24.06 Russian Press at a Glance, Monday, June 24, 2013
POLITICS
Edward Snowden, a former US intelligence contractor wanted by the United States for revealing a highly-classified surveillance program, flew from Hong Kong to Moscow on Sunday. The foreign minister of Ecuador said Snowden had requested political asylum in his country. Russias decision to help Snowden may deal a new blow to already strained Russian-US relations.
(Kommersant, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Izvestia)
Moscows acting mayor Sergei Sobyanin was the first to gather the signatures necessary for registering as a candidate in the forthcoming Moscow mayor elections in September. Communist candidate Ivan Melnikov is about to complete the procedure.
(Kommersant)
Foreign ministers from the Friends of Syria, a coalition of states supporting the Syrian opposition, decided to boost their aid to Syrian forces fighting against President Bashar Assad following talks in Qatar. US Secretary of State John Kerry harshly criticised Russias actions in supporting Assad and condemned Iran and Hezbollahs role in the conflict.
(Kommersant, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
Billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who has headed the Georgian government since 2012, said on Sunday he would resign shortly after presidential elections in October and pledged that a new worthy premier will replace him.
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Izvestia)
METALS & MINING
A rally against the planned prospecting of copper and nickel deposits in Central Russias Voronezh Region turned violent on Saturday as protestors clashed with police officers and torched equipment and makeshift buildings. A criminal investigation was launched.
(Kommersant)
OIL & GAS
Russian independent gas producer Novatek and state-run Rosneft, are teaming up to prepare for the expected end of Russian state-run gas giant Gazproms monopoly on exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), due this fall. Meanwhile, Gazprom has sought partnership with Shell to build an LNG plant in the Leningrad Region.
(Kommersant, Vedomosti)
The AFK Sistema conglomerate will sell its 49-percent stake in Russneft to a company related to businessman Mikhail Gutseriyev, a former owner of the oil company, for $1.2 billion.
(Kommersant, Vedomosti)
VEHICLES & ENGINEERING
The Russian government will allocate an additional 4.3 billion rubles ($130 million) in funding for improvements to the Superjet 100 (SSJ-100) short-haul airliner .
(Izvestia)
TELECOMS & IT
Russias State Duma has approved an unprecedented bill banning not only hosting pirated content on Russian websites, but also posting links to them.
(Vedomosti)
Personal data from more than 6 million users leaked from Facebook due to a glitch in the social networking websites software.
(Vedomosti)
BANKING & FINANCE
Elvira Nabiullina will take up her post as the head of Russias Central Bank on Monday.
(Kommersant, Vedomosti, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
CONSUMER
Legal vodka production dropped 30 percent in Russia in May in what analysts attribute to a sharp increase in the production of counterfeit alcohol.
(Kommersant)
Russia banned meat supplies from the Grodno Region in Belarus following an outbreak of the African swine fever virus (ASFV). In future, restrictions may be imposed on all Belarusian meat.
(Vedomosti, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
DEFENSE
Russias Defense and Interior Ministries may order up to 100 MS-21 aircraft to replace Tu-204 planes, according to a source at aircraft maker Irkut.
(Vedomosti)
SOCIETY
Russian President Vladimir Putin approved an amnesty for people convicted for economic crimes. About 5,000-6,000 people will be released from Russian prisons as a result.
(Kommersant, Vedomosti, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
Teachers and officials are seeking ways to improve the current national exam system for school graduates. Meanwhile, according to Kommersant, Russias education watchdog said marks for 77 percent of tests with high grades, randomly chosen for re-checking, were too high. The watchdog has called for all tests to be re-checked nationwide.
(Kommersant, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
Mikhail Kalashnikov, the 93-year-old designer of the iconic AK-47 assault rifle, was flown to a Moscow hospital from his home city of Izhevsk.
(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
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