What the Papers Say, April 23, 2014

Kommersant

1. Alexander Voronov et al. article headlined "Tourism of internal affairs" says that officers from the Interior and Defense ministries and other law-enforcement and security agencies have been banned from traveling abroad as a measure to prevent contact with foreign special services given the Ukraine crisis; pp 1, 4 (986 words).

2. Viktor Khamrayev and Alexei Oktyabrev article headlined "Dmitry Medvedev responds to all his questions" covers Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's April 22 annual report to the State Duma on the government's performance; pp 1-2 (796 words).

3. Vladislav Novy article headlined "Operators incorporated into internet schedule" says that the Telecommunications and Mass Communications Ministry has once again brought up for public discussion a controversial bill obliging internet providers to record internet traffic for every 12-hour period; pp 1, 12 (677 words).

4. Oleg Rubnikovich article headlined "'This will be bomb'" looks at the court questioning of Boris Kolesnikov, former deputy head of the Interior Ministry's main directorate for economic security and fighting corruption, charged with forming a criminal group; pp 1, 4 (1,015 words).

5. Article by the newspaper's political section headlined "Yegor Borisov stands in election through resignation" says that the head of the republic of Sakha, Yegor Borisov, has resigned in order to stand in an early election in autumn. Meanwhile, opposition deputies from the Sverdlovsk region legislative assembly have called on regional head Yevgeny Kuyvashev to resign; p 2 (688 words).

6. Sergei Goryashko article headlined "Migrants excluded from patriots" says that a public opinion poll conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation has shown that 75 percent of Russians describe themselves as patriots. About 38 percent of respondents consider most Russian citizens to be patriots. Sociologists say that this is a result of Crimea's merger with Russia; p 3 (425 words).

7. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "Northern unipolar world" gives an account of President Vladimir Putin's meeting with participants of a teenage expedition to the North Pole; p 3 (686 words).

8. Vyacheslav Kozlov article headlined "Blogger Navalny recognized as three-hundred-thousander" says that opposition activist Alexei Navalny has been found guilty of defaming Moscow municipal deputy Alexei Lisovenko and fined 300,000 rubles (more than $3,000 at the current exchange rate); p 5 (529 words).

9. Grigory Tumanov article headlined "Very suspended conviction" argues that Crimean courts have not begun to function properly yet; p 5 (540 words).

10. Yelena Chernenko article headlined "Europe goes into counterintelligence" says that the counterintelligence services of a number of the EU member-states, including Germany, Sweden and the Baltic States, have warned their citizens about Russian special services' heightened activity. Russian experts confirm this, but warn that Western special services have intensified their work on Russia as well; p 7 (576 words).

11. Nikolai Pakholnitsky article headlined "Russian television channels inspected" says that the Moldovan authorities have begun to monitor Russian television programs as to whether they incite ethnic strife; p 8 (530 words).

12. Ilya Barabanov article headlined "City of model detentions" reports on the state of affairs in Ukraine's town Dnipropetrovsk; p 8 (872 words).

13. Yanina Sokolovskaya and Galina Dudina article headlined "U.S. vice-president visits Ukraine's side" says that U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has held talks with the Ukrainian authorities in Kiev. This means that the U.S. is not only going to recognize as legitimate the 25 May presidential election, but also is ready to take Ukraine's side in its standoff with Russia, the article says; p 8 (665 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Ivan Rodin article headlined "State Duma does not upset Medvedev" focuses on Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's annual report on the performance of the government delivered to the State Duma; pp 1-2 (810 words).

2. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "NATO neutralizes Russia's allies" says that, since the start of the Ukraine crisis, Russia has faced problems in military cooperation with not only Western countries, but also its closest allies, which is attributed to NATO's influence on the latter; pp 1-2 (920 words).

3. Alina Terekhova article headlined "May decrees in light mode" says that Russia's current economic growth rate is too low to implement President Putin's decrees issued in May 2012 after he was re-elected. Experts forecast that a more realistic version of the May decrees will appear; pp 1, 4 (661 words).

4. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Kiev threatens Moscow with response measures" outlines the U.S. vice-president's talks with the Ukrainian authorities in Kiev and features Russian experts' comments on the issue; pp 1, 7 (1,343 words).

5. Yury Paniyev article headlined "Europe encroaching on Russia's gas monopoly" says that the Polish prime minister has suggested establishing an energy union in the EU to curb Europe's energy dependence on Russia. The Spanish authorities have suggested buying Algerian gas instead of Russian; pp 1, 8 (651 words).

