Kommersant

1. Alexander Chernykh article headlined "Deputy to blame" says Education Minister Dmitry Livanov has accepted resignation of his deputy Igor Fedyukin, who used to be in charge of a probe into forged scientific degrees and said he could not work due to "huge psychological discomfort"; pp 1, 5 (956 words).

2. Viktor Khamrayev article headlined "Accompanying deputy" says Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has attended the Startup Village conference organized by the Skolkovo foundation. Former Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov accompanied Medvedev at the conference; pp 1, 3 (732 words).

3. Pavel Belavin and Anna Balashova article headlined "With all severity of content" says the Culture Ministry wants to oblige internet providers to look for users downloading pirate content; pp 1, 13 (588 words).

4. Yelena Kiseleva and Khalil Aminov article headlined "Alexander Klyachin experiencing Renaissance" says businessman Alexander Klyachin has bought Renaissance Moscow Olympic hotel for 170m dollars; pp 1, 9 (738 words).

5. Ivan Safronov article headlined "Family ties break in space" says the Glavkosmos company controlled by the Russian Space Agency has replaced its general director Maxim Shilov. Shilov is the son of the agency's deputy head; p 3 (476 words).

6. Sergei Goryashko article headlined "Opposition rallies lose popularity" says the Russian Public Opinion Research center (VTsIOM) has carried out a public opinion poll that has shown that opposition rallies are becoming less popular among Russians. Only 7 per cent of respondents would be ready to take to the streets; p 3 (553 words).

7. Yelena Chernenko article headlined "Conference on Syria does not respond to call" says Russia and the USA have failed to reach a breakthrough on the Syrian problem. Talks between Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry have shown difficulties that could be caused by "acts of provocation by Persian Gulf countries", a source close to the Russian delegation said; p 7 (585 words).

8. Maria Yefimova and Galina Dudova article headlined "Bashar Assad's opponents to be armed soon, but not at once" says the EU has de facto lifted embargo on arms supplies to Syria, which may disrupt the upcoming international conference on the Syrian conflict; p 7 (441 words).

9. Kirill Belyaninov article headlined "Senator shifts to illegal position" says U.S. senator John McCain has illegally visited Syria and held talks with rebels; p 7 (530 words).

10. Sergei Strokan article headlined "Superintendents of cutting territories" says the growing territorial claims of China affect stability in the Asia-Pacific region; p 8 (1,048 words).

11. Article by Boris Makarenko, head of the center for Political Technologies, in opinion column headlined "Price of issue" explains why armed conflicts over territorial disputes are becoming less frequent in the 21st century; p 8 (381 words).

12. Sergei Strokan interview with Georgy Kunadze, leading expert from the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, speaking on reasons for old and new territorial disputes between Russia and its neighbors; p 8 (660 words).

13. Sergei Strokan interview with Dmitry Mosyakov, expert from the Oriental Studies Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, speaking on territorial disputes in Asia and their possible influence on Russia; p 8 (665 words).

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

1. Alexandra Samarina article headlined "Vain precaution of Justice Ministry" says the new law designed to fight against extremism will be used against the authorities' political opponents in Russia, while no measures are taken for real fight against radical extremism; pp 1-2 (1,264 words).

2. Sergei Kulikov article headlined "Blue fuel anomaly" compares domestic prices on gas in Russia with Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine, and notes that Russian consumers pay much more; pp 1, 4 (869 words).

3. Igor Naumov article headlined "Paper electronic government" says Russian regions are winding up work on electronic government services as there is no pressure from Moscow on them over this issue; pp 1, 4 (686 words).

4. Alexei Gorbachev article headlined "No way to go except to Bolotnaya" says the opposition protest scheduled for 12 June may turn violent as some radical activists are displeased with the route approved by the Moscow city authorities; pp 1, 3 (672 words).

5. Yevgenia Novikova article headlined "Way out for Damascus found in nighttime Paris" says Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry have managed to achieve progress in the discussion of their stances on Syria, the preparation for an international conference on the conflict is under way; pp 1, 7 (870 words).

6. Vladimir Mukhin article headlined "Are women needed in soldier ranks?" comments on plans to pass a bill allowing women to be called up in Russia; p 3 (772 words).

7. Ivan Rodin report "One may supplement constitution, not amend" says the State Duma has discussed the Russian constitution and said that the document's section dedicated to the parliament should be amended; p 3 (850 words).

