What the Papers Say, Nov. 28, 2013

Kommersant

1. Taisia Bekbulatova et al. article headlined "Alexei Navalny has his party's name taken away" says that the party Native Country (Rodnaya Strana), which is a part of spin doctor Andrei Bogdanov-led pool of parties, has changed its name for People's Alliance, thus duplicating the name of opposition activist Alexei Navalny's unregistered party; pp 1, 3 (721 words).

2. Yulia Gallyamova et al. article headlined "Sistema to continue Oboronservis's business" says that the Russian corporation AFK Sistema is considering purchasing an oil transshipment terminal in the Murmansk region, which formerly belonged to the Defense Ministry's subsidiary Oboronservis; pp 1, 9 (626 words).

3. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "Haze covers Polyana for president" says that President Vladimir Putin has inspected a ski jump for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, whose construction has been finally completed; pp 1, 5 (638 words).

4. Yekaterina Yeremenko and Yekaterina Vyushkova article headlined "Electoral reform sent down to municipal level" says that regional legislative assemblies are not in a hurry to amend regional electoral laws following the adoption by the State Duma of a bill, under which the number of seats in regional parliaments distributed by party lists will decrease to 25 percent; p 2 (477 words).

5. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "Vladimir Putin behaves in extremely political rocket way" says that Putin has met the leadership of the Strategic Missile Troops and Russia's Navy to discuss the implementation of state defense orders for these branches of the Armed Forces; p 2 (622 words).

6. Ivan Safronov article headlined "Roscosmos gets rid of Vladimir Popovkin' s heritage" says that the new leadership of the Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) will determine the future of the center for ensuring the implementation of programs and plans for space and rocket technology, which was established by former Roscosmos head Popovkin; p 2 (520 words).

7. Anna Pushkarskaya and Natalya Gorodetskaya article headlined "Amendments to constitution sent to regions" says that the Federation Council has unanimously approved presidential amendments to the constitution, which envisage combining the Supreme and Supreme Arbitration courts and authorizing the president to appoint prosecutors in federal districts. Regional parliaments are to consider the amendments; p 3 (655 words).

8. Maxim Ivanov article headlined "Population sticks to integral views" says that a public opinion poll conducted by the independent pollster Levada Center has shown that 74 percent of Russians consider separatism to be a significant problem and no more than eight percent of respondents have separatist views. Such views are more popular in Russia's Far East and Siberia, the poll showed; p 3 (556 words).

9. Oleg Rubnikovich article headlined "Drugs control general goes on leave as suspect" says that a corruption scandal involving the head of the regional directorate of the Federal Service for Control over the Trafficking of Narcotics has erupted in the Ryazan region; p 4 (781 words).

10. Alexander Igorev article headlined "Yury Chaika takes corruption in investigation" says that the Prosecutor General's Office has summed up the results of its anti-corruption work. Corruption-related crimes have risen in number by almost 20 percent as compared to 2012, but for the first time in recent years, such cases have been rarely remitted for further examination; p 4 (567 words).

11. Viktor Khamrayev article headlined "Half visa-free regime" says that United Russia lawmaker Rizvan Kurbanov has submitted to the State Duma a bill, under which foreigners from CIS member states will be permitted to enter Russia without getting a visa once in six months; p 5 (495 words).

12. Article by former Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, the former British secretary of state for defense, Desmond Brown, and former Polish Foreign Minister Adam Rotfeld headlined "'It is necessary to build Big Europe'", contemplates ways to step up the EU's integration activity; p 8 (821 words).

13. Yelena Chernenko interview with the head of the EU representative office in Russia, Vygaudas Usachas, headlined "'Russia-EU relations experience hard times'", speaking about prospects of the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius and Russia-EU relations, among other things; p 8 (581 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Ivan Pavlov and Anton Denisov article headlined "Moscow City Duma already being divided behind scenes" says that the Moscow electoral commission will today decide on establishing 22 single-seat constituencies. The Moscow city authorities are split over the issue; pp 1-2 (728 words).

