PRESS DIGEST - RUSSIA - Jan 21

MOSCOW, Jan 21 (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.

VEDOMOSTI

www.vedomosti.ru

- Russian car makers will ask Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev for support during his visit to Avtovaz plant on Friday.

KOMMERSANT

www.kommersant.ru

- Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised to protect Jews living in Europe from anti-Semitism, the paper writes.

- The number of Russians byuing goods in shopping malls before the News Year holidays has shrunk by 20 percent in the past two years, the paper writes.

- Human rights activists have asked the General Prosecutor's office to investigate why there is a shortage of state-funded medications for HIV positive inmates of jails in Russia.

- Local authorities in several Russian regions have decided to withdraw subsidised fares in public transport for students, the daily reports.

ROSSIISKAYA GAZETA

www.rg.ru

- The paper runs an interview with Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov on a new system of collecting taxes, customs and insurance payments which is designed to lower the burden of bureaucracy on businesses and speed up official procedures by the state. ($1 = 84.1510 roubles) (Compiled by Ludmila Danilova)

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