POLITICS
Turkey on Wednesday reiterated its commitment to a Russian-built nuclear plant, but Moscow made it clear that something has gone wrong in another key area where it has counted on Ankara's support: the South Stream pipeline.
(The Moscow Times, Kommersant, Vedomosti, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)
Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Shuvalov told participants in an international conference in Moscow on Wednesday that Russian society is facing a "significant transformation."
(Kommersant)
Roman Panov, a Russian deputy minister for regional development, tells Kommersant about the reconstruction of South Ossetia, a former Georgian republic that Russia recognized after a five-day war with Georgia in August 2008.
(Kommersant)
ECONOMY
The Kremlin's own estimates show that the government loses 1 trillion rubles ($34.9 billion) every year through rigged state tenders.
(The Moscow Times)
SOCIETY
Concerns are growing in Russia's Far East about a possible radiation threat from Japan. Radiation detectors and iodine have sold out in many shops in Kamchatka and Sakhalin, as well as flight tickets to Moscow until the end of the week. Local authorities have maintained that the radiation level in the region remains within the norm.
(Kommersant, Moskovsky Komsomolest)
Police will no longer be allowed to collect fines from foreigners with invalid or missing registration papers, according to a bill aimed at easing registration rules approved by the upper house of the Russian parliament, the Federation Council.
(The Moscow Times)
Russian opposition leaders Ludmila Alexeyeva and Eduard Limonov have applied to the Moscow Mayor's Office for permission to hold meetings in support of freedom of assembly in Moscow on March 31. They want to stage meetings on two central Moscow squares instead of the usual one and march along the capital's main street.
(Kommersant)
The Kremlin has proposed groundbreaking amendments to the Russian Criminal Code: no prison terms for first-time committers of minor offences, for businessmen who have compensated for damage caused by their operations, and for those involved in illegal goods trafficking.
(Vedomosti)
BUSINESS
The Moscow authorities headed by new mayor Sergei Sobyanin have frozen a total of 53 construction projects in the capital, one in five projects examined.
(Vedomosti)
Sberbank, the country's biggest lender, is looking to technological innovation to stabilize its declining share of the retail banking market.
(The Moscow Times)
Nokia head Stephen Elop tells Vedomosti about the Nokia Windows Phone and his company's success in Russia. The country accounts for one quarter of Nokia's sales.
(Vedomosti)
A year after President Dmitry Medvedev first spoke about Skolkovo, the Silicon Valley-type hub near Moscow, Hewlett-Packard has still not joined the rush to participate in it.
(The Moscow Times)
Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov will extract copper and gold from the seabed in partnership with the government of Papua New Guinea.
(Vedomosti)