2. Alexandra Samarina and Ivan Rodin article headlined "Authorities change tactics as regards constitution" says that the Federation Council has approved and sent to the president for signature a bill combining the Supreme and Supreme Arbitration courts. Constitutional Court head Valery Zorkin says that only specific points of the constitution will be amended, but scientists are thoroughly changing the text of the main law; pp 1, 3 (1,253 words).

3. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Officials and military deprived of salaries indexed to inflation" says that the Federation Council has cancelled indexed to inflation salaries received by officials, servicemen and aides to State Duma deputies in 2014 due to the deficit ridden budget; pp 1, 4 (495 words).

4. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Russia and EU may come to agreement without Ukraine" says that President Viktor Yanukovych and three leaders of opposition parties will represent Ukraine at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius, at which the singing of the Ukraine-EU association agreement will be postponed. Both Russia and the EU are not ready to accept Kiev's financial demands; pp 1, 6 (1,037 words).

5. Darya Tsilyurik article headlined "David Cameron holds the fort against labor migrants" says that British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced tough measures restricting migrants' access to hardship allowances given the expected inflow of people from Bulgaria and Romania. London may cause Brussels's displeasure by the move, the article says; pp 1, 7 (676 words).

6. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Young people to be diverted from orange revolution by fight against spice drug" looks at the performance of pro-Kremlin movements fighting against drug trafficking and rudeness on roads. According to experts, the Russian authorities have switched from the fight against the opposition to focusing young people on the fight against drug addicts and traffic boors; p 2 (738 words).

7. Editorial headlined "No-one wants to listen to sound like broken record" calls on global political centers to change rhetoric in assessing the Nagornyy Karabakh settlement; p 2 (517 words).

8. Viktor Litovkin article published in the Carte Blanche regular column headlined "Uneasy conscience betrays and betrays itself" says that the U.S. has reproached Russia for violating the treaty on the elimination of intermediate-range and short-range missiles signed in 1988. But the U.S. has also repeatedly violated the treaty, the author says; p 3 (900 words).

9. Nikita Krichevsky article headlined "Moscow to save Kiev from collapse" looks at socioeconomic consequences for Ukraine if it integrates with the EU; p 4 (1,158 words).

10. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "Washington uses trump card in game with Beijing" says that U.S. fighters have flown over the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, disputed by Japan and China, without notifying Beijing. The latter has recently included the islands into its missile defense system. The article also features a Russian expert's comment on the issue; p 7 (555 words).

11. Yevgenia Novikova article headlined "EU now pins hopes on Moldova and Georgia" previews the Eastern Partnership summit which opens today in Vilnius; p 7 (795 words).

Vedomosti

1. Margarita Papchenkova article headlined "Russia without Cyprus" says that the Finance Ministry is considering including Cyprus and Luxembourg in the blacklist of offshore areas; pp 1, 5 (506 words).

2. Editorial headlined "Stereotype corruption" says that the Prosecutor General's Office has reported on successes in the anti-corruption fight, but this runs counter to reality, for instance, the new job of former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, whom most Russians want to be prosecuted, regular reports on undeclared property and incomes by Russian high-ranking officials and the release of the main defendants in the Oboronservis fraud case; pp 1, 6 (394 words).

3. Alexei Zakharov article headlined "Cause and effect: Price of participation in political process" says that new people's access to political life is very restricted in Putin's Russia. To win greater achievements, independent politicians have to come to terms with the ruling authorities and do some shameful work for them, the author says; p 7 (752 words).

4. Maria Eysmont article headlined "Civil society: Let us recall children" says that Russian Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin sent an inquiry to his U.S. colleague on conducting a probe into reported violations of the rights of 26 adopted Russian children on Nov. 26, but the violations became known as far back as Sept. 9; p 7 (442 words).

5. Alexei Nikolsky article headlined "Sea and land lag behind sky" says that a decision on cuts in defense spending may follow meetings on the implementation of state defense orders chaired by Putin; p 3 (459 words).

6. Editorial headlined "Between two policies" says that the Ukraine-EU row over integration is evidence of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych lacking a well-thought-out policy; p 6 (348 words).

