What the Papers Say, Sept. 30, 2013

Kommersant

1. Alexei Sokovnin article headlined "Moscow shield comes to Kapotnya" says a group of Moscow nationalists, the Moscow shield, have tried to mop up a hostel where migrants live. The migrants fought back and the police had to interfere to stop the brawl, around 60 people were detained; pp 1, 4 (451 words).

2. Yelena Chernenko interview with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov who speaks on the resolution on Syria passed by the UN Security Council and on Russian relations with the U.S. ; pp 1, 8 (2,573 words).

3. Natalya Korchenkova article headlined "Far East helped with all broadcasting" reports on a special charity program broadcast by Channel One to help victims of floods in Russia's Far East; pp 1, 3 (914 words).

4. Olga Shestopal article headlined "Fines lose budget" says the system of transferring information about fines paid at banks has failed again. Around a quarter of the banks allowed to work with the state information system were not linked to it for several days. Information on thousands of payments has not been transferred to the system; pp 1, 10 (593 words).

5. Maxim Ivanov article headlined "Second person supports third one" says Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has spoken out for an initiative to return "against all" box to ballot papers voiced by Federation Council speaker Valentina Matviyenko. Experts believe that the "against all" option will attract voters with protest mood; p 2 (743 words).

6. Irina Nagornykh article headlined "They withdraw fewer candidates and selection becomes wider" says the September election campaign will be the main topic at the upcoming United Russia congress. The party believes they managed to show good results in a more competitive and transparent environment; p 2 (539 words).

7. Yelena Lodygina and Alexander Chernykh article headlined "Academy — best controller" says as President Putin has signed the controversial bill on the Academy of Sciences reform, scientists want to set up a commission to monitor the way the reform is being implemented; p 3 (574 words).

8. Sergei Mashkin article headlined "Dead man in police uniform being searched for" reports on the progress in the investigation of the crimes committed by a gang of kidnappers in North Ossetia; p 4 (1,281 words).

9. Kiril Belyaninov article headlined "U.S. President threatened with default" says the U.S. presidential administration is to send around 800,000 officials on unpaid leave due to a Congress ultimatum in accordance with which congressmen will agree to raise the state debt limit only if social spending is cut and healthcare reform is suspended; p 7 (547 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Towards XIV United Russia's congress" comments on United Russia head Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's article in Vedomosti newspaper where he expressed concern over Russia's development. Medvedev's ideas, however, will not affect the agenda of the United Russia congress to be held on Oct. 5 ; pp 1, 3 (1,073 words).

2. Yury Paniyev article headlined "Start of Syrian dialogue scheduled for mid-November" says the UN Security Council resolution on Syria gives grounds for an international conference on the Syrian conflict which is to be held in November; pp 1, 6 (663 words).

3. Mikhail Sergeiev article headlined "Employment at any price stops being priority" says some experts are sceptical about Dmitry Medvedev's proposals for employment policy as the prime minister suggested that unemployed people should move to regions with more jobs available; pp 1, 4 (623 words).

4. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Compulsion to loyalty" says the Russian authorities are not going to give in under the pressure of radicals as the court in Murmansk issued arrest warrants for Greenpeace activists and Pussy Riot punk group member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova is still being reprimanded over her complaint about conditions in the penal colony; pp 1, 3 (616 words).

5. Svetlana Gamova article headlined "Chisinau brings border police to Dniestr Region" says Chisinau is brining mobile police groups to the border with the Dniestr region controlled by Russian peacekeepers, while Tiraspol is sending troops to the region; pp 1, 6 (762 words).

6. Darya Tsilyurik article headlined "U.S. approach sequestration" says disagreements between Democrats and Republicans threaten the U.S. authorities with paralysis and budget cuts; pp 1-2 (688 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Energy corner of cooperation" looks into prospects for the development of the Russian-German energy cooperation; p 2 (472 words).

8. Viktor Litovkin article headlined "If war starts tomorrow" reviews the results of the Zapad-2013 Russian-Belarussian military exercise attended by the two countries' presidents; p 2 (707 words).

9. Artur Blinov article headlined "Geopolitical games in Middle East" says the so called Arab spring has resulted in a fight for influence in the region; pp 9, 11 (1,100 words).

10. Alexei Fenenko article headlined "London's choice" says the Syrian crisis has lead to a significant change in the system of U.S.-UK relations; p 10 (1,300).

Vedomosti

1. Olga Kuvshinova and Maxim Tovkaylo article headlined "To give year to motherland" says people's pension payments made in 2014 may be spent on pension system expenses; pp 1, 4 (728 words).

2. Galina Starinskaya et al. article headlined "Sechin to buy everything" says Rosneft president Igor Sechin has promised to buy shares from TNK-BP minority shareholders. He will require $1.5 billion for that, the article says; pp 1, 12 (748 words).

3. Editorial headlined "Cultural break" calls the arrest of Greenpeace activists in Murmansk a clash of civilizations and notes that the global environmental lobby will benefit from the Russian authorities' actions; pp 1, 6 (429 words).

4. Maria Zheleznova article headlined "Prokhorov has nothing to share with Navalny" says Mikhail Prokhorov's Civil Platform party sees no possibilities of uniting with opposition activist Alexei Navalny ahead of the Moscow city duma election; p 3 (554 words).

