What the Papers Say, Aug. 30

Summary of Russian press for Friday 30 August 2013

Kommersant

1. Nikolay Sergeyev et al. report headlined "Mixed with fertilizers" says that Belarusian law-enforcers have threatened to put on the international wanted list Suleyman Kerimov, Russian Federation Council member, who controls Uralkaliy, the biggest potash producer. The Kremlin has refrained from comments so far but some economic pressure has already been exerted; pp 1, 3 (969 words).

2. Yegor Popov article headlined "Disconnected ship-building corporation" says that the model and strategy of development of Russian shipbuilding is to be eventually determined today at a meeting with President Putin. The development may start from the withdrawal of several big assets from the state-run United Ship Building Corporation; pp 1, 7 (588 words).

3. Anna Balashova and Sergey Sobolev article headlined "Television to broadcast digitally" says that analogue television will be turned off when at least 95 per cent of households obtain gadgets for receiving digital signal; pp 1, 10 (631 words).

4. Anna Pushkarskaya and Ivan Safronov article headlined "'Sergey Stepashin and I useful in reserve'" says that President Putin has nominated his aide Tatyana Golikova to head the Audit Chamber; pp 1, 2 (731 words).

5. Viktor Khamrayev article headlined "Vladimir Putin sends ministers to fields" says that dozens of billions of roubles are needed to eliminate the consequences of the flooding in Amur Region, Khabarovsk Territory and Jewish Autonomous Region; p 2 (628 words).

6. Yuriy Barsukov et al. report headlined "Measures of restriction chosen for Belarus" says that Deputy Prime Minister Arkadiy Dvorkovich has announced measures to exert pressure on Minsk due to the arrest of Uralkaliy CEO Vladislav Baumgertner: reduction of oil supplies, inspections of agricultural produce and delay in provision of another loan to Belarus. The measures will cost Minsk a lot, but are sure to affect Russian interests in Belarus as well; p 3 (775 words).

7. Aleksandr Voronov and Kseniya Dementyeva article headlined "Plastic card of Russian citizen" says that plastic identity cards will be introduced instead of passports in 2016; p 4 (656 words).

8. Aleksandr Chernykh article headlined "Scientists fail to find common denominator" says that participants in the conference staged by the Russian Academy of Sciences to discuss the upcoming reform of the academy diverged in their approaches to the problem; p 4 (646 words).

9. Sergey Goryashko article headlined "Public Television does not hit mass audience" says that polls show that only 9 per cent of those polled watched Public Television launched three months ago; p 4 (475 words).

10. Sergey Strokan and Yelena Chernenko article headlined "Attack on Syria postponed for chemical reasons" says that the advocates of a forceful approach to Syria have decided to wait for the conclusions of the UN commission conducting a probe into the recent chemical attack in Syria; p 5 (919 words).

11. Kirill Melnikov article headlined "Igor Sechin spends a lot on Rosneft" says that head of the Rosneft company Igor Sechin has spent some 63m dollars to buy the company's shares; p 9 (637 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Anastasiya Bashkatova article headlined "Flooding with political subtext" says that President Putin's visit to the Far East over its severe flooding has once again proved that centralized administration works best in the Russian system: Putin is expected to make final decisions, explain and give orders; pp 1, 4 (900 words).

2.Andrey Vaganov article headlined "Academic fire in all directions" says that participants in the emergency conference of the Russian Academy of Sciences have slammed the upcoming reform of the academy and called for the dismissal of Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets and Education and Science Minister Dmitriy Livanov; pp 1, 2 (900 words).

3. Aleksandra Samarina and Aleksey Gorbachev article headlined "Bargaining announced at Moscow elections" says that Moscow mayoral candidate Nikolay Levichev has stated he does not rule out withdrawing from the race in favour of one of the candidates; pp 1, 3 (900 words).

4. Anton Khodasevich article headlined "Lukashenka ready to take money" says that while the official Minsk refrains from comments on the Russia-Belarus potash conflict, political analysts in Minsk imply that the Belarusian leader is ready to exchange arrested Russian CEO Vladislav Baumgertner for lots of money; pp 1, 7 (400 words).

5. Darya Tsiryulik article headlined "Barack Obama hurries to chasten Syria" says that as residents of Damascus and the Syrian army are getting ready for a military attack, US President Barack Obama may postpone the attack until 3 September as the British parliament has voted against the attack until the experts conclusion on chemical arms in Syria; pp 1, 8 (500 words).

6. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Ukraine advised to endure until November" says that the EU is going to include Russian-Ukrainian relations in the agenda of the G20 summit in St Petersburg as it regards Russia's stance as an insult to both Kiev and Brussels; pp 1, 7 (1,000 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Putin needs foreign agents" says that the presidential human rights council is going to suggest to the president that the law on NGOs be amended and the wording "foreign agent" be removed from it. Editorial doubts the initiative will be successful as the notion of foreign agent is the core of the law and the president is not ready to change his stance on the issue yet; p 2 (400 words).

