What the Papers Say, Jan. 21

Kommersant

1. Oleg Rubnikovich and Yulya Rybina article headlined "New Deputy Prime Minister detained for past deeds" says the Federal Security Service has detained the deputy prime minister of Dagestan, Magomedgusen Nasrutdinov, in Moscow. The senior official is suspected of fraud with privatization of gas networks in the early 2000s; pp 1, 4 (718 words).

2. Valery Kalnysh and Sergei Strokan article headlined "Ukrainian opposition does not control itself" says Ukraine is facing a civil conflict as opposition leaders cannot control the situation in Kiev hit by disturbances; pp 1, 6 (814 words).

3. Vitaly Gaydayev article headlined "Ruble sold to exporters" says the Ruble is losing its value in relation to the dollar and the euro as the Central Bank has given up the policy of interventions and the Western currencies are becoming stronger; pp 1, 7 (587 words).

4. Roman Rozhkov article headlined "Buyers become loose" says the Russian mobile phones market is expected to lose revenues as smart phones are becoming cheaper; pp 1, 10 (570 words).

5. Alexander Chernykh article headlined "Foreign countries will teach us" says the Russian authorities will spend 4.5 billion rubles (about 136 million dollars) on the tuition of Russian students abroad for their pledge to work in Russia in return; p 2 (838 words).

6. Yury Senatorov article headlined "Alexei Mitrofanov faces questioning" says the Investigative Committee wants State Duma lawmaker Alexei Mitrofanov to be stripped of his deputy immunity and questioned as part of a probe into a money extortion case; p 3 (619 words).

7. Sofia Samokhina et al. report headlined "Queue for ombudsmen" comments on the candidates to be nominated for the post of the Russian ombudsman; p 3 (617 words).

8. Sergei Operov article headlined "Volgograd terrorists to undergo video identification" says that Russian law-enforcement agencies are studying a video clip from YouTube in which two men claim responsibility for December explosions in Volgograd; p 4 (446 words).

9. Vladislav Trifonov article headlined "General reports to retirement" says that Major General Vladimir Morozov, head of the Interior Ministry Main Directorate for Moscow, has retired. His 18 months on the post have been marked by a number of corruption scandals, article says; p 5 (592 words).

10. Maxim Yusin article headlined "Western front revealed in Syrian war" says that Assads opponents are training "suicide bombers to commit terrorist attacks in Europe and the U.S."; p 6 (470 words).

11. Petr Netreba report "To wait three years for foreign currency " says that some Russian regions have been allowed to take foreign loans as from 2014 under certain conditions; p 2 (600 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "West prepares sanctions against Ukrainian authorities" says the West opposes the policy of the Ukrainian authorities and is discussing measures to be taken against them. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych risks losing support of both the electorate and business, article says; pp 1, 6 (1,310 words).

2. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "You have taken an oath, become professional" says that despite the fact that the number of contract-based servicemen is growing in Russia, the quality of training of professional servicemen leaves much to be desired; pp 1-2 (889 words).

3. Viktor Litovkin article headlined "Supreme commander-in-chief's headquarters to be located on Frunzenskaya Naberezhnaya embankment" says the construction of the Russian national defense control centre has begun in central Moscow. The exact location is kept secret; pp 1, 3 (744 words).

4. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Political alliance of patriotic conservatives" says the All-Russia People's Front will consider the party Motherland as one of its key political partners; pp 1, 3 (712 words).

5. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "Al-Qaida groups set up in England" says that extremist groups fighting against the Syrian regime are simultaneously training suicide bombers to be sent to European countries and Britain, in particular; pp 1, 7 (594 words).

6. Svetlana Gavrilina article headlined "Porridge with tinned meat as memory about hunger and death" on preparations for the celebration of the 70th anniversary of lifting World War II blockade in St. Petersburg and notes that war veterans cannot remember the new official name for the event as it is too sophisticated and long; pp 1, 5 (530 words).

