What the Papers Say, Nov. 26, 2013

Kommersant

1. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "Meeting of Pope with Our Lady of Vladimir" reports on President Vladimir Putin's meeting with Pope Francis in the Vatican, where the Russian leader presented a rare icon to Pope Francis. The situation in Syria was on the agenda of their talks; pp 1, 8 (708 words).

2. Kirill Melnikov article headlined "Monopolies found non-athletic" says that Federation Council members want Russian monopolies to be barred from financing professional sports. The relevant bill has already been submitted to the State Duma. Experts, however, doubt that the bill will be passed; pp 1, 12 (861 words).

3. Yekaterina Gerashchenko et al. report headlined "Suleiman Kerimov passes his PIK" says billionaire Suleiman Kerimov is selling his stake in the PIK developer group to former senator Sergei Gordeyev for $599 million; pp 1, 13 (664 words).

4. Pavel Belavin article headlined "The Pirate Bay founder attacks Stalingrad" says the founder of the Pirate Bay torrent resource, Gottfrid Warg, has been sued in Russia over illegal distribution of the film "Stalingrad" and the series "Interns"; pp 1, 13 (598 words).

5. Yulia Rybina and Natalya Gorodetskaya article headlined "Dagestan will be separated to be united" says the head of Dagestan, Ramazan Abdulatipov, will have four envoys in the republic's four districts. The envoys will also have the status of ministers and will work to make the republic more integrated; p 2 (527 words).

6. Natalya Gorodetskaya and Viktor Khamrayev article headlined "Lock yourselves up at dacha for a month, like Stalin did, and write a bill!" says Federation Council speaker Valentina Matviyenko has criticized the State Duma for its legislative work. She is particularly dissatisfied with the practice of changing concepts of bills between the first and second readings; p 2 (641 words).

7. Irina Nagornykh et al. report headlined "Local authorities promised part of taxes" says that Putin is expected to sign a number of instructions to his administration and the government following a meeting with municipal leaders. It will be the first step in the redistribution of powers between different levels of authorities; p 3 (882 words).

8. Maxim Ivanov report "Russians surrounded by enemies" says that according to the pollster Levada Center, most Russians believe that the country has enemies; p 3 (400 words).

9. Yury Senatorov report "Food markets feed international terrorists" says that a scheme of illegal cash withdrawal has been exposed in Moscow and Perm; p 4 (650 words).

10. Natalya Korchenkova article headlined "New TV award goes to internet" says a contest for the design and the name of a new television award will be soon launched on the Rutube portal that is part of the Gazprom-Media holding company; p 5 (578 words).

11. Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "They come to agreement with Iran in secret from mediators" says that secret consultations, that have been held between Iran and the U.S. for several months, helped the group of international mediators reach the nuclear deal with Tehran. The international mediators were not aware of the secret talks; p 7 (586 words).

12. Dmitry Butrin and Tatyana Yedovina article headlined "Maidan aggravates crisis" says Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has made an address to the nation, in which he explained the decision to postpone the signing of the association agreement with the EU; p 8 (676 words).

13. Sergei Sidorenko and Yelena Chernenko article headlined "They talk to Ukraine through open doors" says the U-turn in the Ukrainian policy towards the European integration has caused a rift in relations between the EU and Russia. Brussels accused Moscow of putting Kiev under pressure. The EU reportedly agreed not to make former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's freedom as one of the conditions for the agreement; however, it is not ready to provide financial support to Ukraine; p 8 (686 words).

14. Georgy Dvali article headlined "U.S. give symmetrical response to Mikheil Saakashvili" says former U.S. ambassador to Georgia Richard Miles has accused the former president of the country, Mikheil Saakashvili, of the failure to find a common language both with breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and with Georgian politicians. The criticism became a response to Saakashvili's rhetoric criticizing U.S. President Barack Obama's policy towards Russia; p 8 (447 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "European integration poisoned with gas in Kiev" says that the EU hopes that on-going opposition rallies will make Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych change his mind over European integration plans; pp 1, 6 (1,681 words).

2. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Russia's place in global energy system is supplying China" says the World Energy Outlook 2013 expects Russia to become the main energy supplier of China, as the country is turning into the world's biggest oil importer; pp 1, 4 (659 words).

3. Alexandra Samarina and Natalya Savitskaya article headlined "Political scientists called to serve fatherland" says the Russian political analysts society has held a founding congress in Moscow; pp 1, 3 (1,014 words).

4. Tatyana Dvoynova article headlined "Rosatom to add nuclear waste to Primorye Region" says Primorye Region residents have started collecting signatures against the construction of a nuclear waste storage facility planned by the Rosatom state corporation. Environmentalists are worried that the facility will store nuclear waste from neighboring countries; pp 1-2 (647 words).

5. Anton Khodasevich article headlined "Minsk lacks money both for bread and circuses" says food prices and public utilities tariffs are to grow in Belarus; pp 1, 6 (692 words).

6. Viktor Rusakov article headlined "Ideal ecological tandem" says environmental protection can become one of the main aspects of the government's policy, as Putin has dedicated the recent Security Council meeting to environmental problems; pp 1, 4 (831 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Are there political prisoners in Russia, after all?" says recent public opinion polls have shown that 45 percent of the respondents believe that there are political prisoners in Russia, but people are indifferent to the fact; p 2 (509 words).

8. Alexei Mukhin report "Civil Platform forever" says that the principle of rotation will allow Mikhail Prokhorov to build its party Civil Platform "on the best European patterns"; p 5 (950 words).

9. Yevgenia Novikova article headlined "Obama has problems because of Iran" says U.S. President Barack Obama will work with U.S. lawmakers to prevent disruption of the agreements with Iran as Israel uses members of the U.S. Congress to affect the U.S. policy; p 7 (700 words).

10. Darya Tsilyurik article headlined "To Pope by five planes" reports on Putin's visit to the Vatican where he was received by Pope Francis; p 7 (682 words).

11. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "Greenpeace reconsiders results of raid to Russia" says that although some Greenpeace activists, released from custody in Russia, are reconsidering their actions, it is too late to say that the organization will change its approach in dealing with environmental problems; p 7 (462 words).

12. Yury Solomonov interview "Russian nationalism in 21st century" with the leader of the unregistered National Democratic Party, Konstantin Krylov, who speaks about goals and tasks of modern Russian nationalism; pp 9, 12 (4,100 words).

13. Denis Volkov report "Interview on powder keg" says that anti-immigrant sentiments are on the rise in Russia; p 13 (2,600 words).

Izvestia

1. Alexei Krivoruchek article headlined "Bulava production may double" says the only manufacturer of Bulava missiles, the Votkinsk Plant, will upgrade five of its workshops to double the plant's capacity; pp 1, 3 (524 words).

2. Yelena Teslova and Svetlana Subbotina article headlined "United Russia against advance payments for public utilities services" says United Russia does not support the plans to introduce advance payments for public utilities services and suggests that the problem of debts in the sector should be resolved using sanctions rather than advance payments; pp 1-2 (537 words).

3. Ivan Cheberko article headlined "Energia missile corporation demands $430 million from Boeing" says Russia's Energia Rocket and Space Corporation has sued Boeing over $430 million in response to the U.S. company's claims against it; pp 1, 4 (880 words).

4. Anastasia Alexeyevskikh and Tatyana Shirmanova article headlined "Elvira Nabiullina starts dealing with non-banking organizations" says the Central Bank headed by Elvira Nabiullina will check how non-banking organizations, which are now controlled by the Central Bank, meet the requirements of the legislation aimed at the fight against money laundering; pp 1, 4 (866 words).

5. Yelena Teslova article headlined "Golos association to help protest leaders in elections" says the election monitoring NGO Golos will help the opposition to carry out the election of the Coordination Council; p 2 (596 words).

