What the Papers Say, Sept. 3, 2013

Kommersant

1. Vladislav Trifonov article headlined "Suleiman Kerimov restricted to travel abroad" says the Belarussian Investigative Committee has brought charges against Russian senator and co-owner of Uralkali, Suleiman Kerimov. The Russian authorities are going to defend the interests of the Russian businesses; pp 1, 4 (704 words).

2. Pyotr Netreba et al. report headlined "Better help than give advice" says presidential adviser and former Transport Minister Igor Levitin has been promoted to the post of the presidential aide to replace Yury Trutnev who became deputy prime minister and presidential envoy to the Far East Federal District; pp 1-2 (695 words).

3. Natalya Pavlova and Irina Nagirnykh article headlined "Murtaza Rakhimov as if not native to One Russia" says ex-president of Bashkortostan Murtaza Rakhimov has criticised his successor Rustem Khamitov and urged the electorate to vote for his niece supported by A Just Russia at the regional elections. One Russia is to consider further membership of the politician in the party; pp 1, 3 (737 words).

4. Roman Rozhkov article headlined "Pirated content downloaded in blocks" outlines amendments to the anti-pirate legislation drafted by the Electronic Communications Association; pp 1, 10 (492 words).

5. Vadim Visloguzov article headlined "Sergei Glazyev promises billions to Kiev" says Russian presidential adviser Sergei Glazyev has said that Ukraine would make additional $11-12 billion if it joined the Eurasian economic union being formed by Russia; p 2 (502 words).

6. Taisia Bekbulatova et al. report headlined "Canvassing in 'masking' mode" reviews a report on the regional election campaign by the Civil Initiatives Committee headed by former Finance minister Alexei Kudrin. Experts believe the candidates used so-called "spoiler" or "masking" technologies to influence the voters; p 3 (550 words).

7. Vyacheslav Kozlov and Grigory Tumanov article headlined "Vladimir Lukin asks for agent discount" says Russian ombudsman Vladimir Lukin has appealed to the Constitutional Court against the law on NGOs, as four Russian NGOs were fined over their foreign funding; p 4 (580 words).

8. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "Parliamentarians standing for envoys" says the Federation Council and the State Duma are going to start a dialogue with the U.S. Congress over Syria. The Russian officials have informed President Vladimir Putin about their plans; p 6 (764 words).

9. Sergei Strokan and Yelena Chernenko article headlined "U.S. Congress to be subjected to chemical treatment" says the U.S. presidential administration is trying to persuade the Congress of the need to start a military operation in Syria; p 6 (518 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Kaliningrad-based Alexander Ryabushyov article headlined "Coal miners to smoke Kaliningrad resorts" says environmentalists and Kaliningrad residents oppose the plan to build a heating and power plant in the region working on coal. The plans were voiced during president Putin's visit to coal mining Kemerovo region; pp 1-2 (688 words).

2. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Moscow expecting oil at price of $150" says the war that may break out in the Middle East may be beneficial for Russia, as some experts predict oil prices to go up to $150 per barrel; pp 1, 4 (771 words).

3. Alexei Gorbachev and Vladislav Maltsev article headlined "'Unfortunate accident' for opposition" says opposition Moscow mayoral hopeful Alexei Navalny is going to involve some singers popular among young audience in his election campaign. There will be held a concert to support the candidate on Sept. 6; pp 1, 3 (734 words).

4. Igor Naumov article headlined "Businesses cut personnel to the quick" says an HSBC report shows that the situation in the Russian economy is not improving, many companies have to cut personnel; pp 1, 4 (573 words).

5. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Crimean Majlis claims official status" says the OSCE has called on the Ukrainian authorities to recognize the Crimean Tatar Majlis as an official body, Kiev refuses to do so as it may give rise to greater separatism movement in the region; pp 1, 6 (808 words).

