POLITICS

* Recent probes into the work of two German non-profit organizations in Russia have sparked fierce criticism from Germany and the European Union, and could lead to a deterioration of relations between Moscow and Berlin.

(Kommersant)

* Russian lawmakers are considering a bill allowing the president, as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, to send rapid-response military units to operate in local conflicts abroad without the Federation Council's prior consent.

(Izvestia)

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

* State-run VTB Bank is buying the Russian business of the Scandinavian holding Tele2, the fourth largest mobile operator on the Russian market, for $2.4 billion, absorbing $1.15-bln debt. VTB says the asset could be later resold for a profit, as the Alfa-Group has already offered over $3.6 billion for it.

(Kommersant, Vedomosti)

* VTB Bank may pay a record 13.5 billion rubles, or 15 percent of its IFRS net profit, in dividends in 2012, in an apparent bid to attract investors prior to the upcoming SPO. VTB paid shareholders 9.2 billion rubles in 2011, about 10 percent of IFRS net profit.

(Kommersant)

* Russia’s energy giant Gazprom has received a permit from the Bolivian authorities to develop two gas fields in the Latin American country together with France’s Total. The production is expected to start by 2017.

(Kommersant, Vedomosti)

* Russia’s Transneft oil company has proposed to deliver oil to China via Mongolia rather than Kazakhstan. The latter route would cost the budget an additional 80 billion rubles.

(Vedomosti)

WORLD

* Former speaker of the Georgian parliament Nino Burdzhanadze is returning to politics with an announcement that her Democratic Georgia will take part “in all upcoming elections” in the country.

(Izvestia)

SOCIETY

* Russia has banned the advertisement of biologically active additives as certified medicine. Violators may face fines of up to 500,000 rubles (over $16,000).

(Rossiiskaya Gazeta)

* The Russian government has proposed higher court fees for divorce cases and termination of parental rights and confiscation of property for alimony dodgers in a bid to ensure the welfare of children raised by single parents.

(Izvestia)

* Public libraries in Russia are facing an imminent crisis as more and more readers switch to e-books and tablet PCs.

(Izvestia)

MILITARY

* Russia will scrap the first Soviet nuclear submarine, the K-3 Leninsky Komsomol, as the United Shipbuilding Corporation does not have the budget to restore the rusty vessel, which was decommissioned in the 1990s and stripped off its nuclear reactor. (Izvestia)

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