What the Papers Say, Dec. 4, 2013

Kommersant

1. Yegor Popov and Kirill Melnikov article headlined "Black Sea Fleet to be brought into Novorossiisk sea trade port" says that the state-run United Shipbuilding Company has suggested establishing a repair base of the Black Sea Fleet using the facilities of the Novorossiisk-based shipyard; pp 1, 9 (679 words).

2. Taisia Bekbulatova article headlined "Presidential grant goes to Golos" says that the Civil Dignity movement has distributed presidential grants among noncommercial organizations (NGOs). Among the NGOs that received grants were the Moscow Helsinki Group, the Memorial centre, the Agora association and the Golos-Ural fund, which was earlier denied financing; pp 1, 5 (479 words).

3. Sergei Mashkin article headlined "Anatoly Serdyukov rewrites code" says that the Main Military Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee has questioned former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, charged with negligence. Serdyukov has refused to testify; pp 1, 4 (761 words).

4. Maxim Ivanov article headlined "Judicial reform conducted despite objections" says that the State Duma committee for constitutional legislation has approved the presidential amendments to the constitution, which envisage combining the Supreme and Supreme Arbitration courts in Russia. The idea was backed by United Russia members only, the article says; p 2 (579 words).

5. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "Foundations of juris-presidency" says that President Vladimir Putin has headed the board of guardians of the Moscow State University and met students from law faculties from across Russia; p 2 (1,284 words).

6. Irina Nagornykh and Irina Alexanderova article headlined "Governors being set for legitimate elections" says that the Kremlin has held a series of consultations with governors on the 2014 elections. Regional heads, who risk losing elections or who have stayed in power too long, will be replaced; p 2 (602 words).

7. Viktor Khamrayev article headlined "Fight against corruption to become daily" says that an anti-corruption directorate has been established at the presidential administration. Oleg Plokhoi from the president's directorate for state service has headed the new unit, the article adds; p 3 (481 words).

8. Ivan Safronov and Sergei Goryashko article headlined "Military police not to undertake too much" says that a bill on military police has been submitted to the State Duma for consideration. The bill has been considerably revised under Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu: the military police's powers have been curbed, the article says; p 3 (505 words).

9. Sergei Strokan article headlined "U.S. tries to take both sides in row" looks at U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden's visit to Japan; p 7 (495 words).

10. Maria Yefimova article headlined "Russian diplomats returning to Libya" says that the Russian Embassy in Tripoli will soon resume operations. The Libyan authorities promised to ensure security of the diplomatic staff, the article adds; p 7 (404 words).

11. Yelena Chernenko and Ivan Saronov article headlined "Partnership for sake of utilization" previews the Russian-NATO Council's meeting at the level of foreign ministers to be held today in Brussels; p 8 (684 words).

12. Pavel Tarasenko article headlined "UN finds discrediting evidence against Bashar Assad" says that UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has accused Syrian President Bashar Assad of being involved in war crimes and crimes against humanity. This may deliver a serious blow at the positions of Assad and his closest allies, the article says; p 8 (482 words).

13. Maxim Yusin article headlined "Ukraine runs short of non-confidence to government" says that amid ongoing protests in Kiev, the Ukrainian government has survived the no-confidence vote; p 8 (700 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Putin, patriotism and Article 18 of constitution" focuses on Putin's meeting with students of law faculties from across Russia in the Moscow State University. Some Putin's statements made at the meeting run counter to the Russian constitution, the article says; pp 1, 3 (940 words).

2. Alexei Gorbachev interview with Hermitage Capital Management head, William Browder, headlined "One can complain about human rights violators to U.S. Department of State", who speaks about the so-called U.S. Magnitsky Act as a political tool to combat the Russian authorities; pp 1, 3 ( 750 words).

3. Alexandra Samarina et al. article headlined "Kremlin's triple salvo at corruption" says that a new anti-corruption unit has been set up at the presidential administration. The article also features experts' comments on the issue; pp 1-2 (1,100 words).

4. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Yanukovych stakes on gas" says that the Ukrainian opposition has failed to push through the parliament the vote of no-confidence in the government. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian president has gone to China for a visit. Then, he is expected to arrive in Moscow, the article says; pp 1, 7 (1,200 words).

5. Yevgenia Novikova article headlined "Erdogan splits Iraq" says that Turkey has come to terms with the Iraqi Kurdistan on oil exports. Iraq and the U.S. have opposed the move. Turkey has to reckon with Iraqi Kurdistan as it may become independent in future and can be strong enough to seize some areas from Turkey, a Russian expert said; pp 1, 8 (700 words).

6. Editorial headlined "Patriotic farce" comments on the incident with the installation and the subsequent demolition of the Louis Vuitton's giant suitcase on Red Square in Moscow; p 2 (400 words).

7. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "President legalizes military police" says that Putin has submitted to the State Duma a bill regulating the performance of the military police. The bill is said to be approved in the final reading by the end of the year; p 2 (400 words).

8. Ivan Rodin article headlined "President decides to shake his chain of command" says that a bill introducing the mandatory rotation of federal inspectors in Russian regions has been submitted to the State Duma. The move is meant to destroy corruption ties between federal officials holding their regional posts for long and the regional authorities, the article says; p 3 (410 words).

9. Yury Simonyan article published in the Carte Blanche regular column headlined "Putin said…" looks at Putin's visit to Armenia; p 3 (500 words).

10. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "U.S. wants to encourage Japan without vexing China" doubts that U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden's visit to Japan and China will be effective and will help ease tension in relations between two Asian states; p 8 (370 words).

Vedomosti

1. Olga Kuvshinova article headlined "Economy does not obey decrees" says that the Economic Development Ministry has worsened its forecast for Russia's economic development in 2013-14; pp 1-5 ( 550 words).

2. Editorial headlined "Managing corruption" says that the establishment of an anti-corruption unit at the presidential administration will not contribute to the effective fight against corruption in Russia; pp 1, 6 (300 words).

3. Maria Zheleznova article headlined "Golos to be improved in strength at budget's cost" says that the Civil Dignity movement has distributed presidential grants among several noncommercial organizations such as the Moscow Helsinki Group, the Memorial centre, the Agora association and the Golos-Ural fund; p 2 (600 words).

4. Polina Khimshiashvili and Alexei Nikolsky article headlined "Rada rests with Yanukovych" says the Ukrainian government has survived the vote of no-confidence; p 2 (500 words).

5. Maria Zheleznova et al. article headlined "21 chief in Kremlin" says a new anti-corruption unit has been set up at the presidential administration; p 3 (300 words).

6. Ilya Klishin article headlined "Next generation of Maidan" comments on the latest developments with the ongoing protests in Ukraine and the role that the social media play in the them; p 7 (400 words).

Izvestia

1. Vladimir Zykov article headlined "Olympics to meet pirates with body-check" says that the Roskomnadzor media watchdog will counteract illegal online broadcasts of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, up to blocking websites; pp 1-2 (350 words).

2. Olga Zavyalova article headlined "Pavel Dmitrichenko ensures crowd in court" says that Moscow court has passed a verdict passed on defendants in high-profile acid attack on Bolshoi Theatre's ballet director Sergei Filin; pp 1, 4 (600 words).

3. Ksenia Dementyeva and Anastasia Alexeyevskikh interview with President of VTB24 bank Mikhail Zadornov, speaking about the consequences of revocation of Master-Bank's licence and problems the Russian banking sector is facing; pp 1, 4 (1,200 words).

4. Sergei Neverov article headlined "Sergei Neverov asks Central Bank to look into Alexei Kudrin's relations with Dozhd TV" says United Russia party lawmaker Sergei Neverov is planning to ask the Russian Central bank to check whether former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin was involved in the recent scandal with opposition activist Alexei Navalny's report, according to which several high-profile officials had allegedly not declared all the property they owned; p 2 (600 words).

5. Yanina Sokolovskaya article headlined "Mykola Azarov's government did not accept invitation to execution" says the Ukrainian government has survived the no-confidence vote; p 7 (550 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Tatyana Zykova and Vasily Mironov article headlined "Cripes!" looks at the results of Russia's first year in the WTO; pp 1, 5 (1,400 words).

2. Pavel Dulman article headlined "Yanukovych flies to East" looks at the Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's visit to China and features expert's comment on it; pp 1, 8 (700 words).

3. Taras Fomchenkov article headlined "Shared between their own people" comments on a bill liberalizing gas exports and thus breaking up Gazprom's monopoly on the market; p 4 (500 words).

4. Natalya Kozlova article headlined "Serdyukov becomes non-eligible to travel abroad" says that former Defense Minister Serdyukov has been given a written undertaking not to leave; p 6 (350 words).

5. Fedor Lukyanov article headlined "Does Ukraine have 'Russian choice'?" contemplates whether the Ukrainian authorities will yield to the anti-government protests and prefer the EU integration to the Russia-led Customs Union; p 8 (500 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Unattributed article headlined "Serdyukov loses hide-and-seek game" describes how former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov's questioning has been held; pp 1, 8 (566 words).

2. Konstantin Smirnov article headlined "Collapse of Russian economy" comments on the Economic Development Ministry's forecast for the Russian economy in 2013-14; pp 1-2 (684 words).

3. Mikhail Zubov article headlined "Media to have its throat jumped down?" says that the head of the State Duma committee for information policy, Alexei Mitrofanov, has suggested amending the law about media so that media outlets are made responsible for information they publish; p 2 (811 words).