7. Editorial headlined "About the real liberalism of Vladimir Putin" comments on Vladimir Putin's recent interview with the Western media in which he has called himself a liberal. The article notes that Putin can use any labels as no political force can be called liberal in the country; p 2 (482 words).

8. Alina Terekhova article headlined "Russia to bring Sochi Olympics to Davos" says the Russian delegation at the World Economic Forum in Davos will focus on promoting the Winter Olympics in Sochi; p 4 (569 words).

9. Yury Panyev article headlined "Geneva 2 to be sham without Iran" says the Iranian authorities have been invited to take part in the international peace conference on Syria. The Syrian opposition is against the move; p 7 (645 words).

10. Vladimir Ivanov report "Pentagon also forecasts difficulties with hiring personnel" looks at the situation with military personnel in the U.S. army; p 2 (700 words).

11. Newspaper publishes comments of journalists and experts under the general headline "Checkmate to mass media that got under Roskomnadzor" on the measures taken by media regulator Roskomnadzor to control the Russian mass media; p 14 (2,400 words).

Vedomosti

1. Olga Kuvshinova et al. report headlined "Ministry wants to develop economy" says the Economic Development Ministry has come up with an initiative to support the economy. The ministry suggests that state control over economy should be eased and competition should be encouraged; pp 1, 4 (850 words).

2. Natalia Ishchenko article headlined "Traders drawn towards public" says a number of large Russian retailers are going to launch their IPOs in 2014; pp 1, 18 (700 words).

3. Editorial headlined "Sovereign conservatism" compares Western conservatives with Russian ones and notes that the policy being pursued in Russia looks like populism; pp 1, 6 (550 words).

4. Polina Khimshiyashvili and Maria Zheleznova article headlined "Stones not to reach Yanukovych" says the Ukrainian authorities are in no hurry to conduct talks with the opposition. Experts note that official Kiev can benefit from the radicalization of protests as they can start prosecuting radicals; p 2 (600 words).

5. Maria Zheleznova article headlined "Look-alike hinders Navalny" says that the Russian Justice Ministry has suspended the registration of protest leader Alexei Navalny's party People's Alliance; p 3 (500 words).

6. Polina Khimshiyashvili report "Sixth premier after war" says that the government of South Ossetia has been dismissed; p 2 (700 words).

7. Anton Oleynik report "Search for form" comments on the situation in Ukraine and on clashes in Kiev, in particular; p 7 (950 words).

Izvestia

1. Tatyana Shirmanova article headlined "Officials to be replaced every five years" says top Russian officials are to be rotated every five years; pp 1-2 (686 words).

2. Petr Kozlov article headlined "Golos temporarily gives up foreign funding" says a large number of Russian NGOs will do without foreign funding if the Kremlin regularly allocates grants for them; pp 1, 3 (491 words).

3. Yelena Teslova article headlined "Alexei Kudrin to be involved in drafting investment ratings of regions" says a new body to measure the investment attractiveness of Russian regions will be set up in March. Former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin will be involved in making the ratings; pp 1, 4 (496 words).

4. Andrei Gridasov report "Anatoly Serdyukov to be granted amnesty on all counts" says that lawyers of former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, who is charged with negligence, have denied reports that the investigation intends to change the charges brought against him into abuse of office; pp 1, 4 (650 words).

5. Pavel Panov report "Education Ministry supports military training at higher educational institutions" says that the Education Ministry has supported the initiative of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to organize military training for students without making them serve in the army; pp 1, 3 (900 words).

6. Alexei Krivoruchek report "Facilities for scrapping chemical weapons to be switched to conventional ammunition" says that after the completion of the program to scrap Russian chemical weapons, all five facilities where the arms were scrapped will be used to scrap conventional weapons; p 3 (600 words).

7. Yury Matsarsky and Dinar Shakirov article headlined "Give Maidan to Yanukovych" reports on the situation in Kiev where the opposition has split into a small group of peaceful protesters and a large group of rioters; p 7 (595 words).

