26 January 2000
DAILY REVIEW FROM TATARSTAN
Tatarstan Has Paid All Back Wages To State Employees
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko said Tatarstan is one of 30 Russian regions that does owe its employees back wages, Tatar-inform reported on 25 January. Khristenko made his comments in a wide-ranging discussion that included Tatarstan's Deputy Prime Minister Adelya Konyusheva. Tatar-inform cited Deputy Finance Minister Roza Kaneeva as saying that last year, some 550 million rubles in back wages were repaid to state employees. Wages are also being kept current thus far this year.
Russian Official Pleased With Aircraft Production In Tatarstan
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov on 25 January visited Kazan's Gorbunov air industrial association, Tatar Radio and Television reported. Klebanov said in an interview with Tatar Television that the TU-214 aircraft produced by the Kazan plant "is the most competitive." He said that among those airplanes being currently designed, the TU-214, TU-324, and TU-334 are the most important. Klebanov said "I was not expecting to see the Gorbunov plant in such excellent condition." Klebanov was accompanied by Valerii Okulov, the head of Aeroflot, which is going to buy 12 IL-62 airplanes. Klebanov then viewed construction of a bridge through Kama, which is one of the longest in Russia. Later, the Russian official met with students at Kazan's Technical University.
Interior Ministry To Help AIDS Prevention Programs
Tatarstan's deputy interior minister, Rinat Timerzyanov, has signed an order on republican financial aid to programs fighting drug abuse, Tatar-inform reported on 25 January. An official from the republican AIDS Prevention Center, Larisa Badrieva, said in an interview with Tatar-inform that the money will also fund needle exchange programs for drug addicts, and spread information about AIDS prevention. The participation of the Interior Ministry in the programs is expected to help avoid the necessity of taking legal action against each drug addict as should be done according to existing legislation.
Kobelev To Appeal To Russian Supreme Court
Tatar-inform reported on 25 January that the former head of the parliamentary Budget and Finance Committee, Gelii Kobelev, disagrees with the decision by Tatarstan's Supreme Court which ruled that the Central Election Committee must declare Ivan Belov, Kobelev's competitor in the December poll, a State Council deputy. Tatarstan's Central Election Committee announced earlier that Kobelev won the elections in the Yudino territorial okrug but the Supreme Court of the republic ruled on 24 January in favor of Belov's complaint that votes in their race were incorrectly tallied. Kobelev said in an interview with Tatar-inform that the recount of the votes, which was held in the Yudino Okrug, was falsified, and that there are many other examples of interference and pressure on the election by the city and district authorities. Kobelev said he will appeal the case to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
Compiled by Gulnara Khasanova