6. Darya Tsilyurik article headlined "Mohammed Morsi taken to court" says Islamists are going to stage protests against the persecution of their leaders in Egypt, while the prosecutor-general has submitted to court the case of ex-President Morsi; pp 1, 7 (584 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Putin outlines limit for guarantees" says the planned budget cuts will make Putin's regime a target for leftists who may start making more generous promises of state support to the electorate; p 2 (525 words).

8. Yury Panyev article headlined "Between Strelna and Peterhof" says Russia is still inviting U.S. President Barack Obama for talks with President Putin in Moscow, as the U.S. leader is to visit St. Petersburg for the G20 summit later this week; p 2 (841 words).

9. Yury Simonyan article headlined "Putin and Sargsyan to test strategic union for stability" says the Armenian president arrives in Moscow today to hold talks with President Putin as Yerevan wants to develop relations with the EU without spoiling its relations with Russia; p 6 (861 words).

10. Yevgenia Novikova article headlined "Washington builds up Navy group" says some media sources claim their have the evidence of rebel involvement in the chemical weapons attack in Syria. Meanwhile, the U.S. presidential administration has started persuading the Congress and public of the need to attack Syria; p 7 (852 words).

11. Bakhtiar Tuzmukhamedov article headlined "Will U.S. Congress save Bashar Assad?" comments on Barack Obama's request for the Congress approval on a Syria strike; p 3 (570 words).

Vedomosti

1. Alexandra Terentyeva et al. report headlined "Belarussians start extracting Kerimov" comments on a criminal case opened by the Belarussian law-enforcement agencies against Russian businessman and senator Suleiman Kerimov. Belarussian president Lukashenko does not want Kerimov to be a shareholder of Uralkali, the paper's sources say; pp 1, 13 (700 words).

2. Margarita Papchenkova article headlined "Left without holidays" says the government has given up the idea of tax holidays for entrepreneurs opening new businesses. Officials were too afraid of fraudsters, the author noted; pp 1, 4 (320 words).

3. Editorial headlined "Class leaders" reports on meetings with school pupils and students held by the Russian leaders at the beginning of school year; pp 1, 6 (410 words).

4. Another editorial headlined "Kerimov's variable" says senator Suleiman Kerimov enjoyed business success during Dmitry Medvedev's presidency, so charges brought against him by Belarus may show the beginning of his problems with the new Russian leadership; p 6 (331 words).

5. Maxim Glikin and Lilia Biryukova article headlined "Navalny fails to reach Obama's level" says opposition Moscow mayoral hopeful Alexei Navalny tried to imitate U.S. President Barack Obama but did not succeed in that, a report by the pro-Kremlin Fund for Open New Democracy has said; p 2 (465 words).

6. Polina Khimiashvili and Yekaterina Kravchenko article headlined "G20 with Russian accent" reviews the results of the Russian chairmanship in G20 and notes that Moscow has not come up with any new ideas; p 3 (653 words).

7. Lilia Biryukova and Bela Lyauv interview with acting Moscow region Governor Andrei Vorobyov speaking on his rivals at the upcoming elections, his policy and United Russia; p 8 (6,262 words).

Izvestia

1. Yelizaveta Mayetnaya and German Petelin article headlined "Puzikov and Serdyukov told me — you are cattle" says several entrepreneurs are going to sue former Defense Minister Serdyukov's relative who handed over his cottage to the ministry. They claim they initially owned the plot of land and some structures on it; pp 1, 4 (1,262 words).

2. Yulia Tsoy article headlined "Governor Orlova waiting for Kremlin's help" says the rating of acting Voronezh region governor Svetlana Orlova is low ahead of the local elections, however, the Kremlin is interested in her victory; pp 1-2 (733 words).

3. Viktor Sokirko article headlined "Armed Forces to be tested for drugs" says soldiers will regularly undergo drug addiction tests; pp 1, 4 (479 words).

