What the Papers Say, Nov. 8, 2013

Kommersant

1. Vladimir Dzaguto article headlined "National welfare abroad" says that Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom has suggested allocating up to 80 billion rubles ($2.5 billion) from the National Welfare Fund to buy a 34-percent stake in a project to build a nuclear power plant in Finland; pp 1, 11 (458 words).

2. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "Guarantor of mercy" gives an account of President Vladimir Putin's meeting with specialists from higher education institutions to discuss prospects for amending the Russian constitution, among other things. Putin said that changes were possible, but he did not back them; pp 1-2 (1,973 words).

3. Viktor Khamrayev article headlined "Importance to be added to state symbols" says that Putin has submitted to the State Duma a bill on a more active use of the Russian flag and the Russian anthem, which is aimed at "promoting patriotism"; p 2 (466 words).

4. Ivan Safronov article headlined "10th deputy added to defense minister" says that Colonel General Pavel Popov has been promoted from an aide to the deputy defense minister by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu; p 2 (431 words).

5. Sofya Samokhina et al. article headlined "White House cleans party cash" says that the government has backed the Justice Ministry's amendments to the law on political parties, which envisage limiting the amount of party membership dues to 4.3 million rubles; p 3 (663 words).

6. Vyacheslav Kozlov and Olga Churakova article headlined "Public Chamber and Open Government fail to share monitoring work" says that the Public Chamber and the Open Government have split over the execution of the law on public control which vests human rights activists with unprecedented rights to examine and assess the performance of state structures and government bodies; p 3 (510 words).

7. Sergei Mashkin article headlined "Oboronservis case disposes to cooperation" says that former director-general of the Oboronstroi company, Larisa Yegorina, targeted in the Oboronservis case, has reached a pre-trial deal with investigators; p 4 (527 words).

8. Yury Senatorov article headlined "Cambodian justice closer to Sergei Polonsky" says that the Prosecutor General's Office has sent an official inquiry to Cambodia to extradite to Russia the former owner of Mirax Group, Sergei Polonsky, charged in absentia with large-scale embezzlement; p 4 (356 words).

9. Musa Muradov and Alexei Sokovnin article headlined "Lawyer prepares slip-on boots" says that criminal proceedings have been launched against well-known Moscow lawyer Murad Musayev over bribing witnesses in the Colonel Yury Budanov's murder case and putting pressure on the jury; p 4 (642 words).

10. Pavel Korobov article headlined "Appointment at most holy level made for Vladimir Putin" says that Putin is expected to meet Pope Francis at the end of November; p 7 (575 words).

11. Pavel Tarasenkov article headlined "British special services come to light" says that the heads of the British special services MI5, MI6 and GCHQ have for the first time taken part in parliamentary hearings; p 7 (628 words).

12. Yury Barsukov and Oleg Gavrish article headlined "Ukraine keeps from Europe's problems" says that Ukraine plans to reduce gas purchases from Russia's Gazprom and the pumping of gas into its underground storage facilities, thus leaving it to the monopoly to ensure gas transit to Europe through the peak period; p 11 (432 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "One in six contract servicemen discharges this year" says that the Defense Ministry is facing problems with switching the Armed Forces to the contract basis since almost one in six contract servicemen have removed from the military service for some reason or other; pp 1, 4 (919 words).

2. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Kiev resolves to new gas demarche" says that Ukraine has significantly decreased Russian gas purchases and plans to stick to this strategy in future. Meanwhile, Russia's Gazprom plans to sue Ukraine for the breach of $10 billion-worth gas contracts in an international court; pp 1, 4 (706 words).

3. Olga Loginova article headlined "Sochi receives and sends off Norwegian media with technical fault" says that the Norwegian television crew, which came to the 2014 Winter Olympics host city of Sochi to make a report on Olympics preparations, has been harassed by local law-enforcement and security agencies. The Russian Foreign Ministry had to apologize to them for this and said that a technical fault was the reason; pp 1, 6 (735 words).

4. Editorial headlined "U-turn for single-seat constituencies" says that the authorities' reverting to elections by single-seat constituencies alone or along with party lists indicates that they lack a well thought-out blueprint for political reform; p 2 (482 words).

5. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Dangerous path to court" says that the families of defendants in the Bolotnaya case on the May, 6 2012 riots on Moscow's Bolotnaya Ploshchad have asked State Duma lawmakers to grant amnesty to convicts. The defendants have complained about beating from the convoy; p 2 (618 words).

