What the Papers Say, Jan. 23

Kommersant

1. Dmitry Butrin article headlined "Development for developed ones" outlines topics to be discussed at the World Economic Forum in Davos and notes that Russia invites foreign businessmen to bring money to the country's regions; pp 1 — 2 (789 words).

2. Gennady Sysoyev article headlined "Ukraine looks for way out of Kiev" welcomes the meeting of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych with opposition leaders. The meeting may help find a way out of the country's political crisis; pp 1, 6 (697 words).

3. Kirill Melnikov and Anna Solodovnikova article headlined "Ex-head of Rosneft entrenches himself in Volga" says the oil company belonging to former Rosneft head Eduard Khudainatov, Independent Oil and Gas Company, has bought two oil deposits in Saratov region; pp 1, 9 (554 words).

4. Vladislav Novikov et al. report headlined "Vertu goes to counter" says Vertu, a manufacturer of luxurious phones, has bought its retail network in Russia; pp 1, 8 (636 words).

5. Tatyana Vdovina article headlined "Russia promoted in business sphere" says Russia has for the first time been listed 43rd in the Bloomberg business rating. Experts noted a good consumer market and the WTO membership as Russia's strong points; p 2 (515words).

6. Georgy Kozhevnikov and Ivan Tyazhlov article headlined "Bolotnaya [square protesters] cordoned off with sentences" says the prosecution have asked from five to six years in prison for people charged with rioting at Bolotnaya Ploshchad in May 2012; p 3 (525 words).

7. Musa Muradov et al.report headlined "Alexander Tkachev's words reinterpreted in SKR" says Russian investigators have started checking Krasnodar region governor Alexander Trkachev's statement, made in 2012, for incitement of ethnic hatred. Tkachev then voiced concern over a high presence of North Caucasus natives in the region; experts say the official may face dismissal; p 3 ( 550 words).

8. Natalia Korchenkova and Sergei Goryashko article headlined "Putin takes control over candidate for ombudsman" says President Putin will discuss candidates for the post of ombudsman with rights activists. Ella Panfilova is considered the main candidate for the post; p 5 (542 words).

9. Pavel Tarasenko article headlined "Geneva 2 compares disagreements" says an international conference on the Syrian conflict has opened in Montreux. It became clear from the very beginning of the event that the sides in the conflict would not be able to come to agreement; p 6 (773 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Evacuation declared in Kiev" says the Ukrainian opposition leaders are incapable of controlling riots in Kiev following the killing of two opposition activists; pp 1, 6 (1,476 words).

2. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "X day for conscripts to come in April" says United Russia backs the bill obliging young people to come to military commissariats themselves to take their call-up notice. The Kremlin is said to support the initiative; pp 1, 5 (747 words).

3. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Moscow given to single-seat candidates" says the single-seat constituency electoral system has been approved in Moscow and is likely to be adopted in other cities; pp 1, 3 (914 words).

4. Alina Terekhova article headlined "They approach Serdyukov from Puzikov's side" says a new criminal case opened against Valery Puzikov, a close relative of former defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, shows that the former minister himself may face new charges; pp 1, 4 (489 words).

5. Svetlana Gamova article headlined "Gagauz parliament may move to prison" says Gagauz region of Moldova is set to hold a referendum about future cooperation with the EU or Customs Union despite the opposition of Chisinau; pp 1, 6 (736 words).

6. Yury Panyev article headlined "Syrians made to sit down at negotiating table" says that the fact that international mediators managed to persuade the Syrian opposition to take part in the international peace conference in Montreux can be considered the first success of the conference; pp 1, 7 (694 words).

7. Vera Tsvetkova article headlined "Public television does not ask for increase in funding" interviews Public Television of Russia head Anatoly Lysenko who speaks on the sources of funding for the television channel; p 2 (538 words).

8. Viktor Litovkin article headlined "Military day at university" outlines new regulations for teaching military science to male students to be adopted at Russian universities; p 3 (881 words).

9. Savely Vezhin article headlined "Holy place is never empty" says opposition politician Vladimir Ryzhkov is going to set up a new party; p 3 (600 words).

10. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "America ready to help neutralize bombers in Sochi" says Russian and British military commanders have discussed security at the Sochi Olympics at their meeting in Brussels; p 7 (525 words).

Vedomosti

1. Polina Khimiashvili et al. report headlined "Loan to Ukraine depends on catapult" says Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has started talks with the opposition as Moscow warned Kiev that no money would be allocated in the situation of the political crisis; pp 1, 3 (600 words).

