What the Papers Say, Oct. 24, 2013

Kommersant

1. Kirill Melnikov article headlined "Money demanded from Igor Sechin again" says that the energy company Rosneftegaz will have to remit $4.9 billion to the Russian budget, gained on the sale of Rosneft's shares to BP following consolidation of TNK-BP; pp 1, 9 (595 words).

2. Natalya Skorlygina et al. article headlined "Consumers lose energy" says that stagnation may hit the Russian electric energy market after several years of growth; pp 1, 11 (588 words).

3. Yelena Kiseleva and Anna Balashova article headlined "They offer 'big four' to sign" says that the founders of Russia's first LTE operator Skartel have invited the "big four" communications companies (MTS, MegaFon, VimpelCom and Rostelekom) to a new project to introduce the mobile signature in Russia, which enables telephone subscribers to make online purchases and command online state services through smartphones; pp 1, 9 (851 words).

4. Vladislav Novy article headlined "Special services do not fit in traffic" says that according to the Russian Internet company Mail.ru Group's estimates, the equipment to record Internet traffic every 12 hours, as the Russian special forces want, will cost $400 million. The implementation of this project may be fraught with a rise in internet tariffs, the company thinks; pp 1, 13 (608 words).

5. Andrei Kolesnikov report headlined "Live and teach" gives an account of President Vladimir Putin's meeting with mayors of Russian cities, held in the Moscow region recreation center Imperial; p 2 (1,320 words).

6. Natalya Gorodetskaya et al. article headlined "Vladimir Putin to think what powers municipalities lack" says that at a meeting with mayors of Russian cities, Putin has promised to consider giving additional powers to municipalities; p 2 (679 words).

7. Maxim Ivanov article headlined "A Just Russia to set example of democracy" says that Putin has met the leader of the A Just Russia party, Sergei Mironov, to discuss problems in the housing and utilities sector and the forthcoming party congress on Oct. 26-27; p 2 (471 words).

8. Sofya Samokhina article headlined "Biryulyovo discussed without too many words" says that Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Federal Migration Service head Konstantin Romodanovsky and Moscow deputy mayor for regional security Alexander Gorbenko have made reports on the ethnic riots in Moscow's district Biryulyovo to the State Duma; p 3 (494 words).

9. Sergei Goryashko article headlined "Leaders of Communist Party and Liberal Democratic Party believed to be main opposition parties" says that according to a public opinion poll conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation, 40 percent of Russians think that the political opposition does exist in Russia. Nine percent of respondents consider the leader of the Communist Party, Gennady Zyuganov, to be the main opposition activist; the same number of those polled think the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, is such; p 3 (439 words).

10. Alexei Sokovnin and Anna Pushkarskaya article headlined "Supreme Court refuses its chairman" says that the presidium of the Supreme Court has rejected a recommendation by Supreme Court chairman Vyacheslav Lebedev, seeking the revision of the criminal case opened against the former head of the Yukos security service, Alexei Pichugin. Thus, the court presidium ignored the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the issue; p 5 (552 words).

11. Petr Netreba article headlined "No new ideas for Far East" looks ahead at the agenda of a meeting on the development of Russia's Far East to be chaired by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Khabarovsk region; p 6 (503 words).

12. Sergei Strokan article headlined "Barack Obama loses friends of Syria" says that Saudi Arabia wants to cut back cooperation with the U.S. in protest against the U.S. policy in the Middle East; p 7 (629 words).

13. Olga Kuznetsova article headlined "Sergei Shoigu uses missile defense arguments" focuses on the Oct. 23 meeting of the Russia-NATO Council at the level of defense ministers in Brussels. The meeting was not a breakthrough: the sides endorsed several joint projects in technical cooperation, but NATO's missile defense plans still remain a sticking point, the article says; p 8 (501 words).

14. Maria Yefimova article headlined "Egypt looks for U.S. aid in Russia" says that an Egyptian delegation will arrive in Moscow today to improve bilateral relations. However, experts say that Cairo wants the U.S. financing to be resumed by playing on disagreements between Moscow and Washington; p 8 (454 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "People's Front flanks United Russia" says that the All-Russia People's Front has recently stepped up political activities: it closely watches how Putin's decrees issued in May 2012, after he was elected, are being fulfilled and controls the regional elites who violate Putin's ban on foreign assets. Meanwhile, the State Duma is considering admitting representatives from public organizations to regional elections; pp 1-2 (1,048 words).

2. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Kolokoltsev finds out how to bring guests to justice" says that Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev has suggested that the heads of Russian regions, North Caucasus republics first of all, should bear responsibility for criminals coming from these regions. He was speaking at a State Duma meeting dedicated to the ethnic riots in Moscow's district Biryulyovo; pp 1, 3 (823 words).

