What the Papers Say, April 29, 2014

Kommersant

1. Vitaly Gaidayev article headlined "Market of sanctions opens with growth" says that new sanctions imposed by the U.S. and the EU against Russia over its actions in Ukraine have unexpectedly led to Russian shares growing; pp 1, 10 (626 words).

2. Vladislav Novy et al. article headlined "Domain, full stop" says that the Russian authorities are considering toughening control over internet providers, which according to experts could result in complete internet censorship; pp 1, 13 (860 words).

3. Ilya Barabanov and Yanina Sokolovskaya article headlined "Bullets fly higher" explores the possible consequences of the attempt on Kharkiv mayor Hennady Kernes's life. Ukrainian politicians and experts fear that the attack will further aggravate the situation in the country's southeast; pp 1, 7 (607 words).

4. Sergei Strokan et al. article headlined "Lists blackening" analyzes the possible effect on U.S.-EU-imposed sanctions on Russia. The sanctions did not come as surprise and became indicate a certain stabilization of the situation, the article says; pp 1, 8 (3,200 words).

5. Natalya Gorodetskaya article headlined "Federation Council decides not to deviate from State Duma" says that the Federation Council committee for constitutional legislation has recommended the law assigning the legal status of media outlets to popular Russian bloggers and the bill introducing criminal responsibility for "the rehabilitation of Nazism" be passed; p 2 (529 words).

6. Andrei Kolesnikov article headlined "Vladimir Putin gives lesson of patriotic nutrition" gives an account of President Vladimir Putin's meeting with an assembly of legislators in Petrozavodsk. Commenting on Western sanctions against Russia, Putin said that they were an attempt to make Russia economically dependent on Ukraine; p 3 (1,330 words).

7. Kirill Antonov et al. article headlined "Crimean Tatars afraid of Russian voters" says that while visiting the Republic of Tatarstan, the leaders of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis, or parliament, have demanded that Crimea's electoral laws be amended with a clause guaranteeing Tatars representation in the Crimean parliament on the basis of quotas; p 3 (455 words).

8. Vladimir Barinov article headlined "Job costs 45 million rubles" says that Moscow's Meshchansky court has sentenced the former head of the land policy department at the Agriculture Ministry, Sergei Bondarenko, to two years in prison, having found him guilty of large-scale fraud; p 4 (431 words).

9. Grigory Tumanov article headlined "Alexei Navalny's case sent to community service" says that a Moscow court has returned opposition politician Alexei Navalny's embezzlement case to prosecutors; p 6 (563 words).

10. Yelena Chernenko and Ivan Safronov article headlined "Sergei Lavrov to inspect allies' positions" previews Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's visit to Cuba, which begins today; p 7 (609 words).

11. Yury Barsukov article headlined "Ukraine threatens Gazprom with Swedes" says that Ukraine has sent a complaint to the Russian gas giant Gazprom, seeking a revision of the 2009 gas contracts. If the sides fail to come to terms within a month, the Stockholm arbitration court will consider the issue, the article says; pp 9-12 (595 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Yury Paniyev article headlined "Sanctions sink teeth into Russian economy" details the latest U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia. The EU has extended its "black list" of Russians who are banned from entering Europe and whose assets are there will be frozen; the article says; pp 1-2 (715 words).

2. Mikhail Sergeyev article headlined "Vladimir Putin to strengthen domestic defense sector with Ukrainian specialists" says President Putin has suggested cutting financing of Russia's state defense procurement order in order to replace defense-related imports from Ukraine with domestically-produced items. Putin also pledged to support Ukrainian specialists who decide to move to Russia; pp 1-2 (707 words).

3. Alexandra Samarina and Darya Garmonenko article headlined "For bribery — to prison only" says that Prosecutor General Yury Chaika has suggested replacing fines with imprisonment for grave crimes, including corruption-related ones, thus backpedalling the liberalization of the Criminal Code initiated by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Experts doubt that the move will save Russia from corruption; pp 1, 3 (696 words).

4. Yekaterina Trifonova article headlined "Three-star prisons" says that the Justice Ministry is considering establishing isolated zones for various types of inmates in Russian jails; pp 1, 3 (775 words).

5. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Yaroslavl and Astrakhan in risk group" says that amendments to the local government reform that will abolish direct mayoral elections in large cities, to be viewed by the State Duma in May, envisage dissolving a number of city-level legislative assemblies ahead of time; pp 1, 3 (712 words).

6. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Elections in Ukraine may be postponed to 2015" says that the Ukrainian constitution stipulate that the president should be elected on last Sunday of March in the fifth year of the term in office. The May 25 presidential election is early, so the head of state should be re-elected in March 2015 or the constitution should be amended; pp 1, 6 (1,137 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Does Russia not need May 25 election in Ukraine?" criticizes the Russian authorities' stance on Ukraine's southeast; p 2 (518 words).

8. Anastasia Bashkatova article headlined "Slovakia to return Russian gas to Ukrainians" says that Slovakia is ready to supply gas to Ukraine in reverse mode via one of idle pipelines. Experts split on the issue; p 4 (804 words).

9. Anton Khodasevich article headlined "Lukashenko prepares scandal" previews today's meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Minsk, which the Russian and Kazakh presidents will attend; p 6 (648 words).

10. Anna Gushchina article headlined "Oligarchs from Russia and Ukraine buying up London mansions" says that more and more rich people from Russia and Ukraine are buying real estate in the U.K. Local experts say that they are thus trying to secure assets that may be depreciated due international sanctions imposed on Russia; p 7 (566 words).

11. Darya Tsilyurik article headlined "Syrian parliament divided by seven" says that incumbent Syrian President Bashar Assad has become the seventh candidate standing in the June 3 presidential election. Experts comment on the situation in Syria ahead of the election; p 7 (791 words).

12. Vladimir Skosyrev article headlined "U.S. and Philippines sing military pact" says that the U.S. and Philippines have signed a security pact, which authorizes U.S. ships and combat aircraft to use military bases and deploy soldiers and military hardware in the country. Commenting on China's response to this, a pundit say Beijing is unlikely to take strong measures and will limit itself to protest statements; p 7 (578 words).

Vedomosti

1. Nikolai Epple editorial headlined "Systemic approach" speculates that the next bout of anti-Russian sanctions may be aimed at the entire Russian economy and analyses the likelihood of such sanctions being introduced; pp 1, 6 (400 words).

2. Svetlana Bocharova article headlined "Doubling of anti-Nazism" says that following the State Duma, the Federation Council has drafted its own bill introducing punishment for "the rehabilitation of Nazism." The State Duma will likely pass both bills, the article says; p 2 (550 words).

3. Alexei Nikolsky article headlined "negotiations from position of power" looks at the escalating situation in east Ukraine; p 3(450 words)

4. Yekaterina Kravchenko and Alexei Nikolsky article headlined "Strike at inner circle" details the new U.S. sanctions against Russia and whom they are targeting; p 4 (1,100 words).

4. Margarita Papchenkova article headlined "Offshore Crimea" says that the Economic Development Ministry wants to make Crimea an offshore area; p 5 (400 words).

5. Pavel Aptekar article headlined "Minister vs. governor" says that the government is planning to increase the number of officials who are authorized to dismiss governors and key regional officials; p 6 (200 words).

6. Mikhail Serov and Yelena Khodyakova article headlined "Ukraine switches to reverse" details the recently signed Ukrainian-Slovakian agreement on reverse gas supplies; pp 11, 13 (500 words).

Izvestia

1. Andrei Gridasov and Gaidar Batyrkhanov article headlined "Investigators do not agree on deal with participant in Voyentelecom case" says that investigators have refused to make a pre-trial deal with one of the defendants in the fraud case concerning the military communications group Voyentelecom because, a source says, they have collected sufficient evidence; pp 1, 4 (501 words).

2. Tatyana Borodina article headlined "Federal Migration Service makes blacklist of 800,000 migrants" says that the Federal Migration Service has made a "black list" of migrants who are banned from entering Russia over law violations; pp 1, 4 (608 words).

3. Vladimir Zykov article headlined "Vkontakte to sign memorandum on video legalization" says that the Vkontakte social network will join the Roskomnadzor media watchdog's memorandum on the fight against copyright piracy; pp 1, 4 (511 words).

4. Yelena Teslova article headlined "Audit Chamber to audit government companies' programs" says that the Audit Chamber will conduct checks on state-run companies' budgetary and development programs starting in 2015; pp 1-2 (499 words).