8. Konstantin Volkov article headlined "Syrian opposition falling apart" says Russia and the U.S. are trying to find a way out of the deadlock with the organization of the international peace conference on Syria as the National Coalition of the Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces has refused to take part in the conference after Iran was invited to join the event; p 7 (564 words).

9. Maxim Kononenko report "Maidan cannot be completed. Only stopped" comments on the situation in Ukraine; p 9 (800 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Irina Nevinnaya article headlined "Worse and worse" reports on the controversy caused by the State Duma's plans to impose hourly pay in Russia. Some employees are worried that their managers will use the new scheme to cut their wages; pp 1, 4 (930 words).

2. Roman Markelov article headlined "Checkmate in three moves" says the Central Bank has stripped three more banks of their licences; pp 1-2 (826 words).

3. Natalya Kozlova interview headlined "... With confiscation" with Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin speaking on the new law on seizing property of corrupt officials, on plans to set up financial police and measures to be taken to stop fraudsters from creating financial pyramids; pp 1, 9 (2,665 words).

4. Kira Latukhina report "Gun and carrot" looks at Putin's visit to Tula to discus the defense industry; p 2 (750 words).

5. Pavel Dulman article headlined "At night on Europe's eve" comments on the political crisis in Ukraine and says the leaders of the Ukrainian opposition bear personal responsibility for unrest in Kiev; p 8 (750 words).

6. Yevgeny Shestakov article headlined "They stumble over Iran" says the Syrian opposition's refusal to take part in the international peace conference has proved their political immaturity; p 8 (673 words).

7. Maxim Makarychev report "What Yanukovych signed" looks at the laws that the Ukrainian opposition disagrees with; p 8 (650 words).

8. Tamara Shkel et al. interview with Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov; p 11 (3,900 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Oleg Bazak article headlined "Kiev baptized with fire" says 70 policemen and 100 protesters have been injured in clashes in Kiev. Local experts are speaking about the beginning of a civil war; pp 1, 3 (730 words).

2. Igor Karmazin interview "We do not want civil war very much" with Ukrainian opposition leader Vitali Klitschko speaking on clashes in Kiev and his talks with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych; pp 1, 3 (501 words).

3. Article by State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshteyn headlined "Dismissed on his own will" welcomes the resignation of the head of the main investigations directorate of the Moscow police, Vladimir Morozov, that was preceded by a series of newspaper articles exposing violations of the law by the police; pp 1-2 (1,496 words).

4. Yekaterina Sazhneva interview "Fighter against blue dragon" with Russian Orthodox Church senior deacon Andrei Kurayev speaking on the homosexual lobby within the church and on his meeting with Pussy Riot punk band members; pp 1, 5 (2,904 words).

5. Viktoria Prikhodko report "How much is victory in Sochi?" says that the government has discussed financial support of Olympic athletes; p 2 (450 words).

6. Marina Perevozkina report "Yugoslavian scenario for Yanukovych" comments on the situation in Ukraine; p 3 (700 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Yevgenya Suprycheva interview headlined "Protesters put me through corridor of death" with the riot police officer who has been captured by protesters during the recent riots in Ukraine; p 7 (530 words).

2. Writer and leader of the unregistered Other Russia party Eduard Limonov's column headlined "Get your American faces out of Ukraine!" looks at the recent mass civil disorder in Kiev; p 7 (350 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Artyom Lunkov article headlined "Turmoil around ombudsman" lists current candidates for the position of Russia's human rights commissioner as the incumbent ombudsman's term in office ends in February; p 2 (500 words).

Trud

1. Vladimir Petrov interview with Ukraine's Prime Minister Mykola Azarov headlined "It is not about Vilnius or Maidan"; p 2 (1,400 words).

Jan. 21, 2013 / BBC Monitoring / ©BBC