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BBC Monitoring Quotes From Russian Press Thursday 29 September 2005

Posted on: Wednesday, 28 September 2005, 21:00 CDT

The following is a selection of quotes from articles published in the 29 September editions of Russian newspapers, as available to the BBC at 2200 gmt on 28 September

Putin's third term just won't go away

Nezavisimaya Gazeta [Moscow daily aimed at liberal elite. Often critical of government. Previously owned by Boris Berezovskiy.] www.ng.ru - "You would have thought that Vladimir Putin's recent live appearance on television would have put paid once and for all to talk of a third term. But yesterday it suddenly turned out that this is not the case at all. Governor of Novgorod Region Mikhail Prusak made his own address to the nation, calling citizens to the colours to fight against the current head of state leaving his post...

Prusak has indeed been mentioned this more than once, making use of every surge in public interest in this eternally fresh subject. The last time... was five days ago in one of his weekly broadcasts. It is unlikely that it was by accident: Prusak has the reputation of a man who is no stranger to federal power and it is implausible that any utterances on the subject are not thoroughly thought through."

[From an article by Aleksandra Samarina headed "Prusak appeals to the conscience of the president, and hits the spot"]

Gazeta [backed by Russian business interests and Western sponsors] www.gzt.ru - "Yesterday legislators in Maritime Territory turned down a bill introduced by Territory deputy Adam Imadayev on changes to the Russian constitution. The amendment the deputy was campaigning for would have allowed the head of state to remain in his post for three terms in a row. His colleagues in the legislative assembly did not lend their support to the initiative. A disappointed Imadayev laid down his deputy's mandate for his president."

[From an article by Yuliya Ilyina headed "Maritime legislators refuse president a third term"]

Gazprom to buy Sibneft

Gazeta [backed by Russian business interests and Western sponsors] www.gzt.ru - "Vladimir Putin was right when in July this year he promised that if the Sibneft deal went ahead, it would be only on the basis of market principles. He was quite literally right - Gazprom had to pay full price for Sibneft, the full market price of the shares, with hardly any discount at all. So how is it that Abramovich got so lucky and will receive - in effect, from the state - almost the entire amount he wanted? Experts and businessmen are divided on the answer."

[From an article by Oksana Shevelkova headed "Gazprom to buy Sibneft"]

Nezavisimaya Gazeta [Moscow daily aimed at liberal elite. Often critical of government. Previously owned by Boris Berezovskiy.] www.ng.ru - "Both companies have taken their time working up to the deal. Anticipation reached its apogee this week, when Sibneft shares on the stock market leaped 12 per cent."

[From an article by Oksana Gavshina headed "Sibneft and Gazprom: the seller of the year, the buyer of the year, the deal of the year. Miller buys a lot of oil, Abramovich gets a lot of cash."

Tribuna-RT [trade union backed daily] - "Gazprom shares have been pulling the Russian stock exchange behind them like a locomotive. They are on the point of hitting a historical record."

[From an article by Rustem Tell headed "Trends. Market cooking with gas"]

New governor for westernmost province

Rossiyskaya Gazeta [government newspaper] www.rg.ru - "Yesterday the recent deputy speaker of the State Duma, and previously federal Minister for Taxes and Levies, ordained by the President of the Russian Federation with the powers of head of Kaliningrad Region, ceremonially took up his post."

[From an article by Svetlana Pesotskaya headed "A governorship is ceded and accepted"]

Novyye Izvestiya [daily] www.newizv.ru - "The inauguration ceremony for the new governor of Kaliningrad is traditionally held in the regional drama theatre. And it seems that the venue was ideally suited to the pathos of the event. The speeches from the stage were from time to time reminiscent more of actors' lines than of political promises.

Former governor Vladimir Yegorov, leaving his post, expressed the hope that there would no longer be a duality of power in the region. Clearly, a bitter aftertaste remains from the events of the previous three weeks, where although he was nominally in charge of the region, it was already clear who the new boss was."

[From an article by Andrey Barinov headed "He won't smother them all"]

Nezavisimaya Gazeta [Moscow daily aimed at liberal elite. Often critical of government. Previously owned by Boris Berezovskiy.] www.ng.ru - "After Georgiy Boos took the oath, speaker of the Kaliningrad Regional Duma Vladimir Nikitin announced that the new governor has begun to carry out his duties. We should note that Vladimir Yegorov, as reported by the regional administration, voluntarily resigned on 28 August. Since under the Russian Federation Labour Code this day is considered his last working day, yesterday's inauguration of Boos was in effect a little premature. Who knows whether one of the opponents of the new governor might not sue through the courts to that effect."

[From an article by Aleksandr Ryabushev headed "Boos promises to spare the horses"]

Tribuna-RT [trade union backed daily] - "At the buffet afterwards, many of those who have been firmly backing Yegorov for the past five years tried in any way they could to push through the crowd to the new governor to mark their loyalty."

[From an article by Valeriy Gromak headed "Weather at the top. Shame you couldn't stay, Georgiy"]

Call to arms

Nezavisimaya Gazeta [Moscow daily aimed at liberal elite. Often critical of government. Previously owned by Boris Berezovskiy.] www.ng.ru - "Over 6,000 men have been called up from the reserve in the North Caucasus and adjacent regions... In other words, in southern Russia it is not only the troops that are in training but a significant part of the able-bodied male population. Even at a rough estimate, over the last two years a minimum of a third of all men under 40 with military obligations have been recalled for training...

For practically the whole of September the military authorities in the regions and units of the North Caucasus and adjacent Volga regions, including Interior Ministry, Emergencies Ministry and Border Troops units) have been operating on as close to a war footing as possible... And this is no accident. The North Caucasus is now one of the most unstable regions of Russia, which means that in a special period (i.e. during war) there might not be sufficient troops deployed there. That is why there and in other regions of central Russia the reservists are being trained to support the regulars.

It should be noted that exercises like this and practical measures for mobilisation in the army and especially in the North Caucasus are a fairly new phenomenon in post-Soviet times. They started working on this about three or four years ago, and the work is gathering pace. For instance, in 2004 a whole division of reservists was deployed from Altay to Siberia by rail."

[From an article by Vladimir Mukhin headed "Rehearsal for war. Every third able-bodied man in the North Caucasus is being trained to take up arms"]

Sources: as listed

Source: BBC Monitoring Newsfile

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