5. Natalya Bashlykova article headlined "Regions' debts grow by 246 billion rubles since start of year" says that Russian regions are facing serious financial problems and may begin to declare themselves bankrupt shortly; pp 1-2 (1,097 words).

6. Article by Russian Investigation Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin headlined "Legal culture against degradation" comments on the Ukraine crisis and says that there is no confrontation between Ukraine and Russia or their people; pp 1, 9 (808 words).

7. Alexandra Bayazitova and Anastasia Alexeyevskikh article headlined "Gennady Timchenko heads for China" says that the former owner of the Gunvor oil trader, Gennady Timchenko, has been appointed head of the group representing Russia in the Russian-Chinese intergovernmental business council; p 3 (456 words).

8. Natalya Bashlykova article headlined "Federation Council not to reject law 'on Nazism' ahead of May 9" says that the Federation Council will approve the bill introducing criminal responsibility for "the rehabilitation of Nazism"; p 3 (760 words).

9. Alena Sivkova article headlined "Prosecutor General's Office to check Ilya Ponomarev's statements" says that the ruling United Russia party's youth wing has asked Prosecutor General Yury Chaika to give a legal evaluation of State Duma lawmaker Ilya Ponomarev's statement that special-task squads of the Russian General Staff's Main Intelligence Directorate are present in Ukraine's southeast; p 5 (560 words).

10. Petr Kozlov article headlined "Sechin, Volodin and Kozak not upset about getting on U.S. blacklist" says that Russian sanctions-hit officials and businessmen are not concerned about being included in the U.S. "black list" over the Ukraine crisis. Moreover, they are sure that sanctions against them are politically motivated and are linked to their good performance, but not the role in the Ukraine crisis; p 8 (537 words).

11. Tatyana Baykova article headlined "EU not to be able to back U.S.' activity" says that the U.S. has imposed sanctions against seven Russian citizens and 17 companies and is trying to convince the EU to follow suit. The EU is reluctant to do this because as the sanctions are likely to backfire, the article says; p 8 (630 words).

12. Political analyst Sergei Markov article headlined "Geopolitics knocks at West supporters' door" looks at former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his activity in east Ukraine; p 9 (902 words).

13. Sergei Roganov article headlined "Minority angry for a reason" comments on the forum Ukraine-Russia-Dialogue in Kiev, co-organized by former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky; p 9 (785 words).

14. Vsevolod Nepogodin article headlined "'I do not like when they shoot in back'" focuses on an attack on Kharkiv mayor Hennady Kernes, voicing support for him; p 9 (794 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Alena Uzbekova article headlined "Discovery of Athens" says that Greece has decided to issue up to five-year-long multi-entry visas for Russian tourists; p 3 (492 words).

2. Leonid Radzikhovsky article headlined "Myth about oligarchs" looks at Russian oligarchs and how Russian people view them; p 3 (802 words).

3. Ivan Yegorov article headlined "He did not admit guilt" looks at the ongoing trial on the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya; p 7 (600 words).

4. Georgy Porozhnyak and Alexander Vasilyev article headlined "And again shot in back" looks at an attack on Kharkiv mayor Hennady Kernes; p 8 (793 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Nikolai Makeyev article headlined "Obama introduces sanctions against Putin's friends" looks at the new U.S. sanctions against Russia; pp 1, 3 (467 words).

2. Mikhail Rostovsky article headlined "Victory Day with broken heart" says that the May 9 Victory Day in the World War II is a good opportunity for Russia and Ukraine to reconcile; pp 1, 3 (746 words).

3. Vladimir Dmitryev article headlined "Historians ask Putin to veto controversial law" says that the Free Historical Society has asked President Putin not to approve the bill introducing criminal punishment for "rehabilitation of Nazism", which the State Duma backed on April 23; p 2 (428 words).

4. Marina Ozerova article headlined "State Duma asks Ilya Ponomarev to explain statements in Kiev or give up deputy seat" says that State Duma lawmaker Alexander Khinshteyn has complained to the State Duma ethics commission about lawmaker Ilya Ponomarev's statement that special-task squads of the Russian General Staff's Main Intelligence Directorate are present in Ukraine's southeast; p 2 (349 words).