2. Yelizaveta Sergina and Oleg Salmanov article headlined "Konstantin Malofeyev enters Sistema" says businessman Konstantin Malofeyev will become a minority shareholder in the Sistema financial corporation. He will get a 0.35 percent stake in the company in exchange for his stake in the IT company Envizhn; pp 1, 16 (400 words).

3. Editorial headlined "Rich and poverty" comments on the policy of rich countries towards the developing world; pp 1, 6 (400 words).

4. Another editorial headlined "Exhibition police" comments on Interior Ministry plans to set up "tourist police" to help foreigners resolve their problems in Russia; p 6 ( 300 words).

5. Vasily Kashin article headlined "Last battle of outgoing era" analyses the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and says that the battle that Russia, the EU and U.S. have for years waged for Ukraine may result in a political crisis that will spoil relations between the three countries; p 6 (700 words).

6. Ukrainian journalist Vladimir Fedorin article headlined "Unity Day" says President Vladimir Putin is responsible, along with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, for what is happening in Kiev today, and Putin should be interested in resolving the ongoing crisis before the start of the Sochi Olympics; p 7 (450 words).

Izvestia

1. Lyudmila Podobedova article headlined "Oil companies to be made to share their income with regions" says the scheme of work of Russian oil refineries will be changed to make refineries pay more taxes to regional budgets; pp 1, 4 (547 words).

2. Dmitry Yevstifeyev article headlined "Businessmen get rid of Defense Ministry property" says the Taylzimport company that bought the Defense Ministry property in Moscow region is trying to resell it, as businessmen are afraid that the authorities may cancel the deal and seize the property; pp 1, 4 (671 words).

3. Yelena Teslova article headlined "Human rights activists speak against extension of Vladimir Lukin's powers" says more than 130 human rights activists and experts have signed a letter asking the president and State Duma not to extend the powers of ombudsman Vladimir Lukin for a third term; p 2 (600 words).

4. Svetlana Subbotina article headlined "Nonparliamentary opposition may join law-making process" says a State Duma deputy from the LDPR party has suggested that political parties, that took part in elections but failed to get enough votes, should be allowed to participate in the law-making process; p 4 (400 words).

5. Tatyana Baykova article headlined "Ukrainian officials face U.S. sanctions" says the U.S. has cancelled visas to several Ukrainian officials following the death of protesters in clashes with the police in Kiev; p 8 (270 words).

6. Yury Matsarsky article headlined "Fight for European integration leads to blood" says information about first victims of mass disturbances in Kiev has radicalized opposition protesters; p 8 (565 words).

7. Kirill Benediktov article headlined "Alliance of creditors against revolution of debtors" analyses the consequences of the ongoing political crisis in Ukraine; p 9 (600 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Vladislav Vorobyov article headlined "Only diplomats go to fight" says it is still unclear how long the international peace conference on Syria will last; the possible outcome of the talks is also unknown; pp 1, 3 (701 words).

2. Yury Snegirev article headlined "First blood" reports on first victims of disturbances in Ukraine. The author notes that the killing of several opposition activists could be an act of provocation; pp 1, 8 (1,052 words).

3. Alena Uzbekova interview with Russian Tourism Agency head Alexander Radkov speaking on the authorities' plans to urge companies to pay for their employees' holidays at Russian resorts; pp 1, 6 (2,784 words).

4. Yevgeny Shestakov article headlined "Maidan [opposition protests] fighters set out at night" says Ukrainian nationalists are taking advantage of pro-European protest sentiments to gain control over the opposition movement in the country; p 8 (718 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta (weekly)

1. Natalia Kozlova interview with the head of the Russian Investigations Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, speaking about the protection of children from crimes; p 4 (450 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Alexander Minkin article headlined "Shooting or war" comments on the Ukrainian political crisis and notes that politicians pursuing their personal interests are pushing the country towards a civil war; pp 1, 3 (422 words).

2. Mikhail Rostovsky article headlined "I will kill you for democracy!" slams nationalists trying to resort to violence to carry out a coup in Ukraine; pp 1, 3 (703 words).

3. Natalia Rozhkova article headlined "PRP-Parnas falling apart at seams" says the growing rift within the PRP-Parnas opposition party will have a negative effect on the Russian opposition forces; p 2 (529 words).

