07.06 Russian Press at a Glance, Friday, June 7, 2013
POLITICS
* Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife, Lyudmila, announced on nationwide television that their 30-year marriage is over, ending years of media speculation about the couples relationship. (Kommersant, Izvestia, Moskovskiye Komsomolets)
* Acting Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin will most likely take part in the upcoming mayoral elections as a self-nominee. To do this, Sobyanin needs to collect signatures of at least 1 percent of registered voters, or around 80,000 signatures. (Kommersant)
RUSSIA
* Former chess champion and anti-Kremlin activist Garry Kasparov has said he will not return to Russia for now over fears he could be put on trial, becoming the latest Russian opposition figure to leave the homeland amid what many are calling a crackdown. (Vedomosti)
* A Moscow court has given a four-year suspended sentence to the last defendant in the criminal case over deliveries of low-quality equipment for MiG-29 fighters that were rejected by Algeria in 2007. (Kommersant)
* The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Russian authorities did not bear direct responsibility for the death of Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov. At the same time, the court ruled that Russias refusal to return bodies of terrorist suspects to their relatives or give them another opportunity to pay their last respects to loved ones had amounted to a violation of the applicants rights to respect for their private and family life. (Kommersant)
* Russia has appointed a new general consul to Crimea to replace Vladimir Andreyev who insulted Crimean Tatars by accusing them of collaborating with Nazi Germany during World War II. (Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
* Russians consume an average of 0.5 liters of vodka monthly, according to a survey by Synovate Comcon. Moscow, the Urals and Easter Siberia consume more vodka than other Russian regions. (Izvestia)
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
* Russias energy giant Gazprom has given up attempts to acquire electricity generation assets in Germany as they operate at a loss. (Kommersant)
* The Russian government has approved the increase of the insured amount on bank deposits from 700,000 rubles to 1 million rubles and taxation of deposits with annual interest exceeding 11.25 percent. (Vedomosti)
* Peugeot Citroen has scrapped plans to manufacture light commercial vehicles (LCV) at the Moscow ZIL plant. (Vedomosti)
WORLD
* The Ukrainian authorities are trying to prevent their citizens from going to Syria to fight for President Bashar Assad as several thousand retired military and security officers, desperate to earn money as mercenaries rather to starve back home, have set up a volunteer corps ready to go the war-torn country. (Izvestia)