6. Ivan Rodin article headlined "Top managers of state companies not to suffer" says that the government has submitted to the State Duma amendments to the Labor Code which envisage limiting the so-called golden parachute compensations paid to sacked heads of state-controlled corporations. The cabinet has frankly said that the amendments will not affect them; p 3 (654 words).

7. Yekaterina Trifonova article headlined "Dose of patriotism increased for Russians" looks at the latest President Putin's initiative aimed at promoting patriotism in the country: the president has submitted to the State Duma a bill on a more active use of the Russian flag and the Russian anthem; p 3 (500 words).

8. Darya Tsilyurik article headlined "U.S. dispose Iran to framework agreement" says that a new round of talks between Iran and the 5+1 group of international mediators on the Iranian nuclear problem has opened in Geneva. The U.S. is ready to ease economic sanctions on Iran if Tehran suspends or partially curtail the nuclear program. The article also features a Russian expert's comment on the issue; p 8 (799 words).

9. Yevgeny Grigoryev article headlined "No end to passions for Snowden in Europe" looks at the developments in the U.S.-Germany surveillance scandal; p 8 (617 words).

10. Viktoria Panfilova article headlined "Difficult winter predicted for Rakhmon" features experts' comments on the results of the presidential election in Tajikistan and says Emomali Rakhmon, re-elected to the post, might face serious economic and political problems during his new term as president; p 7 (300 words).

Vedomosti

1. Editorial headlined "Olympic pride" praises the torch relay for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and says that the Olympic torch has turned to be a simple and universal symbol uniting Russian people; pp 1-6 (406 words).

2. Anastasia Kornya et al. article headlined "Parties to begin to live on credit" says that the government has approved amendments to the law on political parties which envisage enabling parties to take commercial credits, among other things; p 2 (648 words).

3. Alexei Nikolsky article headlined "Army to be brought up to million" says that the strength of the Armed Forces has never exceeded 800,000 servicemen. The Defense Ministry is planning to increase the amount of servicemen to 1 million, but experts doubt that the move is necessary; p 2 (482 words).

4. Maria Zheleznova article headlined "Society at self-control" says that the president's human rights council and the Public Chamber have criticized a bill on public control over the performance of government bodies and state-run companies; p 3 (301 words).

5. Maxim Glikin et al. article headlined "Sovereign internet" says that an activist from the All-Russia Public Movement People's Front for Russia (All-Russia People's Front, ONF) has asked Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to oblige government bodies and state structures to use domestic internet providers to run their websites; p 3 (537 words).

6. Lilia Biryukova article headlined "Duma caught in instability" says that at a meeting with specialists from higher education institutions, Putin has admitted that the quality of laws passed by the State Duma leaves much to be desired; p 3 (381 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Beneficiaries of budget" criticizes a rise in salaries of the Russian officials; p 6 (367 words).

8. Yekaterina Shulman article headlined "Supremacy of law: wolves and food reserve" looks at three amnesty projects being considered by the State Duma on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Constitution; p 6 (800 words).

9. Article by head of the Center for Studies of Ideological Processes under the Institute of Philosophy at the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Rubtsov headlined "Metaphysics of power: identity on call" comments on the authorities' recent switch to ideological work, which includes two domains: identity and patriotism; p 7 (802 words).

10. Mikhail Serov and Galina Starinskaya article headlined "Novatek switches from gas to oil" says that Russia's largest independent gas manufacturer Novatek has decided to go into oil business. The company plans to launch its first oil production project in 2015; p 10 (593 words).

Izvestia

1. Yelena Teslova article headlined "Prosecutor General's Office refuses to stop NGO checks" says that the Prosecutor General's Office has rejected a request by the president's human rights council to stop checks on a number of noncommercial organizations (NGOs) until the Constitutional Court passes corresponding rulings; pp 1, 3 (515 words).

2. Dmitry Yevstifeyev article headlined "Lawyer Murad Musayev transferred from court to case" says that criminal proceedings have been instituted against well-known Moscow lawyer Murad Musayev and his colleague Darya Trenina over attempted bribing of a witness in the Colonel Yury Budanov's murder case; pp 1, 5 (791 words).

3. Anastasia Kashevarova et al. article headlined "Ministers displeased with small salary" says that despite a rise in salaries of the Russian officials, the cabinet has remained displeased with its financial situation; pp 1-2 (868 words).

4. Political analyst Boris Mezhuyev article headlined "Change of civilized priorities" contemplates Russia-EU relations; pp 1, 3 (952 words).

