09.08 Russian Press at a Glance, Friday, August 9, 2013
POLITICS
US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul has been officially notified of the Kremlins reaction to Barack Obamas decision to cancel a meeting with President Vladimir Putin ahead of a G20 summit in St. Petersburg. The Russian and US foreign and defense ministers are to hold talks in Washington, and they face a more complicated mission following Obamas refusal to meet with Putin.
(Izvestia, Kommersant, Moskovsky Komsomolets, Nezavisimaya Gazeta)
The father of Edward Snowden, the fugitive former US spy agency contractor, said in an interview he thought Russian President Vladimir Putin would stand up to pressure from Washington as the two nations clash over Moscow's decision to grant asylum to his son.
(The Moscow Times)
Saudi Arabia will try to buy off Moscow with an offer of multi-billion dollar contracts in exchange for Russia pulling support for Syria's President Assad.
(Moskovsky Komsomolets)
ECONOMICS & BUSINESS
Ukraine could be running out of cash, and also out of gas, as soon as this fall. The country's national reserve bank has only $22 billion left.
(Nezavisimaya Gazeta)
Russian banker Oleg Tinkoff is up in arms after one his bank's clients took his TKS bank to court for breaking the terms of a credit card agreement. The client returned the bank's credit agreement to it, but altered the terms, allowing him to pay a zero-percent interest. When the bank "broke" the terms of the deal, the client took it to court, and claimed 24 million rubles damages.
(RBC Daily)
Russias second largest mobile operator Megafon plans to buy 4G provider Scartel for $1.18 billion. The merged company would become the leader of the Long Term Evolution (LTE) market in Russia.
(Vedomosti, Kommersant)
A Russian equivalent of Puy du Fou, the French theme park where visitors witness fully-costumed historical reenactments, may appear in Moscows new territories within five years. Last year, 148,000 hectares of land southwest of Moscow were incorporated into the city. Property developer RDI has announced its readiness to allocate $60 million and up to a square kilometer of land for the project.
(The Moscow Times)
Exports and imports in China have grown in July faster than previously forecasted, which is a signal that the countrys economy is stabilizing.
(Vedomosti)
Russia's Berkut Aero is to unveil a new light helicopter at the MAKS airshow in Moscow at the end of this month, which it hopes will be a competitor to the hugely popular American Robinson R22.
(Moskovsky Komsomolets)
RUSSIA
Russians are buying less real estate and fewer luxury cars in 2013. The wider decline in consumer activity may soon lead to stagnation, experts said.
(Moskovsky Komsomolets, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
Amendments to the immigration laws will enter into force today toughening sanctions for migrants for illegal border crossing and failure to properly register to work and stay in Russia. The sanctions will only affect those in Moscow, St. Petersburg and around the two biggest Russian cities.
(Kommersant, Moskovsky Komsomolets)
Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov has declared a state of emergency in five regions of the Russian Far East after 627 homes were flooded due to heavy rains.
(The Moscow Times)
SOCIETY
Unconstitutional norms preventing nationals from appealing the results of elections will be revised. The Russian government has drafted amendments to laws that would allow voters to report violations at the polling stations where they cast their ballots. Opposition figures said that mechanism would not allow citizens to properly protest the outcome of a vote.
(Kommersant)
An investigation into an expert report that claimed former Yukos owner Mikhail Khodorkovsky is innocent of his crimes has now expanded to the questioning of high-ranking officials and MPs engaged in penal law reform. Analysts say this could be the prelude to an attempt to launch a third case against Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev, who are set to be released in May and August 2014 respectively.
(The Moscow Times)
DEFENSE
Russia's Kurchatov Institute National Research Center is set to be a key developer of future infantry equipment systems for the Russian Army, following a meeting on August 7 headed up by Deputy Prime Minister and defense industry supremo Dmitry Rogozin.
(Vedomosti)
For more details on all the news in Russia today, visit our website at http://en.ria.ru.