4. Matvei Ganapolsky article headlined "What is Ukraine's dignity?" criticizes the Russian official media for misrepresenting the anti-government protests in Kiev as an "anti-Russian Sabbath"; p 3 (933 words).

5. Nikolai Vardul article headlined "Russia: climate inappropriate for investments" looks at recent legislative initiatives put forward by the Russian law-enforcement and security agencies, which make life more difficult for businessmen; p 5 (1,589 words).

6. Leonid Berres article headlined "Plokhoi against pimple" looks at Oleg Plokhoi who has headed the newly-established anti-corruption directorate at the presidential administration; p 5 (407 words).

7. Olga Bozhyeva article headlined "Military police awaited for 25 years" says that Putin has submitted to the State Duma a bill specifying the functions and tasks of the military police in the Armed Forces; p 8 (514 words).

8. Natalya Rozhkova article headlined "Cars for romance at cost of state budget" looks at a list of 13 luxury cars bought by Russian officials using budget funds published by the All-Russia Public Movement People's Front for Russia (All-Russia People's Front, ONF); p 8 (442 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Sergei Putilov article headlined "Burden of empire" says that Russia and Armenia have signed an intergovernmental agreement cancelling export duties on gas, oil products and unprocessed diamonds supplied to Armenia. For its part, Armenia promised to join the Customs Union, the article says; pp 1, 5 (718 words).

2. Yana Sergeyeva article headlined "The knockout is cancelled" says that the Ukrainian opposition has failed in its effort to force a resignation of the government, covering the debates on government resignation in the Ukrainian parliament; pp 1-2 (700 words).

3. Yekaterina Dyatlovskaya article headlined "Within limits of margin of error" says that a public opinion poll conducted by the independent pollster Levada Centre has shown that Putin's approval rating has fallen to 47 percent, but his lead compared to other politicians still remains significant; p 2 (574 words).

4. Vardan Ogandzhanyan article headlined "'Situation with corruption not to change'" features experts' comments on the new anti-corruption directorate at the presidential administration; p 2 (472 words).

5. Artem Lunkov article headlined "Next to Gambia and Pakistan" says that Russia has been ranked 127th in the global Corruption Perception Index report by Transparency International; p 2 (595 words).

6. Elya Grigoryeva article headlined "Not to warm up" says that Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev has cast doubt on the possibility of fulfilling Putin's decrees issued in May 2012 after his election as the president because the economy is stagnating and the trend is expected to continue; p 3 (605 words).

7. Diana Yevdokimova article headlined "Base case" says that the Investigative Committee is planning to bring charges against former Defense Minister Serdyukov in coming days; p 5 (456 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Tatyana Golyandrina article headlined "Borodin's shadow" gives the background to the beating of the Russian diplomat Dmitry Borodin in the Netherlands; pp 12-13 (1,500 words).

2. Galina Mursalyeva interview with prominent Russian pilot Andrei Litvinov, headlined "Pilot Litvinov's air", speaking about problems facing the Russian aviation; pp 10-11 (1,790 words).

3. Slava Taroshchina article headlined "A revenge for Poltava" looks at how Russian media outlets have been covering the anti-government protests in Ukraine; p 25 (800 words).

4. Yulia Latynina article headlined "European Maydan and oil" says that the EU, Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Yanukovych behaved irrationally as regards the Ukraine-EU deal; p 5 (680 words).

5. Alexander Rubtsov article headlined "The inhuman factors" says that Ukraine's giving up the EU integration should have been seen as Russia's triumph, but the current situation in Ukraine has downgraded Russia's services; pp 4-5 (500 words).

6. Semen Novoprudsky article headlined "Oranges for export" says that the Russian authorities' love for geopolitical games without calculating possible consequences has turned Russia into an exporter of revolutions and this may negatively affect Russia's policy on the post-Soviet space; pp 4-5 (620 words).

RBC Daily

1. Alexander Litoy, Inga Vorobyeva article headlined "Corruption to submit to Plokhoi" looks at the Kremlin's initiative to open an anti-corruption unit at the presidential administration, which is to be headed by former FSB officer Oleg Plokhoi. The article also features experts' comments on the issue; pp 1-2 (600 words).

2. Lawyer Kirill Gorbatov article headlined "What master taught us" comments on the repercussions of the revoking of Master-Bank's banking licence; p 6 (650 words).

3. Aleksei Khodorych article headlined "Back to journalism" covers the appointment of Elmar Murtazayev as the editor in chief of Forbes Russia; p 8 (450 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Dmitry Smirnov article headlined "You have to answer for talking about pushing Russia away" looks at President Vladimir Putin's meeting with law students in the Moscow State University that took place on Dec. 3; p 2 (730 words).