5. Vladimir Zykov article headlined "State search engine can be used against pirates" says that the search engine Gospoisk can be used for the benefit of the anti-piracy law as it is capable of searching through various kinds of the content; pp 1, 5 (575 words).

6. Yegor Sozayev-Guryev article headlined "Head of state does not see secession as solution to Caucasus problems" says that at a meeting with specialists from higher education institutions, Putin has criticized an idea to separate North Caucasus republics from Russia as a way to solve ethnic problems and fight against terrorism; p 2 (566 words).

7. Svetlana Subbotina and Alena Sivkova article headlined "United Russia's ideology remains presidential" says that Putin still remains an informal leader and ideological inspirer of the United Russia party, so its ideology will be based purely on the policy being carried out by Putin; p 2 (642 words).

8. Alena Sivkova article headlined "Young A Just Russia members suggest including patriotism in constitution" says that the leader of the A Just Force youth movement Ilya Sviridov has suggested including in the Constitution a separate article which recognizes patriotism as the single state ideology; p 3 (518 words).

9. Andrei Gridasov and Pavel Chernyshov article headlined "Businessman Polonsky starts talks with Interior Ministry on conditions of his surrender" says that businessman Sergei Polonsky, charged with large-scale embezzlement in Russia, has started talks with the Interior Ministry on the terms of his return back to Russia. Polonsky is now in Cambodia; p 5 (464 words).

10. Konstantin Volkov and Darya Tsoy article headlined "Netherlands solves problems in royal way" says that Dutch King Willem-Alexander together with his wife will arrive in Moscow on Nov. 8 for a visit; p 7 (488 words).

11. Maria Gorkovskaya article headlined "Version about Yasser Arafat's poisoning draws confirmation" says, according to experts, late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat might indeed have been poisoned; p 7 (350 words).

12. Yury Matsarsky article headlined "Saudi Arabia may obtain its own nuclear bomb" says that Saudi Arabia is said to be planning to obtain nuclear arms from Pakistan in case of urgent need. The article features a Russian expert's comment on the issue; p 7 (419 words).

13. Igor Maltsev article headlined "House of cards" tries to find out the reasons behind the swift rise of nationalism in Russia; p 8 (693 words).

14. Maxim Sokolov article headlined "March of foreignness" comments on the Nov. 4 rally Russian March in Moscow; p 8 (740 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Tatyana Zykova and Georgy Panin interview with Audit Chamber head Tatyana Golikova, headlined "Let us calculate risks", speaking about the 2014 federal budget; pp 1-2 (617 words).

2. Yury Gavrilov article headlined "10th after Shoigu" says Pavel Popov has been appointed as a new Deputy Defense Minister; p 2 (401 words).

3. Vladislav Kulikov article headlined "On-line complaints book" says that a special website to collect people's complaints about officials' poor performance has begun to function in a test mode; p 6 (389 words).

4. Galina Bryntseva article headlined "She puts too much salt in soup" says that Dutch social services have taken away children from a Russian native who got married to a Dutch man; p 6 (614 words).

5. Yevgeny Shestakov interview with Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov, headlined "Will they manage to talk?", speaking about prospects for holding the Geneva-2 international conference on Syria; p 8 (899 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Mikhail Rostovsky article headlined "Too tender Putin" wonders why at a meeting with the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Putin has not railed at the politician for his recent extremist statements; pp 1, 2 (722 words).

2. Yekaterina Sazhneva article headlined "Tapping served" says that a plot of land where classified state facilities are located has been sold in the Moscow region; pp 1, 16 (2,847 words).

3. Konstantin Smirnov article headlined "How they bury presidential decrees" says that decrees issued by Putin in May 2012 after he was elected the president will most likely be not fulfilled due to a difficult economic situation in the country; p 2 (460 words).

4. Nikolay Vardul article headlined "End to Putin's economy" says that the Economic Development Ministry has worsened its forecast for Russia's socioeconomic development until 2030 and says that this is the end to the Putin-designed economy based on enormous state spending and high oil prices; p 2 (561 words).

5. Lina Panchenko article headlined "Criminal affair starts in 'Politkovskaya case'" focuses on the prosecution of well-known Moscow lawyers Murad Musayev taking part in the Colonel Yury Budanov's and Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya' murder cases; p 3 (1,086 words).

6. Andrei Yashlavsky article headlined "'NATO membership will not affect friendly relations with Russia'" focuses on Cypriot President Nikolaos Anastasiadhis' news conference given to Russian journalists and features the most interesting excerpts from his speech; p 4 (673 words).

