Kommersant
Putin Creates a New Political Power Center
After concluding his visit to India, President Vladimir Putin went to Turkey yesterday. Although relations with these two countries are different for historical reasons, the main goal of Mr. Putin's visit there was the same - to create a new power center (or centers) on the world scene.
His visits to New Delhi and Ankara can be viewed as an attempt to give an asymmetrical response to the hegemony of the world's only superpower. This is how the world interpreted Mr. Putin's statements in New Delhi about "a dictatorship in global affairs, even if presented in pseudo-democratic words," and the danger of "attempts to overhaul the God-created multifaceted and diverse civilization according to the barrack-like principles of a unipolar world."
In the same spirit, a Russian-Indian declaration called for stepping up tripartite cooperation between Russia, India and China. A tripartite summit will be held next year.
The attempts to create a new power center in South and East Asia may not be new, but the appeal to Turkey, a NATO member, as a potential ally in a new geopolitical situation was certainly unprecedented. Turkey is at a historical crossroads. The issue of talks on its accession to the EU has not been decided, while resistance to full membership is growing within the EU. Meanwhile, anti-American sentiments are growing stronger in Turkey, which is why no Turkish politician (even the most pro-Western) will dare proclaim their pro-American views today. This offers Russia a chance to play on a field that until recently had been closed to it.
In this sense, the dual visit to New Delhi and Ankara can become the successful completion - and this is a modest assessment - of 2004. At the very least, the near exultant (though vaguely worded) joint declarations will drown out the echo of several major foreign policy failures (Ukraine, Abkhazia, the EU, and the CIS).
Vedomosti
Yanukovich Stands No Chance at Election Rerun
The Ukrainian Supreme Court cancelled the results of the presidential election and decided to rerun the second round on December 26. Viktor Yanukovich, the candidate of the authorities, will have to grapple again with opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko.
President Leonid Kuchma had suggested holding a new election and said jointly with President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that a re-run of the second round would not be legal.
Mr. Yanukovich has a slim chance of winning on December 26, say observers. According to opinion polls, public support for Mr. Yushchenko has grown to 56%, said Alexei Grazhdankin, deputy head of the Levada Center research company.
"He can win only if Mr. Kuchma reviews his decision to surrender and stops restraining him," thinks Gleb Pavlovsky, president of the Russian Effective Policy Foundation, who cooperated with Mr. Yanukovich's allies during the election.
Mr. Yanukovich believes that he must go to the election and win, said his press secretary Anna German. He might make new public statements after his team works out a new strategy for him, said Ukrainian political scientist Dmitry Vydrin.
A Yushchenko victory would complicate Kiev-Moscow relations because Moscow supported Mr. Yanukovich. Alexei Makarkin, deputy general director of the Center of Political Technologies, predicts that it would put into question the involvement of Ukraine in "the common economic space" with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan and the future of the Russian naval base in Sevastopol.
None of Mr. Putin's team will take responsibility for the failure of the Russian policy in Ukraine, say observers. Mr. Makarkin said that the blame would be most probably put on Russian oligarchs, "who will be punished for supporting Yushchenko and for not giving Yanukovich enough assistance."
Nezavisimaya Gazeta
Russia is not facing a revolution yet, but the authorities should stay alert - experts
A leader of the Ukrainian opposition, Yulia Timoshenko, recently stated: "When the revolution in Ukraine is over, the "orange sentiment" will pass over to Russia. Russian experts and politicians consider this possibility in Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
Konstantin Remchukov, an aide to the Russian minister of trade and economic development: Russia does not have the formal cause of all revolutions - elections. None of the revolutions, either in Eastern Europe, or in Georgia, started with revolutionary acts. They all came after the so-called revolutionaries disagreed with the results of an election campaign. Today, this situation is impossible in Russia. The president's popularity ratings are too high. In the former Soviet republics, people protested against candidates who had spent at least two terms in the office and the public was simply tired of them. In Russia, many people still pin their hopes for order and social justice on Mr. Putin, despite the difficult year with the Yukos saga.
