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Tatar-Bashkir Report: January 9, 2001


9 January 2001
DAILY REVIEW FROM TATARSTAN
RIZ Chooses Presidential Candidate
Tatarstan's pro-Russian opposition organization "Ravnopraviye i Zakonnost" on 6 January named Duma deputy Ivan Grachev as its candidate for the republic presidency, RFE/RL's Kazan bureau reported. RIZ had been expected to name Tatarstan State Council representative Aleksandr Shtanin, but Grachev said that "there is not any worthy competitor for Mintimer Shaimiev in Tatarstan, so we should find real candidate."

Security of Gas Pipes Worries Chally Authorities�
Chally municipal services officials said on 8 January that they have discovered several cases of gas leakage in the city's houses, regions.ru reported. A check conducted found cracks in the pipes of 15 houses which could lead at any time to an explosion. Rais Shaidullin, the head of Chally gas department, warned residents against making any unauthorized connections to gas pipes.

�As Interior Bodies Focus on Children's Safety
Tatarstan's State Traffic Safety Inspection (GIBDD) is sponsoring a campaign aimed at reducing childhood traumas from accidents, regions.ru reported on 8 January. GIBDD employees are visiting New Year's parties and school holiday camps to deliver traffic rules, holding competitions and presenting winners with prizes.

Chally Head Calls For Reform of Local TV Channel
Regions.ru reported on 8 January that Chally city television has stopped transmission of commercial programs and advertisements as the company undergoes an audit and reorganization. Chally Mayor Rashit Khamadeev had criticized Chally-TV for carrying too many entertainment programs and too many commercials. The company's director has been dismissed, and many of its employees resigned in protest.

By Gulnara Khasanova

DAILY REVIEW FROM BASHKORTOSTAN
Bashkortostan Won't Change Constitution as Moscow Wants
Bashkortostan presidential analytic department head Amir Yuldashbayev told RFE/RL' Tatar-Bashkir Service on 8 January that Ufa will not fully satisfy Russian complaints about the republic's constitution because if it did, "nothing would remain not only of the Bashkortostan Constitution but even of the Russian Constitution." He said that Moscow officials who made the complaints do not consider Russia to be a federation, and he called their comments to be an example of "professional idiocy." If the republics do what the Moscow officials want, he said, Russia will be turned into a unitary state, one with elements from both the Soviet and tsarist past.

Prices Rise but Holiday Subsidies Increase
Food prices and transport tariffs are increasing in Bashkortostan, the RFE/RL Tatar-Bashkir service reported on 8 January. As of 10 January, railway tariffs will rise by 30 percent, making the cost of an Ufa-Moscow trip 960 instead of 750 rubles. The government also plans to introduce per-minute charges for telephone use. But the republic spent some five milion rubles for New Year's celebrations.

Economic Development Speeds Up
Bashkortostan's industrial production grew in 2000 by 5.6 percent, exceeding projections by three percent, Biznes-novosti reported on 7 January. During the year, Bashkortostan produced some 63 percent of Russia's total synthetic fat output, 56 percent of its herbicides, and half of its steel wire

By Gulnara Khasanova
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