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What the Papers Say, Oct. 30, 2012

Igor Tabakov


1. Ilya Barabanov et al. report headlined "A Just Russia Falls Apart Up to Its Founders" says the decision of the Motherland party and the Russian Party of Pensioners to finish their political agreement with A Just Russia has shown an overall negative trend for the party being left by sponsors and supporters; pp 1, 3 (1,291 words).

2. Olga Shestopal article headlined "MasterCard Does Not Conceal Its Price" says MasterCard has made information on its interchange fees public; pp 1, 10 (810 words).

3. Vladislav Novy article headlined "Rostelecom Breaks Olympic Record" says the International Olympic Committee has not approved the high cost of the Internet to be charged by Rostelecom during the Sochi Olympics; pp 1, 13 (637 words).

4. Anna Pushkarskaya article headlined "Oleg Deripaska on Arena Again" says that Gazprom, the owner of the football club Zenit, has failed to hire a new construction company to build its stadium in St. Petersburg, as Oleg Deripaska came to agreement with St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko on continuation of the construction project that went up in price up to 10.5 billion rubles (around £338 million); pp 1, 12 (646 words).

5. Ivan Safronov article headlined "Sergei Surovikin Does Not Go Further Than Selection" says Lt-Gen Sergei Surovikin has been appointed first deputy commander of the Eastern Military District. He was expected to head the military police being set up by the Defense Ministry; p 2 (487 words).

6. Viktor Khamrayev and Maria-Luiza Tirmaste article headlined "United Russia to Make Electronic File Equal to Paper" says the opposition is concerned about IT vote rigging and is against United Russia's plans to make the electronic records of voting equal to paper returns; p 2 (525 words).

7. Unattributed article in the column "Direct Speech" headlined "Is It the End of A Just Russia?" polls politicians and experts who comment on the future of the A Just Russia party; p 3 (489 words).

8. Viktor Khamrayev article headlined "Parties of All Kinds" looks at the Russian political system allowing small parties to get registered, but not to enjoy support of the electorate; p 4 (1,037 words).

9. Viktor Khamrayev interview with Anton Bakov, former State Duma member and current head of the Monarchy Party, speaking on the "useless" multi-party system in nowadays Russia; p 4 (643 words).

10. Viktor Khamrayev interview with Konstantin Babkin, leader of the Party of Business, speaking on his political ambitions; p 4 (641 words).

11. Article by Vladimir Petukhov, expert from the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in opinion column headlined "Price of Issue" analyzes reasons for the electorate mistrust of newly set up political parties in Russia; p 4 (382 words).

12. Grigory Tumanov article headlined "March of Millions Reaches Court" reports on the beginning of the trial in the so-called Bolotnaya case over disturbances on Moscow's Bolotnaya Ploshchad during May 6 rally; p 6 (626 words).

13. Maxim Yusin article headlined "Viktor Yanukovych Wins Thanks to Constituencies" says the election results in majority constituencies will help Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych control the new parliament; p 7 (576 words).

14. Ivan Safronov and Yelena Chernenko article headlined "They Play With Boxes" says Russia is conducting talks with Turkey over the return of the radar station components seized from the Syrian airliner going from Moscow to Damascus; p 7 (742 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Anastasia Bashkatova article headlined "Mercedes Moves Away From Taxes" says the Moscow office of the Mercedes car manufacturer has denied allegations that the company avoids paying taxes. The author notes that the schemes of tax optimization used by the company can result in imprisonment, if there is political will for that; pp 1-2 (978 words).

2. Tatyana Ivzhenko article headlined "Ukrainian Revolution Suspended for 3 Years" says Ukrainian oligarchs are trying to make use of the parliamentary election results, as the Party of Regions comes first with over 30 percent of votes and the united opposition gets 22-24 percent; pp 1, 6 (950 words).

3. Ivan Rodin and Alexandra Samarina article headlined "PR Liquidation of A Just Russia" says the Motherland party and the Russian Party of Pensioners have announced termination of their political agreement with A Just Russia. The move cannot result in the disbanding of A Just Russia, the authors say; however, the party is facing serious problems as it is being forced to cooperate with the Kremlin; pp 1, 3 (928 words).

4. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Defense Ministry Prescribes Self-Treatment to Servicemen" says regional heads are concerned about the Defense Ministry's plans to disband some of its hospitals that servicemen used in the Southern Federal District; pp 1-2 (502 words).

5. Yury Simonyan article headlined "Ivanishvili Plans to Return Autonomy to Ajaria" says new Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili has pledged broad autonomy rights to all regions of the country; pp 1, 6 (766 words).

