21.08 Russian Press at a Glance, Wednesday, August 21, 2013
A brief look at what is in the Russian papers today
POLITICS
Russias Federal Customs Service has scrapped extra customs procedures for Ukrainian goods. Experts say Russias attempt to prevent Ukraine from signing a free trade agreement with the European Union was unlikely to be successful. Jolted by Russias actions, the EU may even ease its conditions for the signing of the deal with Ukraine. (Kommersant)
Candidates from the ruling United Russia party may fail to win Septembers mayoral elections in Yekaterinburg and Voronezh, yielding power to representatives of new parties, experts close to the Kremlin say. (Vedomosti)
Former Deputy Prime Minister Vladislav Surkov has denied reports he would rejoin the government as a presidential aide for innovation development, a former United Russia party member said.
(The Moscow Times, Moskovsky Komsomolets)
The mayor of the Russian city of Omsk, who dealt with a fatal riverboat accident remotely using Skype while on holiday in the Czech Republic, rather than interrupting his vacation to come home, may lose his job and United Russia party membership. (Kommersant, Moskovsky Komsomolets)
ECONOMICS & BUSINESS
Growth in Russia continues to slow down first quarter growth this year was just a third of that in the same period last year. (Moskovsky Komsomolets)
The Moscow City Court ruled to keep secret the names of websites suspected of piracy. Even the communications watchdog Roskomnadzor cannot explain the ruling. (Vedomosti)
ARussian prosecutor said acourt inBelgrade had frozen seven enterprises allegedly belonging tothe estate ofthe late exiled Russian oligarch and suspected embezzler Boris Berezovsky, whose complex finances have become asource ofspeculation andlegal battles as various interested parties seek slices ofthe pie. (The Moscow Times)
RUSSIA
Kaliningrad Mayor Alexander Yaroshuk, a member of the ruling United Russia party, used loopholes in laws to keep secret for two years that his wife has a villa worth some $2 million in France. Experts say the mayor has violated election law. (Kommersant)
As officials frown atthe cargo that goes out through foreign harbors, thegovernment is making headway ona plan tobuild a$7 billion port onthe Black Sea. ThePort ofTaman will open in2019 tohandle dry cargoes, such as grain andcoal, Transportation Minister Maxim Sokolov said. (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, The Moscow Times)
A very influential Dagestani warlord was killed in a special operation by Russian Federal Security Service and police officers in the town of Bunaisk on Tuesday. Eight other suspected militants were also killed.
(Kommersant)
SOCIETY
The Earths climate has passed a critical point and will never return to what it used to be, expert Sergei Chicherin said, adding that the average temperature increase in the Northern Hemisphere in the past 100 years has been unique. (Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
A temporary tended holding camp for suspected illegal migrants rounded up in recent raids around Moscow has been closed down. (Izvestia, Kommersant, Moskovsky Komsomolets, RBC Daily)
Salaries for Russias bureaucrats are now 50 percent higher on average than private sector wages. (Izvestia)
Almost 60 percent of Russian workers are bored when doing their jobs, according to a new poll. (Vedomosti)
DEFENSE
President Vladimir Putin will not attend the opening of the MAKS 2013 air show for the first time since 1999, perhaps signaling a lack of interest in the aerospace industry among the country's political leaders, government sources and United Aircraft Corporation executives said. (The Moscow Times)
The Russian armed forces have refused on cost grounds to buy a batch of 35 European-made AgustaWestland AW139 helicopters, Deputy Defense Minister Yury Borisov said Tuesday. (Vedomosti)
For more details on all the news in Russia today, visit our website at http://en.ria.ru.
The Moscow Times