7. Maria Zheleznova et al. article headlined "Gaps in Sosny" says that opposition activist Alexei Navalny has reported that first deputy head of the presidential administration Vyacheslav Volodin, head of the State Duma economic policy committee Igor Rudensky and several other officials have not declared all the property they own; p 2 (558 words).

8. Lilia Biryukova and Yury Nekhaychuk article headlined "Banks called to join front" says that the All-Russia Public Movement People's Front for Russia (All-Russia People's Front, ONF) has launched a website clarifying rules and pitfalls of the Russian credit market; p 2 (362 words).

9. Alexei Rozhkov article headlined "Paralympics sets record" says that the total revenue from the marketing programs for the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi has exceeded $90 million; p 18 (350 words).

10. Dmitry Kazmin report "Trust more important than oil" says that the Russian ruble is losing value; p 1 (400 words).

Izvestia

1. Leonid Shakhov article headlined "Mission in Paris" says that in Paris, a Russian delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich has failed to promote Yekaterinburg as the host city of the Expo-2020 international exhibition; pp 1, 9 (508 words).

2. Anastasia Kashevarova and Natalya Bashlykova article headlined "Anti-corruption directorate to appear in Kremlin" says that an anti-corruption directorate will be set up in the presidential administration by the end of the year; pp 1-2 (670 words).

3. Tatyana Shirmanova et al. article headlined "People mostly concerned about high housing and utilities tariffs" says that a public opinion poll conducted by the state pollster VTsIOM, following the establishment of the new Construction, Housing and Utilities Ministry, has shown that 54 percent of Russians consider high tariffs to be the main problem of the housing and utilities sector; pp 1, 3 (560 words).

4. Svetlana Subbotina et al. article headlined "Federal Anti-Monopoly Service permits Prosecutor General's Office to buy luxury cars" says that the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service has found as unjustified the complaint filed by the All-Russia Public Movement People's Front for Russia (All-Russia People's Front, ONF) to challenge the Prosecutor-General's Office's tender to buy 12 premium class cars Audi A8L worth over 57 million rubles ($1.7 million); p 2 (753 words).

5. Denis Telmanov article headlined "Arsenals to be insured for 10Bln Rubles" says that the Defense Ministry has for the first time announced a tender to insure civil responsibility for blasts and other possible accidents at 9,310 facilities storing ammunition; p 5 (585 words).

6. Alena Sivkova report "Directorate for youth movements may be set up in Interior Ministry" says that the State Duma is concerned over the activities of radical youth movements and it has demanded that the Interior Ministry control the actions of the movements' activists; p 5 (950 words).

7. Yanina Sokolovskaya article headlined "Viktor Yanukovych goes to Vilnius bearing in mind protests" looks ahead at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius which opens today; p 7 (648 words).

8. Tatyana Baykova interview with the head of the European Parliament foreign affairs committee Elmar Brok, headlined "'Kiev still lacks courage to oppose Moscow'", who blames Russia for exerting pressure on Ukraine as regards its integration with the EU; p 7 (376 words).

9. Konstantin Volkov interview with the head of the State Duma international affairs committee Alexei Pushkov, headlined "'EU does not explain where it will take funds to modernize Ukraine'", who blames Brussels for exerting pressure on Ukraine as regards the EU integration and explains why the EU is doing its best to expand to the East; p 7 (506 words).

10. Johan Beckman article headlined "All presidents, except Putin, only act as presidents" praises Putin's political success and says that Russia's authority and influence have improved under Putin's rule so much that even the UN is not a patch on it; p 9 (1,001 words).

11. Political analyst Boris Mezhuyev article headlined "European noose" says that Ukraine's refusal to sign the EU association agreement is seen as Russia's victory. This explains why some EU member states and the USA have stooped to practically blackmailing the Ukrainian president, the author says; p 9 (658 words).

12. Stanislav Khatuntsev article headlined "Things start moving, attack freezes" comments on the progress made by the 5+1 group of international mediators on the Iranian nuclear problem in Geneva; p 9 (863 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Vladislav Kulikov article headlined "Rake for plunder" says that the Justice Ministry has published a bill which permits seizing property from terrorists, corrupt officials and criminal kingpins in the territory of Russia; pp 1, 5 (820 words).