6. Andrei Serenko article headlined "Kidnapping for Export 2" says the Russian law enforcement agencies could have been involved in the kidnapping of Tajik opposition activist in Volgograd; pp 1, 5 (1,014 words).

7. Editorial headlined "Worrying Future" says that a breakthrough in the technology that allows countries to extract shale oil jeopardizes the future of Russian energy giants; p 2 (500 words).

8. Oleg Nikiforov article headlined "German Tanks on Russian Ranges?" looks at prospects for the Russian Defense Ministry to buy tanks and other military hardware in Germany; p 2 (421 words).

9. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "Cost of Freedom Is Complete Blindness" says the day commemorating victims of political repression in Russia has been marked with the extension of the arrest of the opposition activist tried in the case of the Bolotnaya Ploshchad disturbances; p 3 (572 words).

10. Nikolai Surkov article headlined "Moscow Calls on UN to Return to Syria" says that after a meeting with Arab League envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called for sending peacekeepers to Syria; p 7 (611 words).


1. Timofei Dzyadko article headlined "Grand Scale of 1,000Bln Rubles" says Gazprom plans to spend 1,200 billion rubles (around $42 billion) to develop the Chayadinskoye field and build a pipeline to Vladivostok. The gas monopoly plans to build a center for export energy supplies in the Russian Far East; p 1 (468 words).

2. Oleg Salmanov article headlined "One Step From Control" says Altimo has returned the 6 percent stake in the VimpelCom communications company; p 1 (479 words).

3. Maria Zheleznova and Natalya Kostenko article headlined "There Is No Pathology in Anatomy" says the anti-opposition campaign launched by the Russian authorities has failed to convince people that opposition activists tried to carry out a coup; p 1 (478 words).

4. Editorial headlined "Ukraine Is Not Russia" analyzes the Ukrainian election results and says that the ruling party's hopes for displeasure of the electorate with democratic ideals have failed to come true; pp 1, 4 (514 words).

5. Irina Novikova report "Calculation Without Pens" says that the State Duma's Constitutional Affairs Committee has tabled with the lower chamber of the parliament amendments to the law on elections; p 2 (250 words).

6. Alexei Nikolsky report "Wrong Propellers" says that Russia has lost to the U.S.A. a tender to supply heavy helicopters for the Indian Air Forces; p 2 (500 words).

7. Another editorial headlined "Peasants' Hut for Reading" reports on mass staff cuts in Russia's largest libraries and notes that nowadays readers require new high-tech services from libraries; p 4 (280 words).

8. Alexei Levinson article headlined "Our We: Feelings of Putin's Supporters" analyzes the age and sex of Putin's supporters and notes that more women and elderly people vote for Putin; p 4 (443 words).

9. Alexei Bayer report "Romney and America's Problems" looks at the U.S. presidential race; p 4 (700 words).

10. Kirill Kharatyan report in the column "Quote of the Week" looks at the opposition Coordination Council and its first meeting; p 4 (450 words).

11. Roman Dorokhov report "Medvedev Approves Blacklists" says that Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a resolution to set up a list of the websites that carry banned information; p 11 (600 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Mikhail Rostovsky interview headlined "Kolokoltsev's Variant" with Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev speaking on public mistrust in the police and ways to improve the police work; pp 1, 4 (2,786 words).

2. Oleg Bazak article headlined "Ukraine Moves Toward 'Freedom'" says the turnout in the Ukrainian parliamentary election was record low (53 percent); eastern regions were unusually indifferent to the voting; pp 1, 3 (631 words).

3. Olga Bozhyeva article headlined "Will Serdyukov's Defense Endure?" gives new details of the scandal over the Oboronservis company; pp 1-2 (1,093 words).

4. Tatyana Zamakhina article headlined "Golodets Listens and Goes on Eating" says the public hearing of the planned pension reform will yield no results as the opinion of Vladimir Putin alone will be taken into account; p 2 (366 words).

5. Article by political scientist Oleg Bondarenko headlined "Who Will Be Happy With New Parliament?" says the Party of Regions will not benefit from the Ukrainian parliamentary election results; pp 1, 3 (944 words).

6. Lina Panchenko report "Bolotnaya Case Reaches Court" looks at the first hearing of the so-called Bolotnaya case of a person involved in unrest on Bolotnaya Ploshchad in Moscow on May 6, 2012; p 2 (500 words).

7. Vasily Mironov report "No Censorship — Long Live Censorship" says that the website is launched on Nov. 1 containing a list of the websites that violate Russian laws; p 3 (300 words).