8. Viktoria Panfilova article headlined "Moscow expects clarity from Bishkek and Dushanbe" reports on President Vladimir Putin's talks with heads of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, as the countries' leaders are willing to enlist Moscow's support to avoid the Arabic scenario; p 6 (928 words).

9. Vladimir Skosyrev report "Washington and Beijing discuss how to rule world" says that China wants to cooperate with the U.S. as an equal partner. The deputy head of Moscow State University's Institute of Asia and Africa, Andrei Karneyev, comments on the issue; p 7 (800 words).

10. Mark Rats report "Leave alone patriotism" says that nationalist parties cannot be civilized as they mean ethnic struggle; p 9 (3,000 words).

11. Viktor Litovkin report "Radar Voronezh to cover all" says that Russia is setting up a single radar shield along its borders; p 10 (1,000 words).

12. Viktor Myasnikov report "Missile Yakhont: Launch and forget" says that the U.S. and Israel are concerned about the supply of Russian Yakhont anti-ship missiles to Syria; p 10 (950 words).

Izvestia

1. Yelizaveta Mayetnaya article headlined "Case of 10 billion ruble fraud being torn apart with help of payment document" reports on schemes used to close the case of a large-scale fraud with a contract to maintain the Defense Ministry's vehicles; pp 1, 4 (1,289 words).

2. Alexandra Yermakova article headlined "Officials to stop spending billions on vehicles" says the presidential property directorate is to become in charge of providing federal officials with vehicles. The measure is planned to cuts budget spending on officials' vehicles; pp 1, 4 (505 words).

3. Anna Akhmadyeva article headlined "Finance Ministry tries to find capital for Public TV" says the Finance Ministry wants the Public TV to set up its endowment to help finance its work; pp 1-2 (522 words).

4. Yulia Tsoy article headlined "They suggest that United Russia should divide in four parts" says United Russia MP and All-Russia People's Front member Vladimir Gutenev has come up with an initiative to split United Russia into four ideological groups to make it easier for its members to speak out and be heard; pp 1-2 (607 words).

5. Yelena Sivkova interview with Vyacheslav Nikonov, pro-Kremlin political expert and chairman of the State Duma Education Committee, who looks at problems facing the Education Ministry; p 2 (700 words).

6. Yelena Teslova article headlined "Opposition Coordination Council quarrels over lost million" says members of the opposition Coordination Council are arguing over a million of rubles gathered for a rally and allegedly misspent; p 3 (476 words).

7. Alexei Mikhaylov article headlined "Russian air forces get jammer for drones" says the Air Force has been provided with a radio-electronic device which helps put enemies' radars and drones out of work without affecting Russian communication channels; p 3 (428 words).

8. Konstantin Volkov article headlined "Seoul prefers economy to six-party talks" says South Korea has said it will judge about the readiness of Pyongyang for talks by a number of factors including economic ones. The statement was made after North Korea had spoken of plans to resume international talks on its nuclear program. Article features Russian analysts' comments on the issue; p 7 (546 words).

9. Maria Gorkovskaya report "Far-right activists launch offensive" says that the number of attacks on Muslims has increased in the UK and provides Russian experts' comments; p 7 (700 words).

10. Konstantin Volkov report "Israel and Hezbollah decide not to wage war so far" looks at the relations between Israel and Hezbollah and features Russian analyst's comment; p 7 (600 words).

11. Article by Oleg Shevtsov and Igor Yavlyansky headlined "Paris finds weapons for pressure on Bashar al-Asad" looks at Sergei Lavrov's meeting in Paris to discuss the conference on Syria, and provides a Russian politician's comment on the problem; p 7 (700 words).

Vedomosti

1. Dmitry Kazmin et al. report headlined "Economist in disgrace" says well-known economist Sergei Guryev may resign from several posts due to pressure of the authorities that has begun after he publicly supported opposition activist Alexei Navalny; pp 1-2 (790 words).

2. Olga Plotonova article headlined "Oligarchs in VTB" says Russian leading businessmen have taken part in the additional issuance of shares by Vneshtorgbank. Mikhail Prokhorov invested $400 million in the bank's shares; pp 1, 15 (422 words).

3. Editorial headlined "Victory of impersonators" says the ongoing campaign against the education minister who is fighting against forged scientific diplomas shows that corruption has rooted deeply in Russian society; pp 1, 6 (415 words).

4. Another editorial headlined "Habit of corruption" says recent public opinion polls have shown that Russians do not believe in the possibility of making millions legally in the country; p 6 (305 words).

