What the Papers Say, Aug. 2, 2013

Kommersant

1. Alexander Chernykh et al. report headlined "To pull physics up " says that the government is drafting another major reform in the academic sphere: the revision of the legal status of 15 research institutions engaged in physics studies; pp 1-2 (989 words).

2. Kirill Belyaninov et al. report headlined "Edward Snowden ahead of Barack Obama" says the U.S. Congress has perceived the Russian Federal Migration Service's decision to grant temporary asylum to former CIA contractor Edward Snowden as a slap in the face and the end of the reset in bilateral relations. In addition, the White House has confirmed that the move will directly affect Barack Obama's plans to meet Putin in September in Moscow; pp 1, 5 (820 words).

3. Yegor Popov and Svetlana Dementyeva article headlined "Baltplant propelling into the past" says that the state-owned Baltplant factory may have to sell its strategic production facility which makes screw propellers for vessels and submarines under the state defence order; pp 1,7 (652 words).

4. Vladislav Novy article headlined "Rostelekom taken into electronic turnover" says that the Ministry of Communications and Telecommunications has asked the Interior Ministry to check whether the former management of the Rostelekom communications giant fulfilled a contract for setting up an independent registrar of electronic trading; pp 1, 8 (524 words).

5. Yury Belov and Sofia Samokhina article headlined "Tomsk Region is shirking responsibility to people" says that Federation Council senator from Tomsk Region Igor Chernyshov has stated that in his region it would be better if the governor were elected by the regional parliament rather than in a direct election; p 2 (568 words).

6. Albert Konstantinov and Nikolai Sergeyev article headlined "Novosibirsk governor to testify on embezzlement" says that the Investigations Committee is going to question Novosibirsk Region governor Vasiliy Yurchenko as a witness in a criminal investigation into an underpriced sale of real estate in central Novosibirsk; p 2 (347 words).

7. Viktor Khamrayev article headlined "Aleksey Kudrin is inviting citizens to forum" says that former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin's Civil Initiatives Committee has called on Russian NGOs to hold a civil forum in Moscow this year in order to urge the authorities to a dialogue for the sake of a new "public treaty" without which the country's development is impossible; p 3 (581 words).

8. Sergei Goryashko and Natalya Korchenkova article headlined "Candidates exploring Internet resources" says that all the candidates running in the Moscow mayoral election are trying to attract the Internet community to their side. Meanwhile, experts note that only Alexei Navalny is perceived by the community as an insider and can benefit from Internet campaigning; p 3 (434 words).

9. Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "Senate giving up surveillance programme" says that the U.S. Senate has demanded that the National Security Agency give up its secret surveillance programs whose existence was dragged into public view by Edward Snowden; p 5 (379 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Fused bodies" says that the Investigations Committee and the Federal Security Service have been given a go-ahead to tackle corruption ties between police and ethnic criminal groups following an attack on a policeman by a Dagestani trader at a Moscow market; pp 1-2 (1,246 words).

2. Artur Blinov and Daria Tsilyurik article headlined "Edward Snowden finally enters" looks at the latest developments surrounding former CIA contractor Edward Snowden as the Federal Migration Service has provided him with temporary asylum for one year and issued documents enabling him to leave the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport; pp 1, 7 (673 words).

3. Viktoria Panfilova article headlined "Rahmon brings more promises to Putin" says that when meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow Tajik President Emomali Rahmon promised that the Tajik parliament would ratify the agreement on the deployment of a Russian military base in the republic. In exchange, Rahmon hopes that the Kremlin will support him in the next presidential election; pp 1, 6 (678 words).

4. Igor Naumov article headlined "Pirates being banished from Internet with difficulty" says that after the so-called anti-piracy law, which allows copyright holders to have offending websites blocked, came into effect yesterday some 65,000 signatures to cancel the law have already been collected on the Internet; pp 1, 4 (665 words).

5. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Replacement being sought for Mykola Azarov" says that in the autumn Kiev will have to fulfil the requirements of the IMF, which may result in the dismissal of the government headed by Mykola Azarov, and looks at who might replace him; pp 1, 6 (798 words).

6. Andrei Serenko article headlined "Head of Volzhsky shows political amenability" says that the incumbent mayor of the town of Volzhsky, Marina Afanasyeva, has refused to run for mayor in the September election, which robs the pre-election campaign of its main intrigue: the confrontation between the current head and the former mayor nominated by United Russia; pp 1, 5 (510 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Pessimism of dissenters" says that the protest euphoria of 2011 has evolved into pessimism and the so-called dissenters do not see prospects in a long fight for power, which makes the idea of a revolutionary take-down of the system more appealing; p 2 (513 words).

