What the Papers Say, Nov. 6, 2013

Kommersant

1. Sergei Mashkin article headlined "Anatoly Serdyukov's case has had its term of office extended" says the Investigative Committee has not suspended an investigation on counts of abuse of office in the Defense Ministry, in which former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has already been questioned as a witness, but may well turn into a suspect. The investigation is to continue until Jan. 17, 2014; pp 1, 5 (689 words).

2. Vitaly Gaydayev article headlined "Return to risky shares" says Russian collective investment funds have seen an inflow of clients who appear to be interested in IT companies and the retail sector; pp 1, 10 (582 words).

3. Andrei Kolesnikov report called "Vladimir Putin bombarded with apps" gives an account of President Vladimir Putin's meeting with mobile app developers who are engaged in the startup support project of the Internet Initiative Development Fund; pp 1, 3 (1,436 words).

4. Petr Netreba et al. article headlined "Destinations covered with welfare" says that Putin is to chair a meeting today that will discuss investment projects that may receive money from the National Welfare Fund; pp 1, 8 (941 words).

5. Maxim Ivanov articled headlined "Road to Constitution made harder for deputies" says individual lawmakers may not be allowed to propose amendments to the bill on the establishment of a single Supreme Court. Only groups of at least 90 deputies can have a right to propose amendments as the bill provides for amendments to the constitution; p 2 (704 words).

6. Natalya Korchenkova and Sergei Goryashko article called "Distributors of presidential grants apply for them too" says almost 1,500 NGOs applied for state grants in October. An equivalent of $7.8 million is to be handed out; p 2 (570 words).

7. Sergei Goryashko and Sofya Samokhina headlined "Olga Golodets to speak about Russia" says a council on the Russian language is being established under the Russian government to promote the language abroad; p 3 (221 words).

8. Ivan Safronov article headlined "Commander of strike revision" appraises the performance of Sergei Shoigu as the defense minister as a year has passed since he took the post; p 4 (2,105 words).

9. Nikolai Sergeyev and Mikhail Bulanov article headlined "Kolskaya case ready for submersion" provides an update on an investigation into a criminal case in connection with the sinking of the Kolskaya jack-up rig and says it will be difficult to prove the guilt of two top managers of the Arktikmornefterazvedka company that owned the rig; p 5 (462 words).

10. Yulia Rybina article called "Militants pulled out of cave" reports on a special operation in Laksky district of Dagestan that has resulted in the elimination of two militants; p 5 (450 words).

11. Vladislav Trifonov article headlined "Country of prosecution changed for Vladislav Baumgertner" says Russia has demanded the extradition of Uralkali CEO Vladislav Baumgertner from Belarus. The Investigative Committee has launched a criminal case against Baumgertner to make the extradition technically possible, but the Belarussian authorities may turn the request down; p 5 (404 words).

12. Kirill Belyaninov article called "Big Apple turns left" comments on the mayoral election in New York on Nov. 5 that has set a record for the lowest voter turnout; p 7 (515 words).

13. Yelena Chernenko and Maxim Ivanov article called "Russia's performance deserves 20" says Kommersant has got a copy of the government's analytical report on Russia's G20 presidency. It shows that the government is satisfied with the results as the country was able to reach its goals; p 7 (766 words).

14. Sergei Strokan article headlined "Drone boomerangs" says the U.S. may lose its ally in Pakistan following the killing of the Pakistani Taleban chief, Hakimullah Mehsud, in a U.S. drone attack. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is faced with two hard tasks of reviving a dialogue with the Taliban and responding to the attack without breaking up with the U.S. altogether; p 7 (611 words).

15. Natalya Skorlygina and Vladimir Dzaguto article headlined "Import is cheaper for grids" says a plant that has been built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Artyom, the Primorye region, for the manufacture of gas-insulated switchgear equipment, has been idle because lower duties make it cheaper to import ready-made equipment rather than assemble it in Russia; p 9 (594 words).

16. Pavel Belavin article headlined "Mikhail Gutseryev goes on business air" says a media company owned by Mikhail Gutseryev has reportedly taken over Finam FM, a business news radio station; p 9 (646 words).

17. Yury Barsukov and Alexander Chernovalov article headlined "Ukraine cries 8 percent" says Ukraine has begun to pay for the gas that Russia supplied in August, but as of Nov. 4, only 8 percent of the debt has been cleared; p 11 (409 words).