6. Alexei Krivoruchek article headlined "Military radar to protect airliners from collision" says that a super-precision military radar, which is being developed for long-range radar detection aircraft A-100, is being designed to equip passenger airliners too; p 3 (750 words).

7. Lyudmila Podobedova article headlined "Shale gas revolution not to reduce oil prices" says oil prices have gone down following reports on the settlement of the Iranian nuclear problem. The news, however, should not be overestimated as Iran will not be able to increase oil production quickly; p 5 (696 words).

8. Yanina Sokolovskaya article headlined "European integration supporters put to skates in Kiev" says that law-enforcement agencies have repelled an attack on the government office, however, they did not dissolve an opposition camp in the center of Kiev that is protesting against the government's decision not to sign the association deal with the EU; p 6 (586 words).

9. Konstantin Volkov article headlined "Agreement with Iran reached in accordance with Lavrov's plan" details the nuclear deal reached by a group of international mediators with Iran; p 7 (564 words).

10. Tigran Oganesyan article headlined "Armenia approves enlargement of Russian military base" says Armenia is getting ready for President Vladimir Putin's visit in early December. The country's authorities have allowed Russia to enlarge its military base located in the country; p 7 (506 words).

Vedomosti

1. Natalya Ishchenko et al. report headlined "Ozon looks for buyers" says the owners of the online trading company Ozon.ru have decided to sell the company. The financial corporation Sistema is believed to be the most likely buyer; pp 1, 18 (646 words).

2. Editorial headlined "Inexplicable determination" comments on the authorities' decision to strip large Master Bank of its license and notes that it was a signal to Russian banks involved in money laundering schemes; pp 1, 6 (426 words).

3. Margarita Papchenkova article headlined "Putin changes his mind" says President Vladimir Putin has listened to businesses and agreed that criminal cases of tax evasion have to be opened with the involvement of tax bodies; pp 1, 4 (494 words).

4. Polina Khimshiashvili article headlined "Europe does not let Ukraine go" says the EU insists on signing an agreement with Ukraine claiming that the Ukrainians want this deal; p 2 (614 words).

5. Another editorial headlined "Monopoly sport" comments on the Federation Council members' proposal to ban state-controlled corporations from investing money in professional sport; p 6 (327 words).

6. Alexei Levinson report "Everything is clear without maidan" says that according to Levada Center, only 39 percent of those polled believe that Russia needs the State Duma, while 43 percent believe that the country's life may be organized by presidential decrees; p 7 |(500 words).

7. Yekaterina Kravchenko interview with the British Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable, speaking on Russians doing business in Britain, on British companies' interest in the Russian economy and shale gas extraction; pp 8-9 (2,200 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Yelena Domcheva article headlined "They hit passport" reports on changes in the procedure of issuing international travel passports to Russians, which aim to make it easier to get new documents; pp 1, 6 (879 words).

2. Yevgeny Shestakov article headlined "Europe: Theft of Ukraine fails" says the association agreement rejected by Kiev would have made Ukrainians "beggars" in Europe; pp 1, 8 (743 words).

3. Kira Latukhina report "What experts will say" says that Putin has instructed the Federal Tax Service to assess the new procedure of opening criminal tax-related cases; p 2 (950 words).

4. Irina Varlamova report "Two better than one" looks at twins serving in police special-purpose units in Rostov-on-Don; p 7 (700 words).

5. Niva Mirakyan report "Frankly speaking" looks at Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's visit to Italy where Middle East issues have been discussed; p 8 (350 words).

6. Alexandra Karavayev interview with Azeri ambassador to Russia Polad Byulbyul-ogly speaking on integration processes in the former Soviet space and changes in the Russian migration legislation; p 10 (1,126 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Oleg Bazak article headlined "'Wet' Maidan with 'orange' past" reports on the on-going opposition rallies in Kiev protesting against the authorities' decision not to sign the association agreement with the EU; pp 1-2 (629 words).

