27 July 2001
DAILY REVIEW FROM TATARSTAN
Pavlovsky Says Kazan Might Become District Capital
Gleb Pavlovsky, the president of the Fund for Efficient Policy, said that there would be nothing seriously wrong with moving the capital of the federal district from Nizhnii to Samara or Kazan, Bashinform reported on 26 July referring to strana.ru. He said that the decision will reflect the power of investors.
Reaction to Kazan, Ufa Discussions on Working Together to Resist Moscow
Strana.ru reported on 25 July that the recent meeting of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan leaders called attention to the fact that they have already begun a complex strategy of uniting to oppose Moscow's policy of hypercentralization. Bashkortostan Prime Minister Rafael Baidavletov said in Kazan that �we do not look for enemies. Bashkirenergo, Tatenergo and Irkutskenergo defend their rights and economic interests. Why do not we unite?� he asked. The agency stressed that UES has few possibilities for putting pressure on the Tatar and Bashkir companies and that the Kazan energy agreement is of political rather than economic importance. The sides also plan to promote common energy prices, the agency said and noted that two Turkic-language republics are going to show again all Russia that their peoples will live better than anyone else. Tatarstan Prime Minister Rustam Minnikhanov told reporters after the meeting that the two republics are in many respects �the leading producers in Russia.� He said that a �big agreement� is scheduled to be signed by presidents Mintimer Shaimiev and Murtaza Rakhimov in mid-August.
Cabinet Offers Businesses Chance to Buy What They Rent
The government commission on economic and social issues on 25 July adopted a resolution giving small and medium sized businesses in trade and services sectors the right to purchase the premises they currently rent, Tatarstan television reported.
Secondary School Graduates Increasingly Seek to Enter Higher Schools
Some 52,000 graduates from secondary schools, more than four times the number of vacancies in all republic higher educational institutions, have applied to enter them, Tatar-inform reported on 26 July. There are ten applicants for every place at Kazan Technological University.
Former Nazi Camp Prisoners Seek Compensation
Three hundred fifty Tatarstan residents who had been imprisoned by the Nazis have sent their documents to Moscow to seek compensation from the German government, Tatar-inform reported.
20 Draft Evaders Convicted
Dmitrii Gurilev, a republic Enlistment Office official told Tatarstan Radio on 26 July that 2050 young men avoiding military service had been located by his office together with interior bodies this year and that 1506 draftees are still evading service. Twenty of those evaders have been convicted and cases have been opened against 735 others.
Compiled by Gulnara Khasanova
DAILY REVIEW FROM BASHKORTOSTAN
Republic Tatars, Bashkirs Prepare for Census
Bashkortostan�s Tatar Public Center at its meeting on 25 July passed a resolution on preparations for the census, RFE/RL�s Ufa correspondent reported the same day. The body said that it will hold its own census in the republic districts populated by Tatars in order to check official reports and to prevent the Bashkirization of Tatars. Meanwhile, republic Bashkir-language newspapers carried stories the same day suggesting that the Bashkir share of the population is much higher than the official estimate of 22 percent.
President Names New Head for Baimak District
President Murtaza Rakhimov on 26 July nominated Rustem Saitov head of the Baimak district administration, the presidential press service reported. Saitov had served as a farm head in the same district.
Violation of Women's Rights Noted
Labor and Social Care Minister Lev Bakusov on 26 July said that 591 of the 2500 people injured at the workplace last year were women, Bashinform reported. Ten of the women died. He said many places of employment failed to provide necessary facilities for women and made demands on them beyond their physical capacities.
Peoples of the Urals Festival Held in Chelyabinsk Oblast
The annual Russian-wide festival of the Urals peoples was held in Chelyabinsk Oblast�s Ashin district, Ural-Press reported on 25 July. National collectives from the Greater Urals as well as from other regions took part.
Compiled by Gulnara Khasanova