18. Anna Solodovnikova article called "Rostech drawn to black gold" says the Russian state corporation Rostech is bidding for a contract to build an oil refinery in Uganda; p 11 (485 words).

19. Yegor Popov interview with Dmitry Shugayev, head of the board of directors of the transportation and exhibition centre Rossia and deputy managing director of Rostech, who speaks about the development of the Ramenskoye airfield and the establishment of a national aircraft engineering centre in Zhukovsky; p 14 (2,206 words).

20. Khalil Aminov and Denis Skorobogatko article headlined "Developers called to Olympic discipline" shares leaked details of a meeting on Olympic preparations that has been chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak. The latter allegedly warned Oleg Deripaska that he would be held personally accountable if his company Basic Element failed to meet the completion deadlines for a number of road construction projects in Sochi; p 12 (616 words).

Vedomosti

1. Editorial headlined "Time to collect" says the government's attempts to tighten regulatory frameworks in various industries, be it public transportation or fruit and vegetable markets, are usually hasty and poorly thought through, so ordinary people get hit the hardest; pp 1, 6 (393 words).

2. Yelizaveta Sergina article called "Exchange named after Durov" says the Russian social networking website VKontakte has piloted a new advertising system that it refers to as advertising exchange. It enables groups and communities to increase its revenues by selling advertising space; p 19 (498 words).

3. Anastasia Kornya article headlined "Single window to courts" says the RAPSI (Russian agency of legal and judicial information) is likely to be awarded a contract for providing online streaming of court hearings. Experts warn that the RAPSI may want to exercise its monopolistic right to restrict access to broadcasts; p 2 (558 words).

4. Margarita Papchenkova and Maxim Tovkaylo article called "Investigators to find imaginary and deceitful" says the Russian Investigative Committee has drafted a bill that will enable it to investigate tax optimization schemes. Experts say it will put an end to tax liberalization started by Dmitry Medvedev; pp 1, 4 (664 words).

5. Maxim Tovkaylo articled headlined "Optimists from Brussels" says the European Commission forecasts that the Russian economy may grow 3.4 percent in 2015; p 5 (549 words).

6. Editorial headlined "Looking for landmark" backs the idea of considering other historic figures for a monument on Lubyanskaya Ploshchad in Moscow rather than simply restoring the Felix Dzerzhinsky statue there; p 6 (311 words).

7. Kirill Kharatyan op-ed headlined "Figure of the week: 20,000" comes up with a conclusion that nationalist sentiments are still running high in Russian society, but nationalists as well as liberals see no point in taking part in rallies or marches; p 7 (429 words).

8. Judge Natalya Buchneva article headlined "Judicial system: Point of no return" criticizes the judicial community for keeping silent as the merger of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Arbitration Court becomes imminent; pp 6-7 (1,494 words).

9. Yelena Khodyakov and Mikhail Serov article headlined "Naftohaz accumulates debt" says Ukraine's gas importing company Naftohaz has started repaying its debt to Gazprom, but is short of money and will see its overall debt grow by 150 percent on Nov. 7; p 11 (516 words).

10. Maxim Glikin article headlined "Putin's peculiar stability" says a poll by Levada Centre has shown that 24 percent of those interviewed believe that the strategy of President Vladimir Putin is to stay in power and control the country rather than improve people's living standards; p 2 (483 words).

11. Ilya Klishin column "Maximum retweet: Wrong kind of nationalism" says the Internet has become a convenient discussion platform where people can share their views on nationalism and xenophobia, but it does not mean that people are getting more intolerant than they already are; p 7 (437 words).

12. Margarita Papchenkova article headlined "Tax on sovereignty" says the Russian Foreign Ministry has strongly criticized a proposal by the U.S. to implement FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act); p 5 (461 words).

13. Alexei Nikolsky article headlined "Superjet for generals" says the Interior Ministry wants to buy a Sukhoi Superject aircraft. Unlike the Federal Security Service and the Emergency Situations Ministry, the Interior Ministry does not have a passenger aircraft for administrative flights; p 3 (366 words).

14. Ksenia Boletskaya article headlined "Print down again" says the Russian print media saw their advertising revenues go down by 7 percent between January and September 2013; p (344 words).

15. Sergei Titov article headlined "State customers to be returned to tenders" discusses new state procurement rules that come into force as of 2014; p 4 (666 words).