8. Anastasia Rodionova interview headlined "Alexei Navalny's Street Case" with opposition activist and blogger Alexei Navalny; p 7 (2,300 words).


1. Mikhail Romanov and Olga Zhermeleva article headlined "United Russia Members and Republics to Punish Prokhorov" says United Russia has called on regional heads not to support Mikhail Prokhorov's Civil Platform party in the regional elections; pp 1, 4 (542 words).

2. Andrei Gridasov et al. report headlined "President Declares War on Re-Designed Arms" says President Vladimir Putin has instructed the government to issue a decree concerning the materials and technologies used to manufacture nonlethal arms to make sure they are not redesigned into firearms; pp 1, 4 (650 words).

3. Maria Kirpichevskaya article headlined "Kurils to Be Given 1.5Bln Rubles for Alternative Energy" says that state funding is expected to allow the Kuril Islands to use renewable sources of energy only; pp 1, 4 (508 words).

4. Alexei Ustinov et al. report "Serdyukov's Dacha Gets Seized" says that the Russian Defense Ministry has backed in court those involved in illegal seizure of state property; pp 1, 4 (700 words).

5. Olga Zhermeleva article headlined "Officials to Be Provoked" says that former FSB head, United Russia lamaker Nikolai Kovalev, has suggested that officials should be offered bribes by specially trained agents aiming to find corrupt officials; p 2 (416 words).

6. Polina Potapova report "TV Viewers No Longer Love Sveta From Ivanovo" says that the ratings of the NTV show "Luch Sveta" are dropping; p 3 (500 words).

7. Vladimir Gusev report "Kholmanskikh's Staff Confirms Dismissal of Workers From Uralmash" says that the staff of the plant Uralmash will be sacked en masse in the next few months; p 3 (500 words).

8. Yanina Sokolovskaya article headlined "Party of Regions May Do Without Coalition" says the Ukrainian parliamentary election results will make Kiev even more alienated from Moscow; p 5 (682 words).

9. LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky report "Innovative Basket With Rotten Eggs" looks at the current situation in Russia and at the way parties hold their congresses; p 9 (500 words).

10. Eduard Limonov report "They Do Not Need Udaltsov in Prison" looks at the case of opposition activist Leonid Razvozzhayev and at the fate of Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov; p 9 (600 words).

11. Public figure Irina Khakamada article "Love and Prokhorov's Girlfriend" looks at businessman Mikhail Prokhorov's party Civil Platform; p 9 (600 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Pavel Dulman article headlined "Klichko Loses by Points" tries to predict political changes to take place in Ukraine following the parliamentary elections; pp 1, 8 (689 words).

2. Roman Fomchenkov article headlined "October Releases Fuel Pistols" says that no further growth of petrol prices is expected in Russia in the near future; pp 1-2 (491 words).

3. Natalya Kozlova article headlined "Dies Due to Negligence" says that an increasing number of surgeries in Russia end in the death of patients due to doctors' negligence; pp 1, 9 (902 words).

4. Leonid Radzikhovsky article headlined "Russia/Ukraine" looks at the Ukrainian parliamentary election results; p 3 (886 words).

5. Natalya Kozlova report "Identified in Black Mask" looks at the first court hearing of the so-called Bolotnaya case; p 7 (650 words).

6. Yekaterina Zabrodina article headlined "Prophet's Lock of Hair Gone Missing" says Syrian rebels are destroying historical and religious monuments in the country as an important relic has gone missing from a mosque in Aleppo; p 8 (733 words).

RBK Daily

1. Alexandra Litoi article headlined "Razvozzhayev List" says the opposition expects the jailing of new activists as part of the case over May 6 disturbances; pp 1-2 (400 words).

2. Yulia Sinyayeva interview with Moscow Deputy Mayor Andrei Sharonov speaking on the economic policy of the city government and the development of industrial zones near Moscow; p 5 (700 words).

Noviye Izvestia

1. Vera Moslakova article headlined "Loyalty Costs a Lot" says that flexibility and loyalty of certain politicians may play into their hands and bring them "compensation"; pp 1-2 (400 words).

2. Nadezhda Krasilova article headlined "Like Putin" analyzes a poll that showed that Russians want a new leader but they expect him to have qualities and principles similar to those of President Vladimir Putin; p 2 (350 words).


1. Pavel Orlov article headlined "Mendeleyev's Losharik" says that a top secret Project 10830 Kalitka nuclear submarine, nicknamed Losharik, has taken part in testing the soil on the Mendeleyev ridge.

Oct. 30, 2012/BBC Monitoring/©BBC 

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