-5 (500 words).