Prague, 21 March 1997 (RFE/RL) - Our correspondent reports that 20 private TV and radio stations in Russia's Tatarstan Republic have formed an association. Deputy Minister of Communication Nicolai Shakhovnin was elected yesterday as president of the association. He says some of the problems to be addressed by the group include the coordination of the republic's private broadcasters, formation of a democratic mass media, and implementing the republic's law on languages.
Teachers, Construction Workers To Join Russia-Wide Protest
State-run television in Russia's Tatarstan Republic reported late yesterday that teachers and students at Kazan State University will support the Russia-wide protest action planned by trade unions on March 27. The report says the decision was accepted by the university's labor assembly. Construction workers will also join the protest. The chairman of the republic's committee of the builders' trade unions, Rifkat Kalimullin, says builders' unions throughout the republic will join in the planned protest over delayed wage payments.