09.10 Russian Press at a Glance, Wednesday, October 9, 2013
POLITICS
Russian President Vladimir Putin will deliver his state-of-the-nation address in December, followed by a traditional nationwide call-in Q&A conference later in the month. The work on the text of the address is already underway, his spokesman said. (Kommersant)
Russias Finance Ministry has refused to fund the use of VIP lounges in airports and railway stations by State Duma and Federation Council lawmakers, citing the absence of specific legislation stipulating these privileges. (Kommersant, Moskovskiye Komsomolets)
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Russian lawmakers are considering a draft bill on raising minimum wages from 5,205 rubles ($160) to the minimum subsistence level of 7,263 rubles ($224) calculated as a nationwide average. (Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
Two of Russias smaller airlines Red Wings and Yakutia are facing serious financial problems and may go bankrupt after losing out to tough competition with larger players on the Russian air transport market. (Kommersant, Vedomosti)
Russias largest diamond miner Alrosa plans to spend about 256 billion rubles ($8.1 billion) by 2021 on diamond mining, according to a Morgan Stanley report. (Vedomosti)
Russia and China have exhausted their current economic development models and must seek other ways to ensure further economic growth, experts from the International Monetary Fund believe. (Vedomosti)
Naftogaz, Ukraines national gas company, could be facing bankruptcy. (Nezavisimaya Gazeta)
DEFENSE
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu will depart next week on a four-day trip to Brazil and Peru to promote the sales of Russian weaponry to these countries. The success of Shoigus talks with his Brazilian and Peruvian counterparts will significantly boost Russias chances to sell military equipment worth at least $1.7 billion. (Kommersant)
WORLD
A diplomatic stand-off between Russia and the Netherlands escalated Tuesday as Moscow angrily demanded a full account of how one its diplomats came to be arrested by the Dutch police over the weekend. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Russia Today channel that the state of relations between the two countries will depend on how the Netherlands chooses to handle the matter. (Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
Presidential elections are underway in the Caucasus state of Azerbaijan. The incumbent President Ilham Aliyev is widely expected to win, marking a fifth generation of rule for his familys dynasty in the republic. (Argumenty I Fakty, Moskovskiye Komsomolets)
CRIME
A Russian court has sentenced opposition activist Mikhail Kosenko to forced treatment in a psychiatric hospital at the end of his trial for attacking a policeman at an anti-government rally last year. The sentence has drawn outrage from opposition politicians and rights groups, who warn that it harks back to the Soviet-era practice of punitive psychiatry. (Kommersant, Novaya Gazeta, Vedomosti, Izvestia)
A court in Russias Arctic port city of Murmansk has ruled that three Russian nationals detained onboard a Greenpeace ship seized last month amid accusations of piracy should remain behind bars pending trial. Ships doctor Yekaterina Zaspa, Greenpeace spokesman Andrei Allakhverdov and Denis Sinyakov, a freelance photographer who was covering the ships two-month voyage in the Russian Arctic, had been seeking release on bail or house arrest. (Kommersant)
A Moscow court has rejected the appeals of defense lawyers acting for investment fund Hermitage Capital's British CEO and founder William Browder against his July conviction for tax evasion in Russia. (Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