6. Editorial headlined "Japan in face of international crises" comments on Japanese-U.S. and Japanese-Russian relations given the Ukraine crisis and U.S. President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to Tokyo; p 2 (545 words).

7. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Law-enforcers behind iron curtain" says that the Russian Security Council is considering banning law-enforcement and security officers from traveling abroad due to the Ukraine crisis; p 3 (589 words).

8. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Impossible to fight drugs without handcuffs" is an interview with Yekaterinburg mayor Yevgeny Roizman; p 3 (970 words).

9. Historian Leonid Vasilyev op-ed headlined "Why Ukraine is not Russia" provides the historical background to the establishment of Ukraine; p 5 (2,541 words).

10. Sergei Nikanorov article headlined "Mikhail Prokhorov's April Theses" outlines former Civil Platform party leader, businessman Mikhail Prokhorov's initiatives to solve Russia's economic problems; p 6 (772 words).

11. Yevgenia Novikova article headlined "Assad's opponents do not count" outlines the situation surrounding the upcoming presidential elections in Syria, which were criticized by the UN Security Council ; p 8 (550 words).

Vedomosti

1. Andrei Sinitsyn and Maxim Trudolyubov headlined "Phantom of empire" comments on Russia's imperialism of today; pp 1, 6 (400 words).

2. Svetlana Bocharova and Alexei Nikolsky article headlined "Interior Ministry lacks money for Crimea" says that the Interior Ministry has asked the State Duma for help as it lacks the funds to establish a police force in Crimea; p 2 (450 words).

3. Yekaterina Kravchenko article headlined "Russia challenged" says that according to Platts experts, economic sanctions imposed by the West against Russia over its stance on the Ukraine crisis may help US companies to pressure Russia on the European oil market; p 4 (450 words).

4. Maxim Tovkaylo et al. article headlined "Government not to be sacked" says that the State Duma has not criticized the government's performance in 2013, therefore the government should not be dismissed in the near future; p 5 (700 words).

5. Yevsei Gurvich article headlined "Guns or butter" contemplates the economic consequences of Crimea's merger with Russia; pp 6-7 (1,500 words).

6. Ilya Klishin article headlined "Threats created by truth ministry" looks at the Russian authorities' policy towards the Internet; p 7 (500 words).

7. Alexei Nikolsky interview with the head of the Federal Space Agency, or Roskosmos, Oleg Ostapenko, headlined "'We will cooperate with China in exploring outer space'", speaking about the situation in the Russian space sector and the agency's performance; p 8-9 (2,200 words).

8. Yelizaveta Sergina et al. article headlined "Russian registration or blocking" says that the State Duma has passed in the third reading a package of amendments to the law on information and IT, which oblige internet services enabling people to exchange information to record users' profiles and the content of their communication for every six-month period; p 11 (400 words).

9. Yelena Khodyakova article headlined "Gazprom and Ukraine compare pipes" says that Russia and Ukraine are looking for ways to remain a reliable gas supplier and a gas transit country, respectively, for the EU; p 12 (400 words).

10. Tatyana Voronova and Darya Trosnikova article headlined "Crimea: no-bank territory" says that Russian banks have been hesitant to move into Crimea and looks at the reasons; p 3 (financial markets insert) (1,500 words).

10. Anastasia Golitsyna article headlined "Pavel Durov will not return to Russia" says that Pavel Durov, the founder of the social network Vkontakte, has left Russia over a conflict with shareholders. He does not intend to come back and is planning to establish a mobile social network abroad; p 24 (600 words).

Izvestia

1. Pavel Kochegarov article headlined "Travel abroad restricted for policemen" says that Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev has signed an order temporarily banning high-ranking police officers from traveling abroad; pp 1, 5 (652 words).

2. Maria Amirdzhanyan article headlined "Federal agencies forget to join Crimea" says that although a month has passed since Crimea joined Russia, the maps of Russia posted on the websites of many state authority bodies have not been changed; pp 1, 3 (689 words).

3. Anastasia Alexeyevskikh article headlined "Central Bank obliges banks to step up fight with hackers" says that Russia's Central Bank has obliged banks to develop internal regulations against cyber attacks; pp 1, 4 (736 words).

