19.07 Russian Press at a Glance, Friday, July 19, 2013
POLITICS
* The sentencing of opposition leader and candidate for the post of Moscow mayor Alexei Navalny to five years in prison Thursday sparked protests across Russia and harsh criticism from human rights groups around the world. (Kommersant, Moskovsky Komsomolets, Novaya Gazeta, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, RBC Daily, The Moscow Times, Vedomosti)
* Navalny shot to stardom on the Russian blogosphere after having been slapped with a five-year prison sentence, which opposition and human rights activist believe to be retaliation for his harsh criticism of President Putin and the Kremlins policies. (Izvestia)
* The US State Department said Russia should have encouraged Navalny's anti-corruption activities rather than sending him to jail.
(Moskovsky Komsomolets)
* Opposition deputy Gennady Gudkov says he may pull out of the election for Moscow Region governor in protest at Navalny's conviction.
(Nezavisimaya Gazeta)
* Yevgeny Urlashov, who won a rare landslide victory over the ruling United Russia party last year, has been removed from the post of Yaroslavl mayor by a court order after he was detained and brought to Moscow last week on charges that he extorted a 45 million ruble ($1.4 million) bribe. (Kommersant)
* Russia's bureaucrats and public servants are still loath to declare details of their spending, despite a legal requirement to do so.
(Vedomosti)
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
* The Russian Finance Ministry has increased its estimates of the state budget deficit for the next three years, but said the increase will be insignificant, while the Reserve Fund will continue to grow. (Kommersant)
* Russia's natural monopolies will only be allowed to raise tariffs from July 2014 by less than the inflation rate in 2013, according to a decree by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
(Moskovsky Komsomolets)
* Russias anti-monopoly authorities have approved the purchase of the Eldorado electronics retail chain by the countrys largest home electronics retailer, M.Video, on condition M. Video sells or closes a number of its outlets in 35 regions of the country.
(Kommersant, Vedomosti)
* Russia will surpass Germany and become Europes number one automobile market by 2016, according to estimates by The Boston Consulting Group. Other experts disagree. (Vedomosti)
*Russias Federal Taxation Service claims that about 40 percent of land in the country is not registered as subject for taxation. (Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
SPACE
* A Russian Proton-M rocket that exploded after launch on July 2 was lost because its angular velocity sensors were installed incorrectly, Russias space agency concluded after a preliminary investigation. (Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
CRIME
* Russia's Supreme Court has significantly reduced prison terms for retired Russian military intelligence colonel Vladimir Kvachkov and his co-conspirator, who were convicted of plotting an armed uprising. The court reduced Kvachkovs sentence to eight years, dropping charges of terrorist activities.
(Kommersant)
* A Moscow court has extended house arrest for ex-Defense Ministry official Yevgenia Vasilyeva until September 23. Vasilyeva has been charged along with several other defendants as part of a 13-billion ruble ($433-million) fraud case involving the illegal sale of property, land and shares belonging to subsidiaries of the state-run Oboronservis holding company. She faces up to six years in prison. (Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
SOCIETY
*The Russian authorities are continuining their campaign against election monitoring NGO Golos, which now faces a tax investigation related to a grant from the US government.
(Kommersant)
* Russia will create a new museum dedicated to sunken ships. One of the first exhibits of the Museum of Underwater Archeology will be a downsized copy of the frigate Oleg, which Russian President Vladimir Putin explored on July 15 during an underwater trip on board the five-seat C-Explorer-5 submersible.
(Izvestia)
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