5. Maxim Glikin et al. report "Front to do without members" says that there will be no members in the All-Russia People's Front, it will consist of participants; p 2 (750 words).

6. Alexei Nikolsky report "All attention to Afghanistan" says that the CSTO summit has discussed readiness of the member states' armies and special forces for the ISAF withdrawal from Afghanistan; p 3 (450 words).

Rossiiskaya Gazeta

1. Yelena Mishina interview "Voltage in network" with Energy Minister Alexander Novak speaking on a planned hike in energy tariffs in Russia; pp 1, 9 (2,829 words).

2. Yury Medvedev article headlined "Race continues" says the campaign to elect new president of the Russian Academy of Sciences ends today. The author names candidates for the post; pp 1, 12 (1,302 words).

3. Article by political expert Nikolay Zlobin headlined "'Soft power' rule" says countries can no longer manage their economies and banking systems regardless of global economic processes; p 3 (746 words).

4. Sergei Ptichkin article headlined "Angara, let us go" reports on the preparation for the trial launch of the new generation space launch vehicle Angara; p 4 (565 words).

5. Viktor Feshchenko article headlined "According to Damascus time" reports on the results of the talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on the Syrian crisis; p 8 (552 words).

6. Article by Fedor Lukyanov, chairman of the presidium of the Foreign and Defense Policy Council, headlined "Widening against deepening" looks at the prospects for development of the Customs Union and at Ukraine's accession to the organization; p 8 (708 words).

7. Yekaterina Zabrodina report "They find their people among strangers" says that Russia has criticized the EU for readiness to "pour oil on Syrian flames"; p 8 (600 words).

Moskovsky Komsomolets

1. Igor Karamzin article headlined "Everybody criticised by Ramzan Kadyrov" reports on the meeting of the heads of Russian media in Groznyy attended by Chechen head Ramzan Kadyrov, who criticised rights activists and the USA; pp 1-2 (1,346 words).

2. Marina Lemutkina report "Deputy not one's own master" says that the deputy education minister has denied his resignation five hours before he actually resigned; pp 1, 4 (700 words).

3. Viktoria Prikhodko report "Surkov looks for job in Skolkovo" says that former Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov has been spotted attending a conference in the innovation foundation Skolkovo; p 2 (600 words).

4. Ilya Baranikas article headlined "Why Russia better than America" compares the Russian and Western moral values; p 3 (1,161 words).

Noviye IzvestiaNovaya Gazeta

1. Vera Moslakova article headlined "Public TV begins and ..." reviews programs of the Russian Public TV available on-line; pp 1-2 (1,123 words).

2. Sergei Manukov article headlined "Untimely decision" features a critical comment by Russian scientist Vladimir Sotnikov on the EU decision not to renew an arms embargo on the opposition in Syria; p 2 (400 words).

1. Vitaly Yaroshevsky interview with the chairman of the Czech government, Petr Necas, speaking on energy cooperation with Russia, human rights violations and European integration; p 9 (1,019 words).

2. Boris Vishnevsky article headlined "Venice castling" analyses new Russian appointments to the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe; p 10 (900 words).

2. Nikita Krichevsky article headlined "How much do I owe you?" focuses on a row between head of Skolkovo Foundation Viktor Vekselberg and opposition MP Ilya Ponomarev, as well as on Skolkovo's development strategy; p 11 (800 words).

RBC Daily

1. Alexander Litinsky article headlined "Nationalists' 'secret party'" cites nationalist politician Dmitry Demushkin as saying one of the parties allowed to participate in elections has been in fact registered by his allies; p 2 (400 words).

2. Yulia Yakovleva article headlined "Party geometry" focuses on tactics of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation; p 2 (400 words).

Komsomolskaya Pravda

1. Israel Shamir article headlined "If Russia gives up Syria, war will come to gates of Moscow" says Russia should keep supporting the Syrian government; p 12 (800 words).

2. Yelena Chinkova article headlined "Enemy is everywhere! Be our eyes and ears" criticizes former MI5 director Stella Rimington for saying that citizens should inform the security services about suspicious neighbours; p 12 (200 words).

3. Alexander Gamov article headlined "'Stop feeding Caucasus' most unpleasant phrase" features statements made by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov at his meeting with Russian journalists; pp 14-15, 27 (2,000 words).

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SECURITY FAILURE

What the Papers Say, May 29, 2013