4. Yegor Sozayev-Guriyev article headlined "President suggests establishing new state body for Arctic region" says that Putin has met with participants of a teenage expedition to the North Pole and presided at a Security Council meeting on Russia's Arctic strategy; p 2 (670 words).

5. Petr Kozlov article headlined "Minister Abyzov hoping to cut government staff by 20 percent" quotes Prime Minister Medvedev as saying it was necessary to cut the number of Russian government officials by 10 percent. Minister for Relations with Open government Mikhail Abyzov backs Medvedev and suggests reducing the number of officials by 20 percent in the future; p 2 (872 words).

6. Alexei Krivoruchek article headlined "Domestic military hardware to be repaired anywhere in world" says Russia will help countries that have bought its military hardware to upgrade their plants to repair it. For the time being, military hardware is delivered to Russia for repairs; p 5 (613 words).

7. Maxim Kononenko article headlined "To their theme my soul in secret gave survival" comments on State Duma lawmaker Yelena Mizulina's initiatives to protect children from harmful information; p 9 (706 words).

8. Maxim Sokolov article headlined "Authorized and very amiable John Tefft" comments on the probable appointment of career diplomat John Tefft as new U.S. ambassador to Russia; p 9 (773 words).

9. Stanislav Khatuntsev article headlined "Saudi friend of neocons leaves his post" comments on the resignation of Prince Bandar Bin-Sultan Bin-Abdulaziz as Saudi Arabian intelligence chief; p 9 (869 words).

10. Yury Tyurin article headlined "North Atlantic liar or Agent 007" looks at NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen; p 9 (974 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Vladimir Kuzmin and Tamara Shkel article headlined "Challenges to government" gives an account of Prime Minister Medvedev's annual report on the performance of the government in 2013 delivered to the State Duma; pp 1, 3 (2,550 words).

2. Igor Zubkov article headlined "Price is negotiable" says that Russia will challenge Western and U.S. sanctions imposed over its stance on the Ukraine crisis in the World Trade Organization; p 5 (438 words).

3. Sergei Ptichkin interview with non-profit partnership Glonass' head, Alexander Gurko, headlined "Alarm button to be installed on steering wheel", speaking about the use of space navigation in ordinary life; p 6 (1,285 words).

4. Vladislav Vorobyev article headlined "Wish to hunt Russians" says that the authorities in Ukraine's town Dnipropetrovsk have promised rewards for assistance in fighting against pro-federalization activist in the country's southeast. All detainees brought in must bear a Russian passport, the article says; p 8 (641 words).

5. Fedor Lukyanov editorial headlined "Not to lose Eurasia" says that the latest developments around Ukraine will significantly influence the prospect of Eurasia as a single political and economic space; p 9 (721 words).

6. Igor Ivanov article headlined "What comes after Geneva?" defends the April 17 meeting in Geneva on the Ukraine crisis and says that Ukraine is a pawn in a big geopolitical game for the USA; p 9 (1,013 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Mikhail Rostovsky article headlined "U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden as supreme seducer" says that the U.S. vice-president's visit to Ukraine is aimed to drive a wedge between Russia and Ukraine; pp 1, 3 (655 words).

2. Svetlana Samodelova article headlined "Slovyansk buries heroes" reports on the state of affairs in Ukraine's town Slovyansk; pp 1, 5 (1,886 words).

3. Marina Ozerova article headlined "Crimea to write off everything" says that none of State Duma deputies have expressed displeasure with the performance of the government in 2013. Even the Communist Party of the Russian Federation has forgotten about its plans to pass a vote of no confidence in the government; p 2 (813 words).

4. Yevgeny Gontmakher article headlined "Dunnos on Moon" comments on Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin's statement that Russia is going to colonize the Moon and Mars; p 3 (1,173 words).

5. Irina Bobrova interview with Ukraine's pro-Russian presidential candidate Oleg Tsarev, headlined "Classic fighter Oleg Tsarev", speaking about the situation in Ukraine's southeast and the upcoming presidential election in Ukraine, among other things; pp 4-5 (2,744 words).

Novaya Gazeta

1. Maria Yepifanova article headlined "Do you like 'polite people'?" looks at a social study of people's sentiments in Ukraine's southeast; p 8 (853 words).

2. Article by the newspaper's investigations section headlined "Russia's Right Sector" looks at Russia's nationalist organization BORN; pp 2-3 (2,638 words).

3. Slava Taroshchina article headlined "When hands, legs and all rest shaking" comments on Putin's annual phone-in session on April 17; p 24 (814 words).