Andrei Piontkovsky, the director of the Center for Strategic Studies: The influence of the events in Ukraine on Russia's political life will be significant. Most of the Russian leadership's and local political elite's irritation is down to the fact that they fear another collapse of their favorable model of controlled democracy, of inherited power. They know that this example will stir some undesirable thoughts in people's minds in Russia.
Alexei Mitrofanov, State Duma deputy (LDPR faction): The Russian authorities must learn from the current situation in Ukraine that we need free media and we should preserve democratic traditions. The authorities must be capable of self-analysis and self-rejuvenation. It must not attempt to shut its small bureaucratic circle off from the rest of the world. Otherwise, it will be swept away by a wave of public discontent, as we saw in 1991.
Novye Izvestia
Two Thirds of Russians Say Situation is Explosive
Only a fifth of Russia's population (20%) believes that the current political situation in the country is quiet and stable, whereas 67% say the situation is tense (critical and explosive).
A poll conducted by the Yuri Levada analytical center and published in Novye Izvestia shows that 51% of citizens believe that Russia is moving in the wrong direction and only 38% say that the chosen course is correct. Last January, the correlation was the reverse, with 50% believing the course to be correct, and 37% wrong.
Only a third of Russians, 33%, want the market reforms to continue. Almost half the respondents, 45%, said they had still not adjusted to the changes, while 26% maintain they will never get adjusted. Moreover, 18% said their financial position was good, 54% hard, but tolerable, and 24% said they could no longer tolerate it. Only 14% hope that their financial situation will improve in the near future, while 22% expect it to continue deteriorating.
Almost a quarter of Russians, 24%, are ready to take part in mass protests to promote economic demands. The figure was 17% a year ago. Indeed, 19% are ready to strike. Although 34% approve of the activities of Mikhail Fradkov's government, 61% disapprove of them. The main complaints about the government were that it could not contain price growth (53%), was not attending to social welfare (43%) and was failing to create jobs (34%).
According to Mr. Levada, there was pre-election excitement early this year. And hopes that everything would turn out for the better were high. They started to dissipate due to inflation, price growth and alarm about abolition of benefits. Beslan finally planted anxiety and uncertainty in people's minds. Earlier people feared a total economic collapse. When the decline stopped, the public mood began improving, but then enterprises started modernizing equipment and sacking redundant workers, which led to a surge in the unemployment rate. This is not yetevident in Moscow yet, but it already making itself felt in the regions.
The survey interviewed 3,700 Russians.
Vedomosti
Parfyonov Takes Over Newsweek Russia
Leonid Parfyonov, one of the most popular Russian TV presenters and former host of the analytical program Namedni (The Other Day), has become editor-in-chief of Newsweek Russia. In June, Mr. Parfyonov was fired from NTV. Market players and analysts believe that he has become the best-paid editor-in-chief in Russia, while Newsweek has acquired "the most popular brand on the media market," Vedomosti reports.
Publishing house Axel Springer Russia has been publishing Newsweek Russia under a US Newsweek Inc. license since June 2004.
The company's general director, Irina Silayeva, refused to disclose details of the contract with Mr. Parfyonov, but said that the magazine's concept would not change.
The market has reacted by saying the appointment will improve the magazine's position. "It is a correct move," says Rafael Akopov, general director of Prof-Media. "The weekly market is highly competitive and I believe Parfyonov's appointment is related to shareholders' desire to improve the edition's position."
A top manager of another publishing house who asked to remain anonymous agrees with Mr. Akopov. "In Parfyonov, Newsweek has acquired the most popular brand on the media market," he said. "People will be looking forward to a new edition of Newsweek as they used to anticipate Namedni."
Dirk Sauer, general director of Independent Media, agreed that Mr. Parfyonov was a professional, but pointed out that he would not be able to turn Newsweek into Parfyonov's magazine, because the weekly's policy and concept, just like any Western publication, is very strict.
According to varying estimates, Mr. Parfyonov may earn from $300,000 to $500,000 a year. This means that he will be the best-paid editor on the political weekly market.
