16 August 1999
DAILY REVIEW FROM TATARSTAN
Tax Service Doing Better Job Of Collecting In 1999
Over 9 billion rubles of taxes were collected by Tatarstan's branch of the Federal Tax Police thus far in 1999, Tatarstan's press reported. The estimated income on this revenue for the federal budget is 856 million rubles (9 percent), while 4.7 billion rubles (about 52 percent), and 3.5 billion rubles (38 percent) would go to republican and local budgets, respectively. According to a Tax Service official, land, property, and sales taxes are the hardest levies to collect because of the difficult economic situation of agricultural companies in Tatarstan and because of the major industrial defaulters: Tatneft, Nizhnekamskshina, Nizhnekamskneftekhim, and Tatenergo.
Muslim Leaders To Stay Out Of Politics?
The Muslim Religious Board (MRB) of the Republic of Tatarstan issued a statement on 13 August urging Muslim priests in Tatarstan to abstain from running for the republican State Council and the federal Duma. The board stated its concern about the coming elections, saying they were filled with "concomitant political tensions and sharp political polarization." The MRB announced that it considered any political involvement by Muslim religious officials to be "improper."
Compiled by Iskender Nurmi