4. Olga Musafirova interview with a Ukrainian citizen, who has been detained on charges of state treason and participation in mass riots, headlined "'They told me that expenses would be paid, though I did not demand reward'", speaking about his participation in the Ukrainian self-defense forces; pp 7-8 (872 words).

RBK Daily

1. Mikhail Rubin et al. report "Do not go abroad if you serve motherland" says that the departure of employees of Russia's law-enforcement agencies abroad has been restricted. The ban is temporary and the employees are so far "advised" not to go abroad, article says; pp 1-2 (1,000 words).

2. Mikhail Rubin et al. report "They fined Navalny and may put him in jail" says that a Moscow court has found opposition activist Alexei Navalny guilty of defaming a municipal deputy from the United Russia party and sentenced him to a fine of 300,000 rubles (about $8,500 dollars); p 2 (1,300 words).

3. Zhanna Ulyanova report "To slanderers of Soviet system" says that the State Duma has approved two bills on punishment for the rehabilitation of Nazism; p 2 (650 words).

4. Inna Grigoryeva report "Government on positive things" says that Medvedev has tried to convince State Duma deputies that everything is fine with the Russian economy; p 3 (600 words).

5. Yevgeny Krasnikov report "Durov loses contact with Russia" says that the founder of the social network Vkontakte, Pavel Durov, will set up a new social network abroad. He does not intend to return to Russia; p 9 (500 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Yana Stadilnaya article headlined "Kiev asks for sanctions" looks at the U.S. vice-president's visit to Ukraine. The Ukrainian authorities want the West to introduce new sanctions against Russia. Kiev blames Russia for the deliberate escalation of the conflict; p 2 (520 words).

2. Yekaterina Dyatlovskaya article headlined "Prime minister's optimism" looks at Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's annual report on the performance of the government in 2013; p 2 (557 words).

3. Vitaly Slovetsky article headlined "War of flags" says that Putin has signed a decree rehabilitating Crimean Tatars and other ethnic minorities living in Crimea, who suffered from repression in the 1930s. Meanwhile, acting Crimean governor Sergei Aksenov has said in Twitter that Crimean Tatars may be recognized as extremists. Experts say such different opinions can result in a dangerous confrontation on the peninsula; p 2 (540 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Dmitry Smirnov report "President suggests setting up 'Ministry of Arctic'" looks at a meeting of the Russian Security Council that has discussed the state policy in the Arctic region; p 2 (300 words).

2. Yelena Chinkova report "U.S. planned to build base in Crimea" says that the U.S. announced a tender to rebuild a school in Sevastopol and make a naval engineering base of it. Crimea's merger with Russia has prevented this plan from being implemented, article says; p 4 (600 words).

3. Sergei Novikov report "Biden gives Kiev money for milk" says that U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has met Ukrainian officials in Kiev and promised Ukraine "energy independence" from Russia; p 4 (350 words).

4. Alexander Grishin report "Revolutions carried out on squares and prepared in the quiet of offices" says that the U.S. has recognized that Ukraine has lost Crimea before the results of the referendum were summed up. However, America "continued the work against Russia," article says; p 5 (1,500 words).

5. Alexander Grishin report "U.S. invests $5 billion in Ukrainian 'democracy'" says that Washington has referred to the seizure of buildings in Kiev as lease of premises; p 5 (400 words).

6. Yaroslav Korobatov report "Uncle Sam's dolphins will be fixed up" says that Americans prepare to bring 30 combat dolphins to the Black Sea; p 16 (1,000 words).

Trud

1. Oleg Shevtsov report "Box of biscuits worth $5 billion dollars" looks at the U.S. support of the Kiev authorities; p 2 (650 words).

Tvoi Den

1. Anton Stepanov report "Yarosh is Ukraine's misfortune" says that the former mayor of Slovyansk, Nelya Shtepa, has told LifeNews television why she supports people's militia in their fight against the Right Sector; p 2 (400 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Yevgeny Podzorov report "Sponsors of Euromaidan" looks at the situation in Ukraine and at who is interested in what is happening in the southeast of the country; p 3 (700 words).

2. Alexander Alexanderov report "Kiev's double standards" says that the Kiev authorities are not in a hurry to meet the demands of the people in the southeast of Ukraine; p 3 (500 words).

April. 23, 2014 / BBC Monitoring / ©BBC