4. Human rights activist Lev Ponomarev article headlined "Putin and Obama, save Ukraine!" says Russia and the USA should interfere in the current political crisis in Ukraine to help resolve it; p 3 (250 words).

RBK Daily

1. Katerina Kitayeva report "VKontakte" says that Pavel Durov, general director and co-founder of VKontakte, has replaced the vice-president of the social network. Dmitry Sergeyev, former head of the publishing house Kommersant, has been appointed to the post instead of Ilya Perekopsky, who left the company to focus on his own projects; pp 1, 10 (750 words).

2. Alexander Litoi et al. report "Awaiting Berkut" says that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych met the opposition on 22 January. According to leader of the opposition UDAR party Vitaly Klitschko, during the meeting no answer has been given to the question about whether Yanukovych was going to consider a possibility of early presidential and parliamentary elections; pp 1-2 (800 words).

3. Ivan Petrov report "Five-six" says that prosecutors have asked to sentence eight people involved in the case of a demonstration on Moscow's Bolotnaya Square on 6 May 2012, to prison terms between five and six years; p 2 (650 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Artyom Lunkov article headlined "Donate some money for loyalty" says the rift within the RPR-Parnas opposition party has shown that opposition forces have become increasingly dependent on the authorities, not on their electorate; pp 1-2 (2,000 words).

2. Oleg Maximov report "Victims of war" says that confrontation in Kiev has resulted in first victims as the death of two people has been confirmed; pp 1-2 (1,100 words).

3. Yekaterina Dyatlovskaya report "Moscow without party lists" says that the Moscow duma has passed a law introducing a first-past-the-post system for elections in the city; p 2 (550 words).

4. Konstantin Bakanov report "Special guest" says that members of the feminist punk group Pussy Riot have been invited to take part in the festival Bringing Human Rights Home in New York on 5 February; p 4 (300 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Yelena Chinkova report featuring the text of the letter of weapons designer Mikhail Kalashnikov to Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church; pp 1, 12 (1,200 words).

2. Viktor Baranets report "Serdyukov' brother-in-law faces 10 years" says that a criminal case has been opened against former defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov's brother-in-law Valery Puzikov over fraud and embezzlement; p 3 (250 words).

3. Sergei Novikov brief report "I acted on my own" looks at former NSA contractor Edward Snowden's interview with The New Yorker; p 3 (200 words).

4. Alexei Ovchinnikov report "Maidan shifts into last and decisive battle" looks at the situation in Ukraine and says that on Jan. 22, "militants from Maidan" entered a fierce battle against police; p 4 (400 words).

5. Sergei Novikov interview headlined "Russia should stop war in Ukraine, like in Syria" with two Ukrainian analysts, Volodymyr Fesenko and Mikhaylo Pohrebynskyy, who speak about the ongoing confrontation in Ukraine; p 4 (500 words).

6. Writer and leader of the unregistered Other Russia party Eduard Limonov report "Resolve and disperse, Viktor Yanukovych!" comments on the crisis in Ukraine; p 5 (400 words).

7. Yevgenia Suprycheva report "Berkut contains attacks of assaulters" looks at sentiments among the Ukrainian Interior Ministry special-purpose troops; p 6 (900 words).

8. Oleg Frolov report "Not by Navalny alone..." looks at the Russian opposition and says that co-chairman of opposition party RPR-Parnas Vladimir Ryzhkov may become new leader of Russian liberals; p 8 (700 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Alexander Alexanderov report "First victims of Maidan" looks at mass unrest in Kiev. According to official reports, more than 120 people have been hurt; other sources say the number of the injured totals about 1,500 people; pp 1, 3 (800 words).

2. Viktor Ruchkin report "Tasks of Montreux" looks at the Geneva 2 international peace conference on Syria; p 3 (1,100 words).

3. Anna Polyakova report "Tehran prepares for phase two" says that the 5+1 group of international mediators has begun to prepare the next series of full-scale negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program; p 3 (850 words).

Trud

1. Sergei Frolov article headlined "Kiev: Sinking feeling" comments on the crisis in Ukraine; p 2 (900 words).

Zavtra

1. Alexander Nagorny report "Putin: International policy vector" says that work on the book "Vladimir Putin in mirror of Izborsky Klub" is being completed. Izborsky Klub is the Russian nationalist discussion forum established by writer and historian Alexander Prokhanov. The newspaper features excerpts from the book; pp 1, 3 (2,500 words).

Jan. 23, 2014 / BBC Monitoring / ©BBC