2. Alexander Minkin article headlined "Heaven and earth" compares Pope Francis with Putin who visited the Vatican this week; pp 1-2 (381 words).

3. Yeva Merkacheva report "Baumgertner did not fit into cell" says that Vladislav Baumgertner, head of Uralkali, has explained why Russian prisons are better than Belarussian ones; pp 1, 3 (400 words).

4. Mikhail Zubov report "What will make heart calm down?" says that Russian and Ukrainian political analysts have discussed events in the "Euro-Maidan" in a video link; p 2 (500 words).

5. Unattributed article "Hezb-e Banker al-Islami" says that an international gang of illegal bankers has made Russia a sponsor of extremists; p 3 (1,200 words).

Moskovskye Novosti

1. Alexandra Beluza article headlined "Opposition besieging cities" says that mayoral elections in the cities across Russia have gained federal importance as prominent and heavyweight opposition figures have joined the race; pp B2-B3 (1,500 words).

2. Yelena Malysheva article headlined "Master Bank effect" says that a recent Master Bank case, the license of which was recalled, will result in more people transferring their savings to state banks; p B7-B8 (1,400 words).

RBC Daily

1. Yevgeny Novikov and Yulia Sinyaeva article headlined "Doing Business at Sobyanin's" says that according to a recently conducted survey, 57 percent of businessmen in Moscow have complained about the worsening of the business environment in the capital in the last couple of years; pp 1, 3 (700 words).

2. Alexander Litoy article headlined "Presidential Human Rights Council to look after courts" says that Russian president Vladimir Putin has tasked the presidential Human Rights Council with defining the legal status of its members. The HRC would like to have the power of vote in order to influence the appointment of judges on cases as well as to assess the bills related to the human rights; p 2 (400 words).

3. Ivan Petrov article headlined "between first and second" says that the Federation Council speaker, Valentina Matviyenko, has called on the State Duma members not to rewrite the bills submitted by the Federation Council in a radical way. That practice distorts the initial proposals, Matviyenko said. She suggested that a position of a supervisor be set up, who would follow the discussion of a certain bill in the State Duma and report to the Federation Council; p 2 (450 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Sergei Putilov article headlined "'Hobnob' discount" says Russia has agreed to reconsider the gas agreement with Ukraine. Gazprom is likely to raise domestic gas prices to compensate the losses in Ukraine; pp 1, 3 (1,012).

2. Yana Sergeyeva article headlined "Gathering under banners" reports on the ongoing protests in Kiev in support of European integration; p 2 (500 words).

3. Vera Moslakova article headlined "Ban in favor" says that according a survey, the majority of Russians treat repressive State Duma laws, like the one banning propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations among minors or the law on NGOs, in a neutral or even positive way; p 2 (600 words).

4. Diana Yevdokimova article headlined "Russia gives cold shoulder" says that human rights activists have reported that Syrian refugees are being sent back to Syria by the Russian authorities. The Foreign Ministry claims Russia acts according to the UN charter and gives shelter to the Syrian refugees, whereas pundits say people are being sent back to Syria because of the unwillingness of local migration authorities to deal with loads of paper work; p 5 (900 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Andrei Baranov article headlined "Russia concentrates" praises the Russian foreign policy, listing the Geneva talks on Iran, the diplomatic attempts to settle the Syrian crisis and Ukraine's decision to halt European integration among its recent successes; p 3 (900 words).

2. Viktor Baranets article headlined "Court arrests yet another 'Serdyukov's country house'" says that a court in the Krasnodar region has arrested a new plot of land which was allegedly sold at a law price by former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov; p 8 (400 words).

Trud

1. Sergei Ilyichenko article headlined "Gas and tears" reports on the latest developments in the ongoing protests against the postponement of European integration in Kiev; pp 1-2 (1,200 words).