13 August 1999
DAILY REVIEW FROM TATARSTAN
Otechestvo-Vsya Rossiya Bloc Seeks Other Members
Representatives of the Vsya Rossia, Otechestvo movements and the Russian Agrarian Party (APR) met in Moscow on 12 August to discuss forming an election bloc, the republican press reported. The previous day, the leader of the APR, Mikhail Lapshin, stated that he was convinced that former Russian Premier Yevgenii Primakov would become the bloc's leader. Reportedly on the same day, Vsya Rossiya's coordinator, Aleksandr Morozov, discussed the possible entry of another ex-prime minister, Sergei Stepashin, into the Otechestvo-Vsya Rossiya bloc. Morozov told correspondents that "Stepashin has not yet come to any decision, but continued negotiations with various political leaders including Yevgenii Primakov."
Pilot From Tatarstan Killed In Daghestan
Lieutenant Alik Gayazov, a military helicopter pilot from Tatarstan,c was buried in Kazan on 13 August. He was reportedly killed near the Botlikh airbase in Daghestan on 9 August.
Tatarstan's Muslims Concerned About Situation In Daghestan
Tatarstan's Muslim Religious Board (MRB) issued a public statement on 12 August urging a stop to the military actions in Daghestan, a start to peaceful negotiations, and the development of a state policy towards ethnic and religious groups in Russia. The MRB condemned the participation of Muslim soldiers "in combat against brothers in the faith."
Tatar Official Says Back Wages Paid In Full
State employees in Tatarstan have received all remaining back wages in full, the deputy minister of finance, Rosa Kaneeva, claimed at a government conference on 12 August. At the beginning of 1999 total back wages to state employees in Tatarstan reached 372 million rubles, but they were gradually paid off and finally paid in full by July. The republican press reported that Tatarstan is among the biggest defaulters in unpaid pensions--owing 5.1 billion rubles to its retired citizens.
New Administration Head Appointed
Tatarstan's president, Mintimer Shaimiev, dismissed Anvar Zalakov from his post as a head of the Sarman regional administration on 12 August. On the same day, Shaimiev appointed the former director of the Bogelme dairy, Nafis Zakirov, an acting administration head in Sarman.
Compiled by Iskender Nurmi