7. Mikhail Zubov interview with former Soviet Defense Minister Dmitry Yazov headlined "Prison took years of last USSR marshal" speaking about the military reform in Russia; p 15 (1,581 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Vardan Ogandzhanyan article headlined "Following ministers" says that the salaries of Russian parliamentarians will significantly increase to become equal to these of ministers. They will be 14-fold higher than an average salary in the country; pp 1-2 (306 words).

2. Yekaterina Dyatlovskaya article headlined "United Russia looks for deserved substitute for 'ideologist' Isayev" says that State Duma deputy speaker and deputy secretary of the United Russia party's general council, Sergei Zheleznyak, may head the ideological bloc of the party; p 2 (275 words).

3. Daniil Drynov report "Lawyers of Pussy Riot intend to challenge verdict in the case in Supreme Court" says that Russian Human Rights Commissioner Vladimir Lukin has agreed to back an appeal to the Supreme Court in the Pussy Riot case. Meanwhile, the supporters of jailed Pussy Riot band member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova have failed to get in touch with her over two weeks; p 3 (450 words).

4. Kristina Krutilina report "Environmentalists, convicted for damaging governor Tkachev's fence, may have suspended sentences replaced with real ones" says that the Tuapse criminal inspection has issued a warning over the violation of the punishment regime by environmentalist Yevgeny Vitishko who received a suspended sentence in the case of damaging the fence of the so-called dacha of Krasnodar region Governor Alexander Tkachev; p 3 (250 words).

5. Valentin Boynik report "Poisonous trail" says that according to Swiss experts, Yasser Arafat has been poisoned with polonium; p 4 (700 words).

RBC Daily

1. Alexander Litoy report "Fly flag, blow hymn" says that President Vladimir Putin has urged the "wider use" of state symbols such as the Russian flag and national anthem. Article features comments by politicians and experts; p 2 (800 words).

2. Ivan Petrov report "Right hand in case of war" says that Colonel Gen Pavel Popov has been appointed deputy defense minister; p 2 (600 words).

3. Inga Vorobyeva report "Putin led by codes" says that Putin has met lawyers and academics to discuss the constitution; p 3 (800 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Yulia Polukhina interview headlined "Maybe, they have already realized need not to rape society..." with head of the Moscow Helsinki Group Lyudmila Alexeyeva, who speaks about the need for an amnesty in Russia, including an amnesty for the people involved in political trials; pp 1-3 (1,900 words).

2. Andrei Kolesnikov report "Putin's thermometer" looks at Putin's role in the political situation in Russia and says that "threats to the system established in Russia are being weighed on the scales of the country's leader manually"; p 6 (750 words).

3. Yevgeny Feldman report "Pirates, lawyers and Shakespeare vs Kremlin" says that the hearing of the case of The Netherlands vs Russia has begun at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea over the detention of Greenpeace's ship Arctic Sunrise and the arrest of its crew in Russia; p 7 (1,100 words).

4. Yevgeny Titov report "Rendered harmless at the approaches to Olympic Games" looks at attempts not to let Norwegian journalists arrive in Sochi. The journalists were put in a remand centre, their mobile telephones were checked and they had their fingerprints taken; p 8 (300 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Andrei Ryabtsev report "State Duma deputies become more expensive up to 250,000 Rubles" says that the monthly salary of State Duma members has been raised by 80 percent in 2013, and in 2014 it will total 420,000 rubles; p 1 (300 words).

2. Anastasia Pleshakova interview with Bolshoi ballet artistic director Sergei Filin who speaks about an acid attack against him; pp 1, 18 (1,000 words).

3. Dmitry Smirnov report "Putin to meet Pope" says that according to the president's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, Putin may meet Pope Francis on Nov. 25. At the same time, Peskov said that one should not expect Putin to react to Russian culture figures' letter requesting that the crew of Greenpeace's ship Arctic Sunrise be freed; p 2 (350 words).

4. Alexander Boyko report "Lawyer of Budanov's killer suspected of bribing witnesses" says that well-known lawyer Murad Musayev has been detained and faces up to seven years in prison; p 4 (500 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda weekly

1. Andrei Shitov report "Washington's Russian roulette" comments on financial problems of the U.S.; p 20 (2,300 words).

Tvoy Den

1. Andrei Muravyev report "If stars are lit... " says that the Olympic torch has been flown into space from Baikonur to the International Space Station; p 2 (450 words).

2. Ivan Mikhaylov report "Wrong, definitely" says that Putin has told off the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), Vladimir Zhirinovsky, for his insulting statements about the Caucasus; p 2 (250 words).