POLITICS

Margaret Thatcher, UK’s first female prime minister who held her post for a record 11 years (from 1979 until 1990), died on Monday. Nicknamed the “Iron Lady” in Russia, Thatcher started the first “reset” in relations between the Soviet Union and the West. Historians around the world also name her the person behind the 20th century's most significant economic reforms.

(Kommersant, Vedomosti, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, Izvestia)

The agenda for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Europe was dominated by issues relating to NGO checks in Russia, as well as the situation in North Korea and Syria.

(Kommersant, Vedomosti, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)

As tensions heat up on the Korean Peninsula, experts are trying to figure out the unpredictable trajectory of a North Korean rocket: in 2006, a Taepodong-2 rocket fired towards US territory, landed in Russian territorial waters.

(Kommersant, Vedomosti, Rossiiskaya Gazeta)

Venezuela is set to vote for a new president on Sunday.

(Vedomosti)

Experts say the recent pardon of Ukraine’s former Interior Minister Yury Lutsenko could be intended to divide the country’s opposition and spark a leadership struggle.

(Izvestia)

ECONOMY

The Russian finance ministry is set to submit to the government its draft budget strategy until 2030 in June, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said.

(Kommersant, Vedomosti)

METALS & MINING

A plan by Russian diamond miner Alrosa to sell its premium-class diamonds via Sotheby's auction house could fail as Russia’s State Precious Metals and Gems Repository (Gokhran) froze the first deal to sell a 47.48 carat diamond. The gem was classed as “unique” and thus banned from being taken out of Russia.

(Kommersant)

OIL & GAS

The net profit of Tatneft, one of Russia’s top ten crude oil producers, increased by over 20 percent in 2012, though oil its output remained at unchanged.

(Vedomosti)

VEHICLES & ENGINEERING

The Russian car market has started to decline for the first time in three years. In March, car sales in Russia dropped by 4% as dealers suggest the Russian market may have reached saturation point.

(Kommersant, Vedomosti)

TELECOMS & IT

Russian sales of Microsoft’s first tablet Surface RT faltered as less than 300 devices sold in the first four days.

(Vedomosti, Izvestia)

CONSUMER

About 500 metric tons of international delivery parcels have been stuck at Moscow’s customs posts, most of them are purchases made by Russians in online shops. Russian Post advises recipients to be patient, while Germany’s largest postal services company, Deutsche Post, has already requested that the Russian authorities deal with the situation.

(Kommersant)

TRANSPORT

One of Europe’s largest low-cost airlines, Wizz Air, is not going to give up its efforts to open a subsidiary in Russia. Domestic demand for a low-cost air carrier is high, experts say, but airports are not yet ready for a new player on the market.

(Vedomosti)

SOCIETY

Journalist Mikhail Beketov, who sustained permanent head injuries after a brutal beating in 2008, died in hospital at the age of 52. The perpetrators remain at large despite President Vladimir Putin’s personal promise that there would be justice.

(Kommersant)

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