Izvestia

1. Yelena Teslova article headlined "Pussy Riot members may be released in accordance with new amnesty" says the presidential human rights council is discussing an amnesty proposal for the 20th anniversary of the Russian constitution; pp 1, 3 (788 words).

2. Natalya Bashlykova interview with recently elected Yekaterinburg mayor Yevgeny Roizman who speaks on the recent election campaign and his plans for the future; pp 1-2 (1,079 words).

3. Dmitry Runkevich article headlined "Google refuses to block harmful content" says the first deputy head of the Russian presidential administration Vyacheslav Volodin has raised the issue of Google search engine work in Russia at the meeting with representatives of IT business. The official is displeased with Google for failing to block some content considered to be harmful by the Russian authorities; pp 1, 4 (647 words).

4. Pavel Kochegarov article headlined "FSB to move Sochi Olympic territories from border zone" says the Russian Federal Security Service, or FSB, will lift border regime restrictions on Sochi districts where the Winter Olympics will be held; p 3 (461 words).

5. Yelena Tesloiva and Sergei Podosenov article headlined "Human rights council fights against provocateurs in their ranks" says the Russian presidential human rights council will discuss the behaviour of its two members, Ilya Shablinskiy and Pavel Chikov, who are suspected of spreading false information about conditions in the penal colony where Pussy Riot group member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova is held; p 3 (834 words).

6. Konstantin Volkov and Darya Tsoy article headlined "Syrian opposition coalition agrees for Geneva-2" says experts doubt that the Syrian opposition will manage to get together for an international conference on Syria; p 7 (761 words).

7. "Russian business takes care of BKK management" says some twenty former managers of the Belarusian potash company BKK, which provoked a row with Russian potash giant Uralkali, have moved to Moscow since the beginning of 2012; pp 1, 4 (550 words).

8. "Deputy head of Rosreyestr flees abroad with state secrets" says Sergei Sapelnikov, deputy head of the Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography, where major financial violations to the amount of 23,9 billion rubles ( $740 millon) were exposed, has reportedly fled abroad; p 6 (550 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Yelena Kukol et al. report headlined "Ruble not for publishing" says the Russian Economic Development Ministry is going to stop giving forecasts for the ruble exchange rate; pp 1, 3 (700 words).

2. Yury Gavrilov article headlined "Not fit for rumours" comments on the decree on military call-up published by the paper and dispels some rumours on the new conditions for the call-up spread by the press; pp 1, 3 (450 words).

3. Natalya Kozlova and Vladimir Barshev article headlined "Green war" comments on the Murmansk court ruling to arrest all of Greenpeace activists for two months over their attack on an oil rig; pp 1, 10 (800 words).

4. Kira Latukhina article headlined "St. George cross" says President Putin has granted a resignation request by Stavropol region governor Valery Zerenkov. Vladimir Vladimirov, former deputy head of Yamal-Nenets autonomous district, has been appointed acting governor of Stavropol; p 2 (720 words).

5. Tatyana Shadrina interview with Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov speaking on transport development plans for Moscow and the construction of toll roads; p 4 (1,300 words).

6. Vladislav Vorobyev article headlined "Despite war" says UN experts on chemical disarmament are heading to Syria as the UN Security Council passed a resolution on Syria; p 8 (400 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Ignat Kalinin article headlined "Shoigu stakes on water" reports on the relocation of the national defense centre to Frunzenskaya embankment in Moscow and gives some details of the new facility operation; pp 1, 3 (400 words).

2. Tatyana Zamakhina article headlined "Putin not to go to Pikalevo any more" says a recent speech by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has shown that the Russian authorities are changing their approach to single-industry towns and creating jobs at any price; pp 1-2 (500 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Igor Korolkov article headlined "They are being finished off after all" says that high-ranking law-enforcement officials in Kaliningrad Region have links to the criminal world; pp 1, 5 (1,100 words).

2. Yulia Savina article headlined "Classified destruction" says that the Federal Security Service is going to spend almost $1 million of its budget on cameras, printers, scanners, memory cards and photo paper; p 2 (400 words).

3. Valentina Shakhova article headlined "Longing for lost rights" says that according to a recent poll, most Russians back the idea of bringing back the 'against all' option on ballot papers; p 2 (250 words).

4. Konstantin Nikolayev article headlined "No-one wants to make concessions" looks at the ongoing arguments over healthcare reforms in the U.S. government; p 3 (440 words).

RBC Daily

1. Gleb Kostarev article headlined "House near La Manche" says that more and more wealthy Russian businessmen are buying houses on the southern coast of the UK; pp 1, 4 (500 words).

2. Alexander Litoy article headlined "Facebook is hurdle for environmental activist" says that opposition and environmental activist Yevgenia Chirikova is setting up a new social network called Aktivatika to coordinate protests in Russia; p 2 (510 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Marina Tokareva interview with lawyer Irina Khrunova defending Pussy Riot group member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, who complained about terrible conditions in custody. The lawyer says her client is in danger; p 2 (1,351 words).

2. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "Belomorkanal falls into penal colony No 14" comments on the reaction of the Russian Orthodox Church clerics and some public figures to Nadezhda Tolokonnikova's complaints about the conditions in the colony; p 12 (480 words).

3. Semen Novoprudsky article headlined "NFP — New Foreign Policy" comments on the changes in the Russian foreign policy signaled by President Putin at a meeting of the Valdai Club and notes that Moscow will have to prove its geopolitical ambitions in Syria and Afghanistan; p 13 (714 words).