17 May 1999
DAILY REVIEW FROM TATARSTAN
Gazprom To Increase Gas Deliveries To Tatarstan
Tatar President Mintimer Shaimiev and Gazprom head Rem Vyakhirev signed a treaty on 14 May that will deliver 16.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Tatarstan in 1999, the republican press reported. The core volume of gas deliveries was increased by 2 billion cubic meters at Shaimiev's request the evening before the signing, Vyakhirev told the press conference. Shaimiev commented on the proposal saying that Tatarstan needed to secure extra supplies of gas to keep the operation of its industry stable. Vyakhirev said that in the future Gazprom would not be able to avoid raising the price of gas, and said that it planned to reduce gas supplies to Russian regions this winter.
Kazan Computer Company Hired By Russian Ministry Of Defense
Employees of the ICL-Kazan Computer Systems joint venture will correct the "millenium bug" problem at Russian Defense Ministry facilities across Russia, the republican media reported. The deputy chief of ICL-KCS's scientific center, Nail Kayumov, told journalists that the specialists will work at facilities that were equipped by ICL-KCS.
Tatneft Regains CC Rating
Standard & Poor's agency announced that Tatneft has been given a CC rating, improving upon the D (default) rating it received on 5 May. The credit rating was cut because of Tatneft's failure to pay $13.5 million in interest owed on its Eurobonds. Tatneft representatives claimed at the time that this decision was "not really just," since a 15-day delay was allowed by the agreement. Tatneft reportedly intends to pay off the interest in the second half of May.
KamAZ Gets Euro 2 Certificate
The new KamAZ truck model obtained a Euro 2 certificate, the KamAZ press service reported on 15 May. "This [will] allow KamAZ to deliver the new model to Europe and hopefully regain its position on the market," the republican press reported.
Compiled by Iskender Nurmi