8. Gleb Postnov article headlined "New 'Pugachyov' does not happen in Tatarstan" says that interethnic clashes in the town of Nurlat in Tatarstan are most likely to be downplayed as a commonplace conflict between two criminal groups; p 2 (408 words).

9. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Long-drawn implementation of Zorkin's difficult decision" says that the government has finally drafted amendments to the tough law on rallies which the Constitutional Court demanded in its ruling on 14 February; p 3 (935 words).

10. Alexei Mukhin commentary piece headlined "Carte blanche. As far as debates go" says that the decision by the front-runner in the Moscow mayoral election campaign, acting mayor Sergei Sobyanin, not to take part in TV debates with the other candidates is reasonable; p 3 (787 words).

11. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Pre-election field becoming is increasingly smoother" says that the authorities have succeeded in ousting candidates nominated by Civil Platform, Yabloko and RPR-Parnas from regional election campaigns; p 3 (711 words).

12. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Government is considering the worst" says that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev does not rule out that the measures aimed at boosting economic growth might be revised as the economic situation remains complicated; p 4 (558 words).

13. Anton Khodasevich article headlined "Minsk equates immorality with terrorism" says that the Belarussian government has approved a counter-terrorism concept which makes experts suspect that the authorities are going to label all those discontented with the country's official course as terrorists; p 6 (509 words).

14. Yevgenia Novikova article headlined "Islamists in Egypt to be dispersed with force" says that the interim government in Egypt is going to use force to put an end to incessant rallies staged by the Muslim Brotherhood; p 7 (658 words).

15. Daria Tsilyurik article headlined "UN getting down to tough peacemaking in Congo" says that a UN intervention brigade may have to forcibly disarm rebels in Congo as the UN ultimatum expired yesterday, and quotes a Russian expert's comment on the issue; p 7 (587 words).

16. Dmitry Orlov article headlined "Russia's 100 leading politicians in July 2013" features a rating of Russian politicians in July; p 8 (1,644 words).

17. Yevgeny Bazhanov article headlined "Do not fear Chinese dragon" looks at Russian-Chinese relations; p 9 (2,566 words).

Vedomosti

1. Margarita Papchenkova and Maxim Glikin article headlined "Government decides to set smallest ones free" says that all ministries have basically approved Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's idea that sole traders who register for the first time will be exempt from taxation for two years; pp 1, 5 (779 words).

2. Anastasia Kornya and Maria Zheleznova article headlined "Tsar's candidate" looks at the situation in the settlement of Tsarevskoye in Moscow Region ahead of the elections of its head and local council; pp 1, 3 (577 words).

3. Editorial headlined "New isolationists" says that priorities of Russia's domestic and foreign policies are going to change drastically in the next 10-15 years; pp 1, 6 (426 words).

4. Yekaterina Shulman article headlined "Fear of 'new perestroika'" ponders over the prospect of an early dismissal of the State Duma and a new parliamentary election; pp 6-7 (1,101 words).

5. Roman Dorokhov and Igor Tsukanov article headlined "'VKontakte' with Snowden" says that the head of Russia's biggest social network VKontakte, Pavel Durov, has offered a job to former CIA contractor Edward Snowden. Experts warn that the social network may face difficulties on Western markets as the USA is not going to leave Snowden alone; p 10 (525 words).

6. Lilia Biryukova article headlined "Yaroslavl tragedy" says that the Yaroslavl regional electoral commission has refused to register the Civil Platform's list, headed by temporarily suspended Yaroslavl mayor Yevgeny Urlashov, for the election to the legislative assembly; p 2 (496 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Ordinary sentence" comments on a tough sentence village teacher Ilya Farber has got for alleged bribery and says that his case resonates with the recent developments in the country; p 6 (317 words).

8. Svetlana Bocharova and Lilia Biryukova article "Roizman will be reminded of 1980" says prominent antidrugs campaigner Yevgeny Roizman's participation in the Yekaterinburg mayoral election is not a done deal yet, as the electoral authorities are looking into his past criminal convictions dating back to 1980; p 2 (450 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Eduard Gushchin and Yevgeny Shestakov article headlined "Ex-CIA employee Edward Snowden receives one-year temporary asylum in Russia: He will find accommodation, work and a bride" looks at the latest developments surrounding the US whistle-blower and features a brief interview with Snowden's lawyer Anatoly Kucherena; pp 1, 3 (600 words).

2. Kira Latukhina article headlined "Oil and base" gives an account of yesterday's meeting between the Russian and the Tajik presidents in Moscow; p 2 (700 words).

3. Valery Vyzhutovich commentary piece headlined "Direct election" says that an imitation of political struggle is giving way to a real competition as prominent representatives of the opposition have been allowed to participate in the upcoming regional and local elections; p 3 (700 words).

Izvestia

1. Lyudmila Podobedova article headlined "Gazprom issues ultimatum to Dagestani energy companies" says that Gazprom may suspend supplies to Makhachkala over debts; pp 1, 4 (691 words).