5. Marina Perevozkina article headlined "How Donetsk will vote" looks at the prospects of the May 11 referendum announced by the government of east Ukraine's self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk. The article features a brief interview with a members of the self-proclaimed government; p 3 (400 words).

6. Igor Karmazin article headlined "Shot in back" focuses on an attack on Kharkiv mayor Hennady Kernes and the state of affairs in the Ukrainian city; p 3 (462 words).

7. Ignat Kalinin article headlined "U.S. wants to suffocate Russian defense sector" features director of the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies Ruslan Pukhov's comment on the new U.S. sanctions against Russia; p 3 (394 words).

RBK Daily

1. Ivan Tkachev et al. report "America's three victims" says that the U.S. has imposed new sanctions against Russia. They include seven officials and heads of state-run companies as well as 17 companies. The U.S. has imposed sanctions on the banks of Vladimir Putin's friends, article says. Report also lists the people who fall under the sanctions; pp 1, 3 (1,400 words).

2. Mikhail Rubin report "May Day celebrations return to Red Square" says that the most large-scale May Day demonstration in Moscow will take place in Red Square for the first time since 1991; pp 1-2 (800 words).

3. Alexandra Yevdokimova report "Gas from Slovakia" says that Ukraine has reached an agreement with Slovakia on the reverse supply of gas; pp 1, 4 (500 words).

4. Zhanna Ulyanova report "Not a district to opposition" looks at the forthcoming Moscow City Duma election and says that Moscow has been divided into election territories in a way that will likely make the election harder for the opposition; p 2 (750 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Vitaly Slovetsky brief report "Navalny brothers' case returned to prosecutor's office" says that a Moscow court has sent the embezzlement case against Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny back to prosecutors; p 2 (100 words).

2. Vitaly Slovetsky report "Waiting for Themis" says that the activities of civil courts are virtually paralyzed in Crimea; p 2 (500 words).

3. Yana Stadilnaya report "Bullet in back" looks at the assassination attempt on the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Hennady Kernes; p 2 (600 words).

4. Gennady Savchenko report "Fourth phase" says that Americans have imposed new sanctions against Russia; p 2 (450 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Alexander Kots report "Slovyansk, surrounded by Ukrainian troops, is struggling for 'road of life' to Donetsk" looks at the situation in Slovyansk, a town in Ukraine's Donetsk Region; pp 1, 5 (800 words).

2. Alexander Grishin report "U.S. imposes new sanctions against us" names the Russian officials and companies against whom the U.S. has imposed sanctions; p 3 (450 words).

3. Maria Sushevskaya report "They shoot mayor of Kharkiv in the back" looks at the assassination attempt on the life of Kharkiv mayor Hennady Kernes; p 4 (250 words).

4. Sergei Novikov report "People's militia to Khodorkovsky: There is nothing to speak about!" looks at former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky's visit to Ukraine; p 4 (400 words).

Trud

1. Sergei Rusev article headlined "This Victory Day permeated with smell of gunpowder again ..." criticizes the Ukrainian authorities for sticking to a policy which is fraught with a split of the country; pp 1-2 (981 words).

2. Oleg Shevtsov article headlined "Sweethearts quarrel in whispers" describes the U.S.' and the EU's different stances on anti-Russian sanctions; p 2 (610 words).

3. Alexander Protsenko report "Their profile fails" says that the number of single-industry towns that are facing problems is growing in Russia; p 3 (800 words).

Tvoi Den

1. Anton Stepanov report "Shot in the back" says that a killer has seriously wounded Kharkiv mayor Hennady Kernes; pp 1-3 (350 words).

2. Igor Nezlobin report "Grape-brandy flies to head" says that detachments of mercenaries are being formed in Georgia to fight against Ukrainian self-defense forces; p 2 (200 words).

Krasnaya Zvezda

1. Alexander Alexanderov report "Irritating nerves" says that the situation in Ukraine and the stepping up of NATO's activities near Russia's borders have become the main topics discussed in a telephone conversation between Chief of General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Army General Valery Gerasimov and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. Armed Forces Martin Dempsey; pp 1, 3 (850 words).

2. Anna Polyakova report "Obama's Asian tour" looks at U.S. President Barack Obama's Asian tour that ended on April 28; p 3 (700 words).

April 29, 2014 / BBC Monitoring / ©BBC