Russian Press at a Glance, Thursday, July 28, 2011

POLITICS

The refusal of a Russian court to grant parole to jailed former Yukos executive Platon Lebedev is no surprise.
(Moskovskiye Novosti)

Russian analysts have cast doubts on a Reuters report about Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s alleged plans to run for president in 2012.
(Nezavisimaya Gazeta)

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has announced the director of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives. Andrei Nikitin, the head of polyurethane production company Ruskomposit, will head the new institution with Putin’s involvement intended to support business and social welfare projects. The unexpected choice means that the agency is likely to be run by rank and file businessmen and officials rather than heavyweights.
(Kommersant)

Alexander Babakov, a deputy speaker of the Russian parliament’s lower house and a member of A Just Russia party has been included in a regional list of participants in the United Russia and All-Russia People’s Front’s primaries. Some fellow lawmakers have suggested that by siding with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Babakov is trying to secure a senior post in the next State Duma.
(Kommersant)

An opposition rally in one of the most crowded markets in the Belarusian capital of Minsk gathered far fewer people on Wednesday than similar opposition demonstrations over the past few weeks. As arrests of protesters have continued in the country, analysts predict an increase in public activism in the fall.
(Nezavisimaya Gazeta)


ECONOMY

A group of Russian experts have prepared a draft document outlining Russia’s new development strategy until 2020. If government approaches remain unchanged, Russia’s economy may fade or face major debt problems.
(Vedomosti)

Deputy Moscow Mayor Andrei Sharonov speaks about the new enlarged capital’s development plans, which include improving the investment climate, developing the infrastructure and privatizing some assets.
(Vedomosti)   


BUSINESS

Alexei Etmanov, the trade union leader of the Ford plant in the Leningrad Region, announced his resignation from the post. During his six years in office, the Ford trade union has become one of the most influential in Russia. Etmanov’s achievements have been recognized even by Russia’s Federation of Trade Unions, which cancelled his membership back in 2006 for his “extremist activities.”
(Kommersant)


SOCIETY

Supporters of the authorities’ plans to demolish a centenarian forest in northwestern Moscow to make a way for a new highway linking Moscow to St. Petersburg have paid people to take part in their rally.
(Nezavisimaya Gazeta)


RELIGION

A traditional summer visit to Ukraine by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All-Russia marking the anniversary of the Christianization of Russia has acquired a new meaning this year. Besides strengthening the Russian Orthodox Church’s positions among Ukrainian believers, the patriarch will also have to negotiate the status of Orthodox believers in the former Georgian republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia with Georgian Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II.
(Moskovskiye Novosti)


CRIME

Norway is struggling to overcome the shock from last week’s massacre of 76 people by local extremist Anders Breivik. Top officials share the pain from the tragedy with ordinary people as the police publish lists of the Utoya Island massacre victims.
(Kommersant)

Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office is looking at reports of leaks of confidential government files into the internet. 
(Moskovskiye Novosti)