16. Alexei Rozhkov et al. report "Option for peacekeeper" says that the person who has helped the network Lenta settle a conflict among the shareholders, has received stock options worth 3.2 percent of the company's value; pp 1, 18 (600 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Alexandra Samarina and Ivan Rodin article headlined "Next State Duma election may take place without party lists" says the Russian leadership is in two minds as to whether the State Duma should be elected through a mixed model of party lists and single-seat constituencies to keep smaller parties away from the parliament, or should be made up of constituency lawmakers only to boost people's trust in the legislature; pp 1, 3 (1,184 words).

2. Mikhail Sergeyev article headlined "It suddenly turns out that our roads are much cheaper than in other countries" doubts the accuracy of claims by the Federal Road Agency of the lower cost of road construction in Russia than in other countries; pp 1, 4 (1,044 words).

3. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Russia gives green light to new influx of labor migrants" says the government has authorized the arrival of over 1.6 million labor migrants next year, while 78 percent of Russians back calls for more barriers to immigration; pp 1, 4 (723 words).

4. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Kiev has three weeks to think about European integration" says a new investigation has reportedly been launched against Ukraine's former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. It may disrupt the country's plans to sign an association agreement with the EU; pp 1, 7 (1,277 words).

5. Svetlana Gamova article headlined "Romania trades its vote in NATO for Russian market" looks at a statement by Romanian Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean that Romania was prepared to be on Russia's side in the latter's negotiations with the EU and NATO, but put forward a set of conditions, including the opening of the Russian market to Romanian businesses; pp 1, 7 (684 words).

6. Darya Tsilyurik article called "U.S. fixes ties with Saudi Arabia" says despite the recent visit of U.S. State Secretary John Kerry to Saudi Arabia, the latter is still determined to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad by force; pp 1, 8 (781 words).

7. Viktor Litovkin article headlined "Not a single word about islands" reviews the results of negotiations between Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Japanese counterpart that took place last week; p 2 (555 words).

8. Editorial headlined "Russian-German sore spots" says German business circles have sent letters to the Russian government and the future German government on how to build trust between the two countries. Germany can become a mediator between Russia and the EU that need to sign a new partnership agreement and find a way out of a crisis in their relations; 2 (435 words).

9. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Russian March: Afterword" offers a commentary on the Nov. 4 events by the organizers of the Russian March in Moscow, Vladimir Tor and Dmitry Demushkin, p 3 (594 words).

10. Eduard Lozansky column "Carte Blanche: Is Saudi Arabia losing influence in U.S.?" says Saudi Arabia is apparently looking for new allies as its special relationship with the U.S. has not helped it in its campaigns against Syria and Iran; p 3 (707 words).

11. Yury Panyev article headlined "Snowden seeks pardon" says Edward Snowden's "A Manifesto of Truth" that was published by Der Spiegel, was viewed by the Western media as his plea of pardon. However, Germany is unlikely to grant Snowden asylum because it does not want to further damage its relations with the U.S.; p 8 (737 words).

12. Igor Naumov report "Vladimir Putin checks networks" says that Putin has promised to support the Russian IT business with funds; p 4 (650 words).

13. Andrei Melnikov report "Russian world gets to Kremlin" says that the authorities, the church and politically active people perceive differently the sovereign ideology; pp 1-2 of the NG Religions supplement (1,200 words).

14. Roman Silantyev report "Redeployment of mosques" says that the number of Islamist organizations has reduced in Russia, but some of them have gained more authority; p 4 of the NG Religions supplement (1,700 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Mikhail Barshchevsky interview with Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev headlined "Minister inside affairs" who shares upbeat crime solution and prevention statistics; pp 1, 6 (1,360 words).

2. Vasily Mironov article headlined "Herring will be without coat" says that food market experts has forecast that prices on eggs, fish and vegetables will continue to grow; pp 1, 5 (711 words).

3. Vladislav Kulikov and Timofei Borisov article headlined "Will pay in family way" summarizes a law that will enable victims of terrorist attacks and their families to claim damage compensation from the relatives of culprits. The law is published today and takes force accordingly; pp 1, 6 (553 words).

4. Kira Latukhina article headlined "Net council" reports on Putin's meeting with representatives of IT startup companies; p 2 (855 words).

5. Vladimir Kuzmin article headlined "To revive monastery" reports on Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's visit to New Jerusalem Monastery of Resurrection in the Moscow region; p 2 (414 words).

6. Fedor Lukyanov op-ed headlined "Snowden forever" says the continuing scandal sparked by fugitive NSA contractor Edward Snowden will drive "an arms race" between governments, that are unlikely to abandon their surveillance practices, and civil society seeking to monitor them; p 8 (685 words).