2. Maxim Makarychev article headlined "Maidan-phobia" shares the journalist's impression of the situation in Kiev, where protests against suspension of Ukraine's integration with the EU are being held; pp 1, 6 (1,551 words).

3. Kira Latukhina report "To arm in synchronic way" looks at a meeting on the state defense order and the re-armament of the Armed Forces chaired by Putin; p 2 (800 words).

4. Taras Fomchenkov interview with the president of the Ukrainian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs headlined "Not to do harm!", who explains why the Ukrainian economy has been stagnating for 15 months. Russia alone should not be blamed for this, he said; p 6 (987 words).

5. Timofey Borisov article headlined "Suicide bomber's belt in store" says that members of the Moscow branch of the banned radical organization Al-Takfir wal-Hijrah have been detained; p 7 (460 words).

6. Ariadna Rokossovskaya article headlined "Who will pay Russian embassy?" says that the Warsaw city authorities have refused to compensate for the damage caused to the Russian embassy by local nationalists during the Nov. 11 march because they do not consider themselves responsible for this; p 8 (770 words).

7. Anna Fedyakina article headlined "Schengen bulging at seams" says that British Prime Minister David Cameron has criticized the EU policy of expansion to the East and suggested restricting the freedom to travel in Europe; p 8 (464 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta (weekly)

1. Vitaly Petrov article headlined "From constitution to Criminal Code" features excerpts from Federation Council speaker Valentina Matviyenko's interview with Rossiiskaya Gazeta editor in chief Vladislav Fronin in the television program "Time and We"; p 4 (962 words).

2. Mikhail Barshchevsky interview with Constitutional Court judge Nikolai Bondar, headlined "To take as basis", speaking about the work of the Constitutional Court and pending amendments to the Russian constitution; p 8 (1,313 words).

3. Igor Chernyak article headlined "Sukhoi in emigration" looks at the Sukhoi Superjet 100 passenger aircraft and tries to find out why it is criticized in Russia and praised in the West; p 25 (1,120 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Igor Karmazin article headlined "Maidan dreams of croissant" describes the situation in Ukraine hit by protests against the Ukrainian authorities' decision to postpone the EU integration; pp 1, 3 (1,056 words).

2. Vladimir Sedov article headlined "Terrorists suffer from personnel shortage" says that 14 members of the radical Islamist organization Al-Takfir wal-Hijrah, who dealt with recruiting militants, have been detained in Moscow; pp 1, 3 (571 words).

3. Alexander Minkin article headlined "Obscene Duma" says that the State Duma is not a real parliament in Russia as it only fulfills Putin's orders; pp 1-2 (538 words).

4. Lina Panchenko article headlined "Dead people signed up for corrupt ones" says that Prosecutor General Yury Chaika has criticized law enforcers' anti-corruption performance. The real fight against corrupt officials is still regularly substituted by the fight for statistical indicators, Chaika said; p 2 (348 words).

5. Matvey Ganapolsky article headlined "Trench lie" comments on a public opinion poll conducted by the independent pollster Levada Center, which has shown that 78 percent of Russians think that Russia has enemies, which is by 7 percent more than in 2012; p 3 (895 words).

6. Lina Panchenko article headlined "Investigators fail to reach deal with Oboronservis" says that one of the defendants in the Oboronservis case, Konstantin Lapshin, has refused to sign a plea deal with investigators, although earlier he agreed to it; p 4 (299 words).

7. Head of the center for Political Information Alexei Mukhin article headlined "Carrot and stick of European integration" says that Putin's stance on Ukraine's integration with the EU, that it should be based on each parties' interests but not on political considerations, is advantageous not only to Moscow, but also Kiev; p 4 (931 words).

8. Svetlana Samodelova article headlined "On edge of range" reports on the situation on the most complicated section of the Russian-Georgian border stretching along Chechnya; p 10 (3,347 words).

