13 July 2000
DAILY REVIEW FROM TATARSTAN
Tatarstan Parliament Speaker Surprised By Russian Constitutional Court Ruling
In an interview with RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service, chairman of Tatarstan's State Council Farit Mukhametshin said Tatar officials were taken unawares by the Russian Constitutional Court's decision to abolish all provisions on sovereignty in the constitutions of six Russian republics, including Tatarstan. According to ITAR-TASS, those provisions, considered by the court on 27 June, were considered to contravene the federal constitution and must therefore be revoked. The provisions include ones stating that the republics have the status of a subject of international law and sovereignty over natural resources. Mukhametshin said that the Tatarstan leadership will seek to have the Constitutional Court's decision revised.
Shaimiev Meets Federal Construction Committee Chairman
Tatarstan's president Mintimer Shaimiev met with the chairman of the Russian federal Committee on Construction, Anvar Shamuzaffarov, on 12 July, Tatarinform agency reported. The two men discussed the terms of loan that Russia accepted from the World Bank for the Tatarstan Republic. Reportedly, Tatarstan will obtain the loan with 9-9.5% annual interest. According to Shamuzaffarov, his committee received a letter from the World Bank noting the high degree of professionalism among Tatarstan's experts who completed the necessary paper work for the loan.
KamAZ Expects Action From Federal Government
The further restructuring of the KamAZ automotive works' debts depends on the Russian government, the KamAZ press service reported on 13 July. According to the press service, it remains unclear whether the Russian government will guarantee the payment of $70.5 million to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in partial repayment of the debt. Such a decision by the federal government would require the approval of the Russian State Duma. Earlier this year, the EBRD, KamAZ and Russian government signed a memorandum on repaying half of the total $141 million debt with convertible promissory notes issued by the plant and the other half in cash over a period of 12 years.
Compiled by I.Nurmi