23 August 1999
DAILY REVIEW FROM TATARSTAN
Shaimiev Participates In Vsya Rossiya Congress
Tatar President Mintimer Shaimiev said that the originally declared principle of equality in the political bloc Otechestvo-Vsya Rossiya (Fatherland-All Russia) will be maintained in the future. Shaimiev made his comments at a press conference at the Ufa airport on 20 August. Shaimiev led Tatarstan's delegation at the second congress of Vsya Rossiya, which was held in the capital of Bashkortostan on 21 August. The governor of St. Petersburg, Vladimir Yakovlev, was elected as the leader of Vsya Rossiya at the congress. A uniting congress of the Vsya Rossiya and Otechestvo political movements