8. Andrey Serenko article headlined "Kalmyk opposition seeking generals" says that head of the regional branch of the Civil Platform party in Kalmykia has suggested that law-enforcer from Volgograd, Gen Mikhail Muzrayev, be appointed as head of Kalmykia. Cooperation of political opponents of the ruling party with law-enforcers is becoming increasingly popular in the regions where opposition does not have outstanding leaders; p 2 (400 words).

9. Viktor Litovkin article headlined "Carte blanche. Tomahawks versus Tor missile systems, Tor missile systems versus Tomahawks" contemplates whether the Tomahawk missiles the USA is most likely going to use to strike at Syrian key facilities will be efficient for the purpose; p 3 (500 words).

10. Aleksey Gorbachev article headlined "Things get really tough in Yaroslavl" says that the election campaign in Yaroslavl is becoming the dirtiest in the country and looks at the recent developments; p 3 (700 words).

11.Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "China announces five years of countering corruption" says that Beijing is going to toughen punishment for corrupt officials; p 8 (400 words).

12. Yuriy Paniyev article headlined "Experts to deal with US spy programmes" says that judging by the make-up of the special commission on examining the US privacy and surveillance issues, its conclusions will not disappoint President Obama; p 8 (400 words).

Vedomosti

1.Olga Kuvshinova and Margarita Lyutova article headlined "Survive until 2030" looks at Russia's budget strategy; pp 1, 4 (900 words).

2. Editorial headlined "Return to war" wonders if Russia still has a chance to affect the situation in Syria as military intervention is becoming inevitable, and forecasts growing chaos in international relations; pp 1, 6 (429 words).

3. Anastasiya Kornya and Svetlana Bocharova article headlined "Navalnyy's laws" says that Moscow mayoral hopeful Aleksey Navalnyy has drafted six bills and is planning to table them at the Moscow city duma as a response to reproaches that he does not have an efficient programme; pp 1-2 (757 words).

4. Svetlana Bocharova article headlined "Bill on Russian Academy of Sciences to be revised" says that head of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Fortov has stated that the president supports amendments to the bill on the reform of the academy drafted by scientists; p 2 (596 words).

5. Polina Khimshiashvili and Aleksey Nikolskiy article headlined "Strike to be postponed until Saturday" says that the decision on military operation against Damascus will be made after experts report on the results of their probe into the chemical attack in Syria and the discussion at the UN Security Council; p 3 (413 words).

6. Editorial headlined "Form and content" comments on the introduction of school uniforms; p 6 (322 words).

7. Maksim Trudolyubov article headlined "Choice of destroyer" says that if there is a choice between Sobyanin and Navalnyy it is a choice of political alternatives to Putin; p 7 (420 words).

Rossiyskaya Gazeta

1.Yevgeniy Shestakov article headlined "Tomahawks to deliver humanism to Damascus?" says that the Russian Foreign Ministry has called plans for a military operation against Damascus an open challenge to the UN Charter; pp 1, 8 (600 words).

2. Vladislav Zhuravlev article headlined "Closer to finish" says that acting Moscow mayor Sergey Sobyanin remains the election race frontliner and is going to win in the first round; p 5 (400 words).

3. Yuliya Krivoshapko article headlined "Partners do not act like that" quotes Deputy Prime Minister Arkadiy Dvorkovich as saying that Russia may revise a number of issues on the agenda of cooperation with Belarus over the arrest of Uralkaliy's CEO Vladislav Baumgertner by the official Minsk; p 5 (600 words).

4. Olga Dmitriyeva article headlined "War leaves in English way" says that British Prime Minister David Cameron had to give in to the Labour Party that demanded that the decision on the strike on Syria should be made after the UN makes a conclusion based on the investigation into the chemical attack in that country; p 8 (200 words).

5. Pavel Dulman article headlined "Brothers in blood split on Volkov" says that Ukraine has extradited nationalist Mikhail Volkov to Russia where he is suspected of two murders; p 8 (400 words).

6. Suzanna Alperina interview with head of the Russian Public Television Anatoliy Lysenko headlined "I do not want to speak about money" about the work of the new OTR broadcaster; p 11 (1,600 words).

Izvestiya

1. Anastasiya Kashevarova et al. report headlined "Tatyana Golikova to head Audit Chamber" says that President Putin has nominated his aide Tatyana Golikova to be head of the Audit Chamber; pp 1-2 (810 words).

2. Anastasiya Alekseyevskikh and Tatyana Shirmanova article headlined "Over 25 per cent of citizens call for toughening state control over banks" says that a quarter of the polled say that the state should step up control over the banking sector; pp 1, 4 (835 words).

3. Konstantin Volkov and Darya Tsoy article headlined "Britain rushes to overtake USA in taking revenge on Al-Asad" says that Britain is so eager for military actions against Syria to start because London is deeply involved in the Syrian crisis and has been aiding Syrian rebels with arms via Qatar; p 4 (755 words).

4. Olesya Yelkova and Ludmila Podobedova article headlined "Russia and Belarus begin trade war" says that the arrest of potash giant's CEO in Minsk seems to be leading to a new wave of trade war between Russia and Belarus; p 4 (431 words).