9. Nikita Kartsev report "Suitcase mood" says that following public outrage, giant Louis Vuitton suitcase will be dismantled on Red Square within three days; pp 1-2 (500 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Arina Raskina article headlined "Flip side of regulation" says the Central Bank's efforts to clean up the banking sector may affects a large section of the population; pp 1, 3 (1,200 words)

2. Sergei Putilov article headlined "Housing utilities thefts" says that crimes committed in the housing utilities sector since the beginning of the year have caused damage worth almost 3 billion rubles; pp 1, 3 (582 words).

3. Vera Moslakova article headlined "Eh, they run in!" says that the Culture Ministry has announced a tender to lease four luxury BMW cars. The deal is worth almost 15 million rubles; p 1 (523 words).

4. Artem Lunkov article headlined "Assets dearer than seat" says that former speaker of the Primorye region parliament Yevgeny Ovechkin has his deputy powers terminated for possessing shares in foreign companies; p 2 (489 words).

5. Sergei Manukov article headlined "They come in numbers" looks at British Prime Minister David Cameron's article in the Financial Times on EU immigration issues, concluding that immigration restrictions, if introduced, would negatively affect Russia-EU visa talks; p 2 (520 words).

6. Yana Sergeyeva article headlined "In run-up to Vilnius" says that protests have not calmed down in Ukraine with the Eastern Partnership summit approaching; p 2 (579 words).

7. Yekaterina Dyatlovskaya article headlined "No-Duma approach" says that a public opinion poll conducted by the Levada Center has shown that 43 percent of Russians consider the State Duma an unnecessary body, which is 11 percent more than in 2011; p 2 (789 words).

8. Vladimir Vodo article headlined "Mayor's office does not pay" says that the Warsaw authorities have refused to compensate damage caused to the Russian embassy during the Nov. 11 march held to celebrate Independence Day; p 3 (450 words).

9. Margarita Alekhina report headlined "Radicalization has gone too far" looks at the arrest in Moscow of 15 suspected members of extremist organization Al-Takfir wal-Hijrah on the previous day; p 5 (500 words).

RBC Daily

1. Alexander Litoy interview with Sochi-based environmental activist Yevgeny Vitoshko in which he speaks about the current state of criminal prosecution he faces and a report his organization will release about damage to the environment done by Olympics-related construction projects and other preparations for the Sochi games; p 2 (600 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Alexander Grishin article headlined "They will Maydan you for a while and then they will abandon you" takes a critical look at the EU's reaction to Ukraine's decision to suspend its association agreement process with the EU and, in particular, at European politicians who attend pro-EU rallies that have been going in Kiev for the past several days; p 4 (700 words).

2. Another piece by Alexander Grishin, headlined "Dear uncle, Barack Khuseynovich", makes scathing comments about an open letter published on the White House website asking U.S. President Barack Obama to impose sanctions against Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych over his decision to suspend the association agreement process with the EU; p 4 (350 words).

3. Mikhail Dronov piece headlined "Vladimir Putin: 'Mutual benefits from close Russian-Ukrainian relations are obvious'" looks at and includes pundits' comments on relations between the two countries and the EU; p 5 (1,200 words).

4. Lawmaker Andrei Isayev article "Has the 2002 pension reform failed?" defends the pension reform that has been going on in the country since 2002; p 6 (1,000 words)

5. Alexander Boyko article "Terrorists' gang was headed by a woman" looks at the arrest in Moscow of 15 suspected members of extremist organization Al-Takfir wal-Hijrah on the previous day; p 9 (400 words).

6. Alexander Kots and Dmitry Steshin special report headlined "Jihad for export" traced the footsteps of some militants fighting in Syria to the Russian North Caucasus. An inset to the article includes a comment from Islam expert Roman Silantyev; pp 14-15 (1,900 words).

Tvoy Den

1. Nikolai Kolon article headlined "Satan's army" looks at the arrest in Moscow of 15 suspected members of extremist organization Al-Takfir wal-Hijrah, who, according to the paper, were preparing "a series of major terrorist attacks"; pp 1, 4-5 (250 words).