3. Igor Naumov article headlined "Business confused with tariff scale" focuses on a news conference held by the head of the Federal Tariff Service, Sergei Novikov, to describe the agency's medium term plans; pp 1, 4 (559 words).

4. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Oil companies lack fat hares" says that oil production has not been falling in Russia so far, although some large oil companies have reduced their oil production plans. However, the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry is sure that there are oil fields in Russia due to be developed; pp 1, 4 (624 words).

5. Olga Loginova article headlined "Language barrier to divide Olympians and Sochi residents" says that a research held in Sochi ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics has shown that 80 percent of taxi drivers and about 50 percent of sellers do not speak English; pp 1, 5 (781 words).

6. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Europeans recall Greenpeace" says that the arrest by Russia of the Greenpeace activists, who tried to board an oil rig in the Pechora Sea, will be discussed at the forthcoming meeting of Russia-EU foreign ministers. Meanwhile, Russia plans not to take part in a trial initiated over the issue by the Netherlands in the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea; p 2 (355 words).

7. Article by Anna Kovaleva, the head of the directorate for public relations and mass communications of the Supreme Arbitration Court, is a letter addressed to the newspaper's editor in chief, which criticizes the Oct. 8 article headlined "They set sights on constitution" saying that the changes in the judicial system proposed by Putin are part of his plan to amend the Constitution; p 2 (527 words).

8. Andrei Serenko article published in the Carte Blanche regular column headlined "Weakest link of law-enforcement system" says that the more details about a suspected female suicide bomber who blew up a bus in Volgograd Region on Oct. 12 appear, the more complaints about the regional law enforcers' performance are made; p 3 (889 words).

9. Yekaterina Trifonova article headlined "Journalists to answer for violence" says that Prosecutor General Yury Chaika has accused media outlets of stirring up a national scandal when covering ethnic riots in Moscow's district Biryulyovo. The head of the State Duma committee on information policy, Alexei Mitrofanov, has suggested establishing a special court for information disputes. Experts consider the move as yet another attempt to censor the media; p 3 (693 words).

10. Tatyana Dvoynova article headlined "Foreign assets found with Maritime Territory deputy" says that the Primorye regional prosecutor's office has demanded that former speaker of the regional legislative assembly and regional lawmaker from United Russia Yevgeny Ovechkin be deprived of authority for having assets abroad; p 5 (577 words).

11. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Putin to make proposal to Yanukovych for last time" looks ahead at talks between Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych, to be held in Minsk. Ukraine's integration with the EU and the consequences of the move will be discussed at the meeting; p 6 (1,104 words).

12. Yevgenia Novikova article headlined "Syrian opposition goes out of US control" says that the Syrian opposition will not take part in the Geneva-2 international conference if the dismissal of Syrian President Bashar Assad is not discussed there. This is the main result of the Friends of Syria group's meeting in London; p 7 (779 words).

Vedomosti

1. Yury Nekhaychuk et al. article headlined "Billions worth flooding" says that according to preliminary estimates, damage caused to a hydro-accumulating power plant in Moscow Region by the flooding in September may reach 12 billion rubles ($375 million); pp 1, 14 (674 words).

2. Anastasia Kornya article headlined "Churov chooses export" says that the Central Elections Commission has made public a corrected programme of the accelerated technical re-equipment of the Russian electoral system in 2011-15. It envisages giving up KOIBs (electronic ballot paper processing machines); pp 1, 3 (552 words).

3. Editorial headlined "Enemy at gate" says that because of the controversial migration policy, the Russian authorities have failed to achieve domestic policy successes and got many problems in the international policy. They are doing their best to make Russia the number one enemy for an increasingly greater number of countries; pp 1, 6 (417 words).

4. Alexei Nikolsky and Vladimir Shtanov article headlined "From Lada [car brand] to Moon" says that the president of the AvtoVAZ car plant, Igor Komarov, has become deputy head of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos); p 2 (369 words).

5. Svetlana Bocharova article headlined "It is better not to hire guests" says that Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev has suggested toughening punishment for people who lease flats to illegal migrants. Federal Migration Service head Konstantin Romodanovsky has suggested introducing criminal responsibility for employers who hire illegal migrants; p 3 (401 words).

6. Yekaterina Khodzhayeva article headlined "Preventive measures for leadership" reports on the work of certain district police officers in Moscow's district Biryulyovo, where ethnic riots have recently sparked off; p 7 (1,047 words).

7. Lilia Biryukova and Anastasia Kornya article headlined "Shortcomings at local level" says that Putin has signed a bill introducing mayors' responsibility for ethnic conflicts; p 3 (501 words).

