What the Papers Say, Aug. 15, 2013

Kommersant

1. Vadim Visloguzov et al. article headlined "Politics is customs art" says that the Federal Customs Service has strengthened control over imports from Ukraine, de-facto blocking them. Experts attribute the move to Russia's willingness to compel Ukraine to join the Customs Union or at least hamper the signing of a free-trade agreement with the EU set for November; p 1 (913 words).

2. Yelena Chernenko and Yelizaveta Kuznetsova article headlined "Cargo does not go forward an inch" says that a transit base in Ulyanovsk, which Russia gave NATO a year ago to deliver cargo to Afghanistan, has turned to be unclaimed. NATO complains about Russian companies that overestimate their services, but the Russian government thinks that the alliance fears becoming dependent on Russia; p 1 (787 words).

3. Olga Shestopal article headlined "Nothing to do with union" says that the Central Bank has recommended that Russian banks should give up banking operations with Belarus and Kazakhstan as a measure to combat the flight of capital from Russia; p 1 (593 words).

4. Irina Nagornykh article headlined "People's Front deploys executive committees" says that the central headquarters of the movement Peoples' Front for Russia will hold a meeting on Sept. 4 to discuss setting-up of regional branches; p 2 (469 words).

5. Viktor Khamrayev article headlined "Victory forecast to Sergei Sobyanin" says that according to a public opinion poll by the VTsIOM state public opinion research centre, over 67 percent of Muscovites would vote for acting Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin and a mere 13 percent of respondents would back opposition member Alexei Navalny if the mayoral election was held next Sunday; p 2 (510 words).

6. Taisia Bekbulatova et al. article headlined "Nikolai Levichev occupied with writing complaints" says that Moscow mayoral candidate from the A Just Russia party Nikolai Levichev has filed a complaint to the Moscow city electoral commission about an illegal campaign by RPR-Parnas mayoral candidate Alexei Navalny following a scandal with the seizure of illegal campaign materials in support of Navalny in a Moscow flat; p 2 (470 words).

7. Maxim Strugov and Grigory Tumanov article headlined "Not everything noncommercial turns to be political" says that the Perm-based noncommercial organization GRANI has won a lawsuit against the prosecutor's office that demanded that the NGO should register as a foreign agent; p 3 (541 words).

8. Natalya Gorodetskaya et al. article headlined "Federation Council loses yet another businessman" says that Federation Council senator Sergei Bazhanov has voluntarily resigned, preferring business activity to lawmaker work; p 3 (522 words).

9. Maxim Ivanov and Sergei Goryashko article headlined "Edward Snowden accepted by less than a half" says that a public opinion poll by the VTsIOM state public opinion research centre has shown that 67 percent of Russians are aware to certain extent of who U.S. whistle-blower Edward Snowden is. But only 41 percent of respondents back the decision to grant him temporary political asylum, whereas 38 percent of those polled are against; p 5 (331 words).

10. Pavel Tarasenko and Olga Kuznetsova article headlined "Merciless measures taken against Muslim Brotherhood members" says that a camp of former Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi's supporters has been severely dispersed in Cairo and features a Russian expert's comment on the issue; p 6 (606 words).

11. Maria Yefimova interview headlined "'It is difficult to stop so long-lasting enmity within nine months'" with Israeli Public Security Minister Yitzhaq Aharonovich, who visited Russia. The minister talked about the results of his visit to Moscow and a new round of Palestinian-Israeli talks, which began in Jerusalem on Aug. 14; p 6 (575 words).

12. Anna Solodovnikova and Anna Zanina article headlined "TNK-BP minority shareholders come to court" says that minority shareholders of the TNK-BP holding company, who have not received the 2012 dividends, have filed a lawsuit against the oil company Rosneft, demanding that the latter should buy their shares; p 9 (469 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Trade wars evolve into economic blockade" says that Russia has suspended all imports from Ukraine; pp 1, 6 (798 words).

2. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Instable balance of stability" says that according to a report made by Russian political experts and sociologists, the main problem for the authorities and a threat to political stability in society is the population's great willingness to protest for economic reasons because people are afraid of a new crisis; pp 1, 3 (957 words).

3. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Brothers of Navalny get under article" says that illegal campaign materials in support of Moscow mayoral opposition candidate Alexei Navalny have been seized in a Moscow flat. Experts say that the scandal could result in Navalny's registration as a candidate being canceled, but, nevertheless, it is playing into Navalny's hands from the PR point of view; pp 1, 3 (875 words).

4. Mikhail Sergeiev article headlined "Europe saves Russia from recession" says that the European economy has begun to grow, which makes the Russian leadership optimistic that Russia will manage to avoid a recession in 2013; pp 1, 4 (943 words).

5. Tatyana Dvoynova article headlined "Fight for Khasan" says that President Putin is expected to visit Maritime Territory in late August to take part in launching the construction of an LNG plant in Khasansky District. Local residents could welcome Putin with a protest rally and blockage of a railway, the article says; pp 1, 5 (683 words).

6. Editorial headlined "Angry church-goers" says that religious gatherings have become a usual practice to exert pressure on authorities and society. Moreover, participants in such events are protected from prosecution since the authorities are very careful about believers; p 2 (506 words).

7. Vladimir Mukhin article published in the Carte Blanche regular column headlined "No insurance from star wars" says that Russia is actively building a radar shield. Moreover, it could build even a missile defense shield but this is fraught with an arms race and will not guarantee complete security; p 3 (649 words).

8. Igor Naumov article headlined "Hunting for migrants to ruin economic indices" says that mass extradition of illegal migrants from Russia may deprive many Russian enterprises of labor force, which will negatively affect GDP in a short term; p 4 (765 words).

9. Maria Bondarenko article headlined "'Pugachyov rebellion' in Sholokhov's motherland" says that an ethnic conflict is brewing up in Rostov Region: local residents are displeased with the behaviour of natives of Caucasus; p 5 (622 words).

10. Yury Panyev article headlined "Two Koreas give green light to Kaesong" says that Seoul and Pyongyang have reached an agreement on the resumption of the operations of the Kaesong industrial zone. Meanwhile, prospects for six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear problem have been discussed in Moscow by the Russian and South Korean sides; p 7 (567 words).

11. Artur Blinov article headlined "Snowden may become Russian citizen" says that U.S. whistle-blower Edward Snowden, who has received political asylum in Russia for a year, may be granted Russian citizenship in the near future; p 7 (540 words).

Vedomosti

1. Margarita Papchenkova et al. article headlined "Transparent trillions" says that public control over natural monopolies' investment programs may be introduced soon in Russia; pp 1, 5 (598 words).

2. Alexandra Terentyeva and Vitaly Petlevoy article headlined "How Alexander Nesis successfully sells Uralkali" says that Alexander Nesis, who had a 5.1-percent-stake in the Uralkali fertilizers manufacturer, quitted the company several days before the company's shares collapsed; pp 1, 12 (717 words).

3. Editorial headlined "Mexican lesson" says that economic problems have forced Mexico to de-nationalize natural resources development and the energy sector and wonders whether Russia could follow the example; pp 1, 6 (379 words).

4. Maria Zheleznova et al. article headlined "Cut of Navalny's aides" says that illegal campaign materials in support of Moscow mayoral candidate Alexei Navalny have been seized in a Moscow flat and features political experts' comments on the issue; p 2 (746 words).

5. Anastasia Kornya and Bela Lyauv article headlined "City not place for agitation" says that Acting Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has ordered to remove outdoor campaign materials from Moscow streets. This makes it possible for the city authorities to remove any outdoor campaign materials, a Communist member said; p 2 (418 words).

6. Editorial headlined "Old new rules" says that despite the liberalization of the party laws in Russia, the authorities still control and influence election processes, though use different tools; p 6 (352 words).

7. Andrei Panov article headlined "Inevitable inflow of migrants" comments on the campaign against illegal migrants in Russia. The number of migrants will only grow in Moscow as there are few Russians who want to have unskilled and low-paid jobs; p 7 (468 words).

8. Timofey Dzyadko article headlined "Rosneft to pay again for Yukos old debts" says that an Amsterdam court has obliged the Russian oil company Rosneft to pay $76.6 million as well as interests and fines to the company Glendale Group headed by the former financial director of the Yukos oil company; p 11 (521 words).

