25 January 2001
DAILY REVIEW FROM TATARSTAN
Opposition Deputy Stuns State Council...
During a session of Tatarstan's State Council on 24 January, opposition deputy Alexander Shtanin stunned his colleagues by saying that 65 of the 130 deputies there did not have the right to vote. He said that "the Supreme Court of Russia issued a ruling abolishing the Tatarstan's law allowing the officials of executive bodies to also serve as legislators." None of the deputies agreed, and State Council chairman Farit Mukhametshin was quite irritated during his interview with Efir TV the same day saying that "we are not used with relying on some unclear messages in our work, first we have to see the official paper."
...As Passport Issue Surfaces Again
According to Farit Mukhametshin, Moscow is not living up to its promises about the inserting of a special Tatar page inside new russian passports. He said that the central government's decision to use only inlay cards was an insult.
KamAZ Increases Truck Market Share
KamAZ general director Ivan Kostin said in Kazan on 24 January that his company increased its share of the russian truck market to 47 percent of the total.
Estonian Pushes Tallinn as Export Route for Tatar Oil
Estonian Ambassador to Moscow Tiit Matsulevich met the Kazan Mayor Kamil Iskhakov on 24 January to discuss the possibilities of exporting the Kazan-produced oil products through the Estonian sea ports. Matsulevich said that this route would be cheaper compared to Finnish ports. Iskhakov for his part agreed with the necessity of broadening the bilateral cooperation and asked the Estonian envoy to take some Tatar textbooks to Tatar schools in Tallinn.
By Iskender Nurmi
DAILY REVIEW FROM BASHKORTOSTAN
Harmonization Deadline Set for 1 March
The AROMI agency [www.aromi.ru] reported on 24 January that Bashkortostan�s State Assembly has set the deadline of1 March for bringing its legislation into line with federal law. So far, 93 acts have been amended and 27 repealed in this process. The deputies expect to amend another 27 and to repeal four more.
Labor Law Violations Mount in 2000
Bashkortostan's Ministry of Labor said that there had been more than 5,000 labor law violations in the republics, despite its having issued 14,000 warnings and 326 written orders.
Light Industry Output Up
Production by Light industry of Bashkortostan occupies the first place in Volga administrative district, the republic State Committee on Industrial Policy announced on 24 January. Output in this sector role by 30 percent over the previous year and the number of loss-making enterprises fell by half.
Drug Trafficking Increases
Law enforcement bodies in Bashkortostan confiscated 380 kilograms of drugs in 2000, officials said. Some 18.4 kilograms of heroin were seized, and 3500 drug-related crimes registered.
By Iskender Nurmi