4. Anastasia Kashevarova article headlined "Week before and after Moscow mayoral election fraught with provocation" says the law-enforcement agencies are expecting Alexei Navalny's headquarters to perform all sorts of acts of provocation ahead of the Moscow mayoral election; pp 1-2 (627 words).

5. Maria Shatalova article headlined "Electoral commissions run out of absentee ballot papers week before election" says the Moscow region's elections commissions have run out of absentee ballot papers so voters will have to come to the polling stations where they are registered to cast their votes; p 2 (671 words).

6. Konstantin Volkov article headlined "Arab League split by threat of American strike at Syria" says only Saudi Arabia and Qatar have backed the U.S. plans to bomb Syria, while the rest of the member-states of the Arab League oppose foreign military intervention in the country; p 7 (505 words).

7. Boris Mezhuyev article headlined "Playing chess with Death" says the U.S. Congress is most likely to authorize a military strike in Syria and looks at what will happen next; p 9 (650 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Roman Markelov interview with the president of the Regional Banks Association, Anatoly Aksakov, speaking on plans to lower interest rates on bank loans for individuals and businesses in Russia; pp 1, 5 (1,118 words).

2. Yury Gavrilov article headlined "Fugitives to have their career spoilt" says the Defense Ministry is drafting amendments to the law on call-up, under which commissariats will keep the record of young men who evaded military service without any serious reason; pp 1, 9 (544 words).

3. Article by political scientist Leonid Radzikhovsky headlined "Reset" comments on the ongoing election campaigns in several regions and notes that in some places like Yekaterinburg and Voronezh opposition candidates have chances to win the votes; p 3 (809 words).

4. Interview with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of the G20 meeting in St. Petersburg in which the Chinese leader speaks on topics to be discussed at the summit; p 3 (1,299 words).

5. Yevgeny Shestakov article headlined "Chemistry and life" says Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov found the U.S. evidence of the Syrian regime's responsibility for the chemical weapons attack unconvincing; p 8 (645 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Maxim Grigoryev article headlined "Serdyukov helped out at full length" says the relative of former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, Valery Puzikov, handed over the cottage built at the ministry's expense to the state. The author looks into the way the cottage might be used in the future; pp 1, 3 (440 words).

2. Marina Lemutkina auricle headlined "Education defeated by bookkeeper" criticises the new law on education which added needless paper work to teachers; pp 1, 3 (470 words).

3. Melor Sturua article headlined "Syrian battle on Capitol" reports on the work carried out by the U.S. presidential administration to secure the Congress vote supporting a military operation in Syria; p 3 (1,000 words).

4. Sergei Artyomov interview with Gennady Degtev, acting head of the competition policy department of the Moscow mayoral office, speaking on plans to attract investments to Moscow; p 5 (856 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Vera Moslakova interview with Lev Gudkov, director of Levada-Center independent sociological group, speaking on people's mistrust of official public opinion polls in Russia; pp 1, 5 (952 words).

2. Diana Yevdokimova article headlined "Agents against their will" says a large number of human rights NGOs in Russia have been left without state funding so they have nothing else to do than to look for financing abroad; pp 1, 5 (749 words).

RBC Daily

1. Article by Alexei Makarkin, first vice-president of the Center for Political Technologies, headlined "President-blackmailer" comments on Belarussian President Lukashenko's policy and his role in a scandal with Russia; p 2 (710 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Vladimir Sosnitsky interview with Merab Kishmaria, defense minister of the Georgian breakaway region, Abkhazia, headlined "Abkhazia remembers who came to rescue first"; pp 1, 3 (700 words).

Trud

1. Sergei Bednov article headlined "To whom war, to whom reality show" says people in Russia closely follow the news from Syria; p 5 (450 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Alexander Kots and Dmitry Steshin interview with a pro-government Syrian expert headlined "We will show missile rain to West", who says that Syria will put up strong resistance if it is attacked by the West; pp 5-6 (1,400 words).