8. Vasily Kashin article headlined "Second world: Migration and connection to reality" says that the Russian migration policy has turned to be almost the most failed aspect of post-Soviet Russia's development; p 6 (731 words).

9. Roman Dorokhov report "Durov's cipher" says that the messenger Telegram developed with the support of Vkontakte founder Pavel Durov, encrypt messages in such a way that special services cannot read them; p 10 (500 words).

Izvestia

1. Yelena Nikitina article headlined "They want to make alternative military service mandatory" says that deputy chairman of the State Duma committee on industry, Vladimir Gutenev, the Russian Rectors Union and the Russian Students Union have suggested obliging Russians to do alternative military service at defense enterprises and restoring reserve officer training departments at higher educational institutions; pp 1, 5 (682 words).

2. Alexandra Yermakova article headlined "State to help complete construction of plant in Myanmar" says that the state corporation Rostechnology will receive a state subsidy to complete an ironworks in Myanmar, which has been built for nine years already; pp 1, 5 (456 words).

3. Anastasia Kashevarova and Anna Lyalyakina article headlined "After Onishchenko's dismissal, Rospotrebnadzor may be disbanded" says that the head of the Federal Service for Consumer Rights Protection (Rospotrebnadzor), Gennady Onishchenko, has been dismissed and appointed an aide to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Onishchenko's dismissal was a coercive measure because the disbandment of the agency is being considered by the government, the article says; pp 1, 4 (822 words).

4. Svetlana Subbotina and Natalya Bashlykova article headlined "Anatoly Chubays changes deputies" looks at staff reshuffles carried out in the state corporation Rosnano; p 2 (553 words).

5. Yegor Sozayev-Guryev interview with Volgograd mayor Irina Guseva, headlined "'Students give place to female suicide bomber and die'", who speaks about the Oct. 21 terrorist attack on a bus in Volgograd and what lessons the local authorities should learn from this; p 2 (438 words).

6. Dmitry Runkevich article headlined "Patrushev and Kolokoltsev to asses Biryulevo events" says that secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolay Patrushev will meet Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev on Oct. 25 to discuss ethnic riots in Moscow's Biryulyovo district and the terrorist attack in Volgograd; p 2 (409 words).

7. Konstantin Volkov and Tatyana Baykova article headlined "Legality of arrest of Greenpeace 'pirates' is indisputable" says that Russia will not take part in the trial of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea regarding the arrest of Greenpeace activists who tried to board an oil rig in the Pechora Sea because "there is nothing to argue about there"; p 3 (548 words).

8. Sergei Podosenov article headlined "Sergei Mironov to return to post of A Just Russia chairman" says that at the forthcoming congress of the A Just Russia party on Oct. 26-27, Sergei Mironov will take office as party chairman. The incumbent party leader, Nikolai Levichev, will become head of the A Just Russia faction in the State Duma; p 3 (460 words).

9. Yelizaveta Mayetnaya et al. article headlined "Special services study places of work of Volgograd female suicide bomber" gives an update on the probe into the Oct. 21 terrorist attack on a bus in Volgograd; p 4 (933 words).

10. Dmitry Yevstifeyev article headlined "Attackers on deputy Khudyakov may get off with 'easy fright'" says that investigators have brought more lenient charges against the Dagestani natives who have attacked State Duma lawmaker Roman Khudyakov in central Moscow; p 5 (615 words).

11. Pavel Kochegarov article headlined "Rosgranitsa's subsidiary to be checked for improper cooperation" says that the performance of Rosgranstroi, a subsidiary of the Federal Agency for State Border Development and Maintenance (Rosgranitsa), will be checked. This comes amid a scandal involving the Rosgranitsa leadership, who was suspected of financial frauds; p 6 (631 words).

12. Tigran Oganesyan et al. article headlined "Armenia files application to join Eurasian Union" says that Putin will take part in a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council to be held today in Minsk. Armenia's bid to join the Russia-led Customs Union is on the agenda of the meeting. The article also features a Russian expert's comment on prospects for Armenia's bid; p 7 (477 words).

13. Political analyst Boris Mezhuyev article headlined "Nationalism outside Eurasian capital city" says that ethnic conflicts in Moscow over the last few weeks should have made nationalists come in full force, but this has not happened. The article contemplates the reasons behind this; p 8 (1,135 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Alexander Povorin et al. article headlined "Listen" comments on a bill placing responsibility for ethnic conflicts on municipal authorities, signed by Putin; pp 1, 3 (590 words).

2. Vitaly Petrov article headlined "Mission in Moscow" says that Putin has received the credentials of 19 newly appointed ambassadors to Russia, including the Dutch one; p 2 (781 words).

3. Natalya Kozlova article headlined "Appropriate authorities?" welcomes a bill placing responsibility for ethnic conflicts on municipal authorities; p 3 (430 words).