2. Sergei Podosenov article headlined "Russians approve of what Snowden did and of granting him asylum" says that a poll conducted by the Levada Center on 18-22 July shows that some 51 per cent of those polled approve of Snowden's behaviour and 43 per cent say that he should be granted asylum by Russia; pp 1-2 (671 words).

3. Opposition figure Eduard Limonov's commentary piece headlined "We did a good thing and got the better of the USA too" welcomes Russia's decision to grant Edward Snowden temporary asylum; p 1 (400 words).

4. Maxim Kononenko commentary piece headlined "Agent Smith" contemplates who may be behind Snowden; p 5 (701 words).

5. Svetlana Subbotina and Yulia Tsoy article headlined "Audit Chamber asked to check Roskosmos" says that State Duma deputy Vladimir Gutenev has asked the Audit Chamber to check how efficiently the Russian Space Agency used the money allocated for the Glonass system and the federal space programme in general; pp 1-2 (539 words).

6. Taras Podrez article "Rospotrebnadzor to test all gays and prostitutes for AIDS" says the Russian Federal Service for Consumer Rights Protection has agreed to conduct Russia's first study of how widely AIDS is spread among gay men and women engaged in prostitution; the study may be launched next year; pp 1, 3 (450 words).

7. Yevgeny Safronov and Yekaterina Kvon article "Rosatom's subsidiary understated taxes by R209m" says a criminal case on charges of tax machinations has been launched against VNIIAM, a nuclear engineering research institute, forming part of the Rosatom state corporation; p 4 (500 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Renat Abdullin et al. report headlined "Snowden leaves Sheremetyevo" features pundits' comments on Russia's decision to grant temporary asylum to Edward Snowden; pp 1, 17 (482 words).

2. Natalya Rozhkova article headlined "Big mayoral mop-up" contains an interview with pundit Mikhail Tulsky, who talks about the Yaroslavl mayor case and points out that it is impossible for mayors not nominated by  Russia to retain their posts; pp 1, 4 (1,730 words).

3. Stanislav Belkovsky commentary piece headlined "Navalny as messiah, Zhirinovsky and Tymoshenko" looks at the Moscow mayoral election campaign and protest leader Alexei Navalny's prospects; p 3 (1,293 words).

4. Olga Bozhyeva article "Airborne Troops to become rapid-reaction force" quotes Russian Airborne Troops commander Vladimir Shamanov as saying that a political decision on reforming the troops has been taken; p 2 (300 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Vera Chelishcheva article "He has been given seven years for nothing" looks at the trial of village teacher Ilya Farber who yesterday was sentenced to seven years in prison for alleged bribery; it describes the sentence as "senseless, cruel and groundless"; p 2 (900 words).

2. Yury Revich article headlined "Pirates have been defeated. What next?" takes a critical look at the law on combating Internet piracy that came into effect yesterday; p 8 (700 words).

RBK Daily

1.Yevgeny Krasnikov article headlined "Edward Snowden takes to VKontakte" says that US whistle-blower Edward Snowden, who has been granted asylum in Russia, may join the team of software developers of the Russian VKontakte social network; pp 1, 8 (500 words).

2. Alexander Litoy article headlined "Thousands instead of millions" says that the Pirate Party of Russia has staged a strike against the anti-piracy law in Russia. However, it has been supported only by few big websites, the article notes; p 2 (500 words).

3. Column by Valentin Merzlikin, who created Democracy, the first arcade game for smartphones about Russian politics, speaking about the representation of Russian politics on the app market; p 6 (500 words).

Tvoy Den

1. Alexander Popov article headlined "Everybody, against the wall!" reports on mass detentions of illegal immigrants in Moscow; pp 1, 4-5 (350 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Alexandra Krylova article headlined "'We were let down by patrol police'" features a short interview with one of the colleagues of Anton Kudryashov, the policeman who has been beaten up by natives of Caucasus; p 4 (600 words).

2. Oleg Matveychev article headlined "New political palette at regional frontiers" comments on the pre-election situation in various regions of Russia; p 6 (1,400 words).

3. Anna Mikhailova article headlined "Why would Sobyanin refuse to take part in debates" looks into possible reasons behind Moscow acting mayor Sergei Sobyanin's decision not to debate with other candidates running for Moscow mayorship; p 7 (700 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda (weekly)

1. Alexander Aleksandrov article headlined "Chebarkul strengthens partnership" reports on the final stage of the first Russian-Chinese joint anti-terror exercise "Peaceful Mission 2013"; p 3 (400 words).

Related articles:

• What the Papers Say, Aug. 1, 2012
• What the Papers Say, July 4, 2012
• What the Papers Say, July 3, 2012