PRESS DIGEST - Russia - Nov 20
MOSCOW, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The following are some of the leading stories in Russia's newspapers on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
KOMMERSANT
www.kommersant.ru
- Russian companies registered in Cyprus could face tax claims at home and a revision of deals as Russia's market regulator has signed a memorandum of understanding with Cyprus financial officials, the daily says.
- Russia's parliamentarians plan to approve on Friday a new mechanism to calculate oil export duties which will allow the government to review them every month.
- Foreign banks operating in Russia have announced cutting their home loans programs and toughening conditions for creditors.
VEDOMOSTI
www.vedomosti.ru
- Russia's authorities are forecasting the global crisis impacts on the local economy to last for the next two years.
- Russia's finance minister Alexei Kudrin has assured parliamentarians that Russia has enough reserves to afford planned and unexpected budget spending in 2009.
- Norilsk Nickel miner (GMKN.MM) will seek state support in ensuring stable level of production and plans to cut its investment spending, director general Vladimir Strzhalkovsky says in an interview.
- Wage arrears grew in October by 33.4 percent and reached 4,024 billion roubles, the daily quoted official statistics.
NOVYE IZVESTIA
www.newisv.ru
- One of the courts in Karelia, North-West of Russia, has approved an early release of an AIDS infected prisoner to continue treatment. This precedent could pave the way to other 39,000 infected prisoners, the daily says.
- The number of Russians going to threatres and concerts is falling as the economic situation in the country aggravates, the daily says.
IZVESTIA
www.izvestia.ru
- Russia's reserves have lost $100 billion in the last two months.
- Seven percent of Russians have admitted the crisis was affecting their lives.
- Head of the federal pensions fund Anton Drozdov has promised that Russian elderly population will not be affected by the crisis due to support from the national wealth fund.
NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA
www.ngz.ru
- Russia has already brought about 7,000 military personnel to Abkhazia and South Ossetia and has started building its military bases there, the head of the general staff Nikolai Makarov said on Wednesday.