5. Vadim Levental article headlined "New old version" says that President Barack Obama is beginning to resemble President George Bush and draws analogies between the intervention in Iraq and the expected military operation against Syria; p 5 (537 words).

6. Natalya Demchenko's article headlined "US president's last chance" says that there are some strong forces in the USA that oppose military intrusion in Syria; p 5 (857 words).

Moskovskiy Komsomolets

1. Olga Bozhyeva article headlined "Ukraine washes wings" is an in interview with head of the Antonov State Company Dmitriy Kivoy about the Russian-Ukrainian aviation competition; pp 1, 4 (1,200 words).

2. Ilya Baranikas article headlined "Prospects of Syrian chemistry" says the strike on Syria will be just a show; p 3 (300 words).

3. Stanislav Belkovskiy article headlined "Clown on international arena" criticizes Russian foreign policy and blames the state apparatus for inefficiency; p 3 (700 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Pavel Kanygin article titled "But MAKS was waiting for Volodya..." reports on the 2013 MAKS air show and contemplates the impact of President Putin not attending; pp 4-5 (850 words).

2. Aleksandr Mineyev article headlined "Ukrainian lard in European chocolate" says that Russian trade war with Ukraine has only made Brussels more sympathetic towards Kiev; p 6 (1,081 words).

3. Nikolay Vardul article headlined "Potash of discord" looks at the conflict over the arrest of Russian businessman Vladislav Baumgertner escalating between Russia and Belarus; p 7 (667 words).

4.Yuliya Latynina column headlined "Why Lukashenka took a Russian hostage" comments on the conflict between Moscow and Minsk after a Russian CEO was arrested in the Belarusian capital; p 7 (645 words).

5. Dmitriy Oreshkin article titled "8 September: watch the hands" provides more details of the observer campaign for the 8 September election that the newspaper is supporter; p 11 (850 words).

6. Natalya Zotova article titled "It's been a long time since anyone made such an effort to wow Moscow" recaps on the efforts that Moscow mayoral candidates are making to woo potential voters; pp 12-13 (1,700 words).

7. Mariya Yepifanova article titled "Pre-election stakes" analyses the popularity ratings of Moscow mayoral hopefuls in the lead-up to the 8 September election; p 14 (600 words).

RBK Daily

1 Yuliya Yakovleva article titled "Party is more precious" says that A Just Russia mayoral nominee Nikolay Levichev could pull out of the Moscow election. Experts link this to his desire to retain his place in the party; pp 1-2 (600 words)

2. Stepan Opalev article titled "Moscow mayor turns up on Twitter" looks at a report on social network trends that predicts a convincing victory in the Moscow mayoral election for acting city chief Sergey Sobyanin. Aleksey Navalnyy is placed second, with a forecast result of 21.4 per cent; p 2 (400 words)

3. Opinion piece by deputy editor Dmitriy Koptyubenko titled "Hostages of Customs Union" examines the possible retaliatory measures that Russia could take against Belarus over the arrest of a Russian potash company CEO; p 7 (450 words)

Novyye Izvestiya

1. Konstantin Nikolayev article titled "Half of Russians don't mind dragging the country into a war in the Middle East" provides the results of a reader poll on attitudes to the conflict in Syria. Forty-six per cent of respondents speak in favour of a military operation in support of the Al-Asad government; pp 1-2 (150 words)

Trud

1. Mikhail Aleksandrov article titled "Bun with poison poppy" comments on a recent call by the Russian anti-narcotics chief to toughen control over cooking poppy imports to Russia; pp 1-2 (800 words).

2. Aleksandr Protsenko article titled "Economy does not like smell of gunpowder" analyses possible scenarios of a Western intervention in Syria and their possible impact on the Russian economy. The author says that the Russian economy will be most harmed if the foreign strikes are very quick (irrespective of who wins), as this will mean a dramatic drop in oil prices; p 2 (750 words).

3. Sergey Timofeyev article titled "One round quite enough" features pundit comments and forecasts about the likely results of the Moscow mayoral election; p 5 (350 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Aleksandr Kots and Dmitriy Steshin article titled "In anticipation of disaster, Damascus is pretending that nothing is happening" features a correspondent report from Damascus. The authors say that Damascus residents are surprisingly calm and are not trying to stock up on food in anticipation of a Western strike on the country; p 7 (600 words).

2. A full page of election promises from LDPR Party mayoral nominee Mikhail Degtyarev under the headline "Monopoly to come under press of common sense"; p 8 (750 words)

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Aleksandr Tikhonov article titled "Vigilant Eagle 2013: stage one" takes stock of the start of the Russian-US-Canadian military drills Vigilant Eagle; p 5 (280 words).

2. Aleksandr Pinchuk article titled "Air extravaganza in Zhukovskiy" reports on the MAKS 2013 air show in Moscow Region; (1,000 words).

Sources: as listed

Inclusion of items in this list of significant reports from some of the day's main Russian newspapers does not necessarily mean that BBC Monitoring will file further on them-