4. Yury Gavrilov article headlined "Breakthrough not seen yet" says that NATO's intractability on missile defense is souring Russia-NATO relations; p 6 (351 words).

5. Mikhail Falaleyev article headlined "Whose shell?" details the probe into the Oct. 22 blast at a training range in the Pskov region, which claimed the lives of six servicemen. An old artillery shell may have exploded there, the article says; p 7 (659 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta (weekly)

1. Mikhail Barshchevsky interview headlined "Do you need defense?" with human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin who speaks about his work; p 8 (1,185 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Olga Bozhyeva article headlined "Death comes to paratroopers from last century" looks at the probe into the Oct. 22 blast at a training range in the Pskov region, which claimed the lives of six servicemen; pp 1-2 (473 words).

2. Kirill Saltykov article headlined "Arsonists get under article in MK" says that criminal proceedings on hooliganism charges have been initiated against unidentified people who attacked the newspaper's editorial office on Oct. 22; pp 1, 3 (384 words).

3. Konstantin Smirnov article headlined "Lukashenko calls Putin on carpet" says that Putin and his Belarussian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko will meet in Minsk today to discuss the future of the potash producer Uralkali head Vladislav Baumgertner and senator Suleiman Kerimov, the company's main shareholder; pp 1-2 (571 words).

4. Marina Ozerova article headlined "How to organize 'communicating courtyard'?" describes migration initiatives put forward by Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev and Federal Migration Service head Konstantin Romodanovsky; pp 1-2 (905 words).

5. Natalya Rozhkova article headlined "Modernization of Russian elections ends over lack of funds" says that the Central Electoral Commission will return to the budget 9 billon rubles ($281.25 million) allocated to buy KOIBs (electronic ballot paper processing machines); p 2 (725 words).

6. Ignat Kalinin article headlined "Will Shoigu solve European ABM problem with tanks?" says that a Russia-NATO Council meeting at the level of defense ministers has not been a success, although Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has done his best to make progress on the European ABM problem; p 2 (562 words).

7. Zurab Nalbandyan article headlined "Prince George's christening: solemnly, but modestly" previews the christening ceremony of the Britain's Prince George; p 3 (528 words).

8. Mikhail Rostovsky article headlined "United Russia and court" notes that the Oct. 22 attack on the newspaper's editorial office is a continuation of the persistent campaign against the newspaper and its editor in chief, which has begun right after a high-profile public conflict between the newspaper and the United Russia party; p 3 (646 words).

9. Matvey Ganapolsky article headlined "Onishchenko without expiry date" comments on Russian chief public health officer Gennady Onishchenko's dismissal and says that the man is "politically unsinkable" because he has a strong backing from Putin; p 3 (1,218 words).

10. Irina Molchanova article headlined "Imitation of national hatred" looks at a scandal involving St. Petersburg nationalist leader Nikolai Bondarik, who has been suspected of imitating attacks on local residents by Muslims during the celebrations of the Id al-Adha; p 6 (1,212 words).

11. Tatyana Melikyan article headlined "If Russia feels bad, all of us will feel bad" features comments by representatives from national diasporas in Russia on migration problems; p 9 (1,195 words).

12. Zurab Nalbandyan report "Baptism of Prince George" looks at the ceremony of baptism of the Britain's Prince George; p 3 (400 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Alexander Grishin report "Arrested Vasilyeva exemplarily carries her diamond cross" says that the Federal Penitentiary Service has praised Yevgenia Vasilyeva, the main suspect in a probe into alleged fraud involving land and property belonging to the Defense Ministry, for observing discipline; pp 1, 4 (400 words).

2. Andrei Vasin report "Biryulyovo residents let 2,000 flats to illegal migrants" looks at the details of the speech of Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev and Federal Migration Service head Konstantin Romodanovsky at the State Duma on migration problems in Russia; p 3 (950 words).

3. Yury Levin interview with dismissed Russian chief public health officer Gennady Onishchenko; p 4 (800 words).

4. Vladimir Sungorkin interview with Federation Council speaker Valentina Matviyenko; pp 12-13 (1,900 words).

RBC Daily

1. Yulia Yakovleva report "He does not understand humour" says that State Duma deputy Mikhail Markelov intends to draft a bill on hostile language after a scandal with the social network Vkontakte; p 2 (600 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Anna Alexeyeva report "Do not trust inspectors" says that the human rights organization Agora has accused Prosecutor General Yury Chaika of false statements on a great number of Russian NGOs allegedly being financed from abroad; p 1 (300 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Alexander Frolov interview headlined "Big Caucasus: How to ensure peace and stability" with Leonid Reshetnikov, head of Russian Institute of Strategic Studies; pp 1, 3 (1,900 words).