7. British political analyst Richard Sakwa report "Dialogue and contradictions" looks at the political situation in Russia; p 8 (1,600 words).

8. Yury Gavrilov article headlined "Minister serves conscription service" looks at the methods used by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in his work; p 13 (1,000 words).

Izvestia

1. Alexei Krivoruchek report "Slavyanka continues to scrub" says the Defense Ministry is still deciding on the reorganization of the company Slavyanka, a subsidiary of the infamous company Oboronservis. However, Slavyanka continues to render cleaning services to the ministry; p 1 (40 words).

2. Natalya Bashlykova report "People in the Tver region demand that governor resign" says that signatures are being collected in the Tver region seeking the resignation of governor Andrei Shevelev; pp 1-2 (1,200 words).

3. Olesya Yelkova report "Rosatom orders two icebreakers worth 77.5Bln Rubles" says that Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom has announced a tender to build two nuclear-powered icebreakers; p 1 (400 words).

4. Petr Kozlov report "Government rejects bill against rehabilitation of nazism" says the government has not backed a bill bannning the rehabilitation of nazism; p 4 (1,100 words).

5. Maria Gorkovskaya report "Angela Merkel not ready for quarrel because of Edward Snowden" says the German government has rejected Edward Snowden's appeal for asylum; p 7 (650 words).

6. Yury Matsarsky report "Barack Obama promises again to close Guantanamo" says that U.S. President Barack Obama has said that the Guantanamo prison should be closed as it costs the U.S. too much, and features a Russian expert's comment; p 7 (600 words).

7. Natalia Oss article headlined "Children of outskirts" looks at the Russian march held in Moscow on Nov. 4 and says that the teenagers living in the outskirts "have picked up nationalism that has been left unattended by politicians and elites"; p 8 (1,100 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Olga Bozhyeva article entitled "Minister of common sense" sums up the results of work of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu who was appointed to the post a year ago; pp 1, 4 (1,300 words).

2. Marina Ozerova report "Tale of sacred cow" looks at amendments to the Constitution and says that the authorities are virtually ruining it; pp 1-2 (550 words).

3. Lina Panchenko interview "Oboronservis steps on investigation" with the main suspect in a probe into alleged fraud involving land and property belonging to the Defense Ministry Yevgenia Vasilyeva's lawyer who explains why she has written an open letter; p 2 (700 words).

4. Matvey Ganapolsky article entitled "Nazism at march" looks at the problem of nationalism and ethnic hatred in Russia; p 3 (1,000 words).

RBC Daily

1. Katerina Kitayeva article headlined "Dorenko back on air" says Russian journalist Sergei Dorenko has been invited to develop the Finam FM radio station, owned by businessman Mikhail Gutseryev; pp 1, 7 (800 words).

2. Ivan Petrov article headlined "Sheriff Kudrin" says former finance minister Alexei Kudrin has joined the Interior Ministry's public council and will help to reform the ministry; p 2 (400 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Alexei Polikovsky article headlined "March of abandoned children" covers rallies of nationalists held in Moscow on Nov. 4; pp 1-4 (2,000 words).

2. Nikita Girin article headlined "Lyublino fair" focuses on differences between this year's and the previous years' nationalist rallies; p 3 (300 words).

3. Maria Yepifanova article headlined "One should not make advances to nationalists" says the Yabloko party and human rights activists are creating a committee to fight xenophobia; p 4 (400 words).

4. Semen Novoprudsky op-ed headlined "Treacherously frankly" says "A Manifesto for the Truth" written by U.S. intelligence leaker Edward Snowden is, in essence, an anti-Russian document; p 5 (400 words).

5. Andrei Kolesnikov op-ed headlined "Block for Navalny" criticizes opposition politician Alexei Navalny for supporting nationalist rallies in Moscow; p 6 (300 words).

Trud

1. Sergei Frolov article headlined "Putin and networks" says President Vladimir Putin has met with innovators in the field of internet technologies; pp 1-2 (300 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Viktor Baranets article headlined "Not a Shoigu back!" reviews the activities of Sergei Shoigu during his first year in the office of the Russian defense minister; p 3 (600 words).

2. Unattributed article headlined "What are your memories of defense minister's first year?" features comments of notable Russians on Sergei Shoigu; p 3 (400 words).

Argumenty i Fakty

1. Sergei Osipov article headlined "One year in service" reviews Sergei Shoigu's activities during his first year in the office of the defense minister; p 11 (1,300 words).