9. Yelena Khodyakova article headlined "Gazprom's sale" says that in January-June, Germany topped a list of the Russian gas giant Gazprom's clients, followed by Italy and Turkey. A rise in gas supplies to Europe is attributed to discounts given by the company to Western clients, experts say; p 12 (757 words).

Izvestia

1. Petr Kozlov and Alena Sivkova article headlined "Job in state corporation searched for Vladimir Rushaylo" looks at jobs that Federation Council senator Vladimir Rushaylo could get after his term in office expires in September; pp 1-2 (670 words).

2. Konstantin Volkov article headlined "Russians convicted in Libya handed over to civil court" says that the Libyan Supreme Military Court has handed over to a civil court the cases of two Russian citizens convicted for helping the former Libyan leader Al-Qadhafi's regime; p 1 (310 words).

3. Pavel Kochegarov and Dmitry Yevstifeyev article headlined "Interior Ministry buys antivirus programmes for 100 million rubles [about $3 million]" says that the Interior Ministry is planning to buy special antivirus software to defend office computers, servers and classified information from hackers; pp 1, 3 (708 words).

4. Alexander Yunashev and Yegor Sozayev-Guryev article headlined "Vladimir Putin to share rating with United Russia and governors" says that President Putin will tour Russian regions where gubernatorial and regional parliamentary elections will be held on Sept. 8 to find out about the state of affairs in these regions and unofficially back United Russia candidates; p 2 (767 words).

5. Lyudmila Podobedova article headlined "Natural monopolies to report on expenditures to clients" says that councils of clients will be set up in Russia to control investment programmes of natural monopolies; p 2 (772 words).

6. Andrei Gridasov and Viktoria Minina article headlined "Arms and explosives looked for in flat of Brothers of Navalny" gives a chronological description of a police raid on a flat of Moscow mayoral candidate Alexei Navalny's supporters, where illegal campaign materials were seized; p 4 (534 words).

7. Alexander Kondratyev article headlined "Russia Today recognized in West" says that according to the German magazine Der Spiegel, the English-language Russian television channel Russia Today is extremely popular in the U.S., successfully rivalling CNN and Fox News; p 4 (464 words).

8. Maxim Kantor article headlined "Torpedo and bosun" says that it is not difficult to split the Russian society by an ordinary statement or act as it has already split over material inequality; p 5 (403 words).

9. Leonid Zlotin article headlined "Real TV politics" comments on televised election debates in Russia; p 5 (668 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Irina Rybnikova interview headlined "Operation 'Liquidation'" with acting Moscow Region governor Andrei Vorobyov, speaking about housing problems and illegal marketplaces in the region; p 1 (859 words).

2. Tatyana Smolyakova article headlined "Will you be third?" features experts' comments on the demographic situation in Russia and prospects for its development; p 1 (719 words).

3. Vitaly Petrov article headlined "To create Wiki-stealing" says that the All-Russia People's Front (ONF) will submit documents to register as a public movement before Sept. 12 and looks at a number of initiatives that the ONF plans to implement; p 2 (610 words).

4. Maxim Makarychev article headlined "Brother attacks brother" says that a state of emergency has been declared in Egypt as the police have severely dispersed two camps of the former Egyptian President Morsi's supporters in Cairo; p 8 (540 words).

5. Anna Fedyakina interview with Israeli Public Security Minister Yitzhaq Aharonovich, headlined "To work like to war", who speaks about Russian-Israeli relations; p 8 (731 words).

6. Artem Sazhyev article headlined "Mistery of Sindhurakshak" focuses on the incident with the Russian-built Indian submarine and quotes a Russian repair team member as saying that the boat functioned properly before the blast; p 8 (400 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Mikhail Rostovsky article headlined "Assault, Shura, assault!" says that a police raid on a flat of Moscow mayoral candidate Alexei Navalny's supporters is advantageous to him as he has received publicity and obtained additional propaganda tools; pp 1-2 (400 words).

2. Andrei Yashlavsky and Olga Bozheva article headlined "Defender of Hindus kills 18 people" reports on the accident with the Russian-built Indian submarine; pp 1, 3 (300 words).

3. Mikhail Zubov and Natalya Rozhkova article headlined "Secrets of bad flat" has comments from A Just Russia member Alexander Ageyev (he tipped the police about an apartment that stored illegal advertising materials in support of opposition member Alexei Navalny) and Moscow city electoral commission spokesman Dmitry Reut; p 2 (500 words).

3. Ignat Kalinin interview headlined "'I am more useful here than in jail'" with Alexei Sakhnin, one of the founders of the Left Front movement, who has recently asked Sweden for political asylum. He talked about his prospects for getting asylum and about the case of the 6 May 2012 unrest in Moscow's Bolotnaya square; p 3 (400 words).

4. Matvey Ganapolsky article headlined "I want to join One Emirates" compares Russia to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Both countries are rich in oil, but the UAE is better developed than Russia, the author says; p 3 (800 words).

5. Marina Ozerova article headlined "Russian scissors for world-wide web" looks at the recent laws regulating the internet in Russia and the on-line activity of the State Duma; p 4 (400 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Dmitry Smirnov article titled "Putin showed Dagestan to Aliyev" says judging by the friendliness of the informal meetings after official talks, the Russian and Azerbaijani were happy with their Baku summit; p 2 (300 words).

2. Viktor Baranets article titled "Tanks not scared of a show" reviews the Tank Biathlon competition that started in Moscow Region yesterday; p 4 (400 words).

3. Alexander Kots article headlined "Another August. Another submarine..." features comments from a reservist submariner about the possible causes of the explosion on the Russian-built Indian submarine Sindhurakshak; p 5 (550 words).

4. An opinion piece by Alexei Pankin titled "'Homophobes'! Not one step back" advises Russia to keep calm and not do anything about the talk in the West of the possible boycott of the Sochi Olympics; p 6 (350 words).

5. Kirill Petrov article titled "Who is Mr Navalny?" questions who could be behind Alexei Navaln , as the ease with which he seems to get out of sticky situations suggests that he must be someone's "project"; p 9 (600 words).

6. Commentary by political analyst Boris Kagarlitsky titled "TV debates about nothing" criticizes the television debates between Moscow mayoral candidates for a lack of substance; p 11 (700 words).

RBC Daily

1. Anna Levinskaya et al. article titled "Blockade of Kiev" examines another deterioration in the Russian-Ukrainian trade relationship after the Russian Customs Service said all cheese and confectionery producers in Ukraine were "risky" suppliers; pp 1, 3 (600 words).

2. Alexander Litoy article headlined "Guests from free lands" says rights activists fear that the campaign against "foreign agents" may prevent them from gaining membership in public observer commissions, amid a heightening stand-off with law enforcers; pp 1-2 (450 words).

3. Yulia Yakovleva article titled "Will come third" says the United Russia party candidate is not expected to become mayor in the city of Voronezh in central Russia; p 2 (600 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Vera Moslakova article titled "Growing pains" says the Presidential Human Rights Council is becoming less and less efficient as a body defending human rights and is instead playing the role of 'authorized dissident'. Pundits comment on the difficulties faced by the structure in light of its expansion; pp 1-2 (800 words).

2. Yulia Savina article titled "In the footsteps of the angle grinder" reports on A Just Russia mayoral nominee Nikolai Levichev's complaint about purportedly illegal canvassing materials held by supporters of one of his rivals, Alexei Navalny, and the police raid that followed; p 2 (600 words)

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Viktor Khudoleyev article titled "Between hills, bridges, scarps..." recaps on the international Tank Biathlon competition that opened in Moscow Region on 14 August; pp 1-2 (500 words).

2. Anna Potekhina article titled "Commonwealth put on alert" looks at the CIS air defense drills that will run until Sept. 12; p 1 (200 words).

3. Sergei Medvedev article titled "Explosion on Sindhurakshak" features comments from the Russian plant that modernized the Indian submarine that was hit by an explosion in the early hours of 14 August; p 3 (350 words).

Tvoy Den

1. Andrei Muravyev article titled "'They lied to me'" says the owner of the flat that was raided on suspicion of being Alexei Navalny's illegal campaign headquarters had no idea that lessees were planning to store canvassing materials there and that she consented to police entering the flat by all means necessary; p 2 (150 words).

Zavtra

1. Alexei Gordeyev article titled "Didn't scare us..." says Barack Obama's decision not to meet Vladimir Putin for separate talks in September is an attempt by the U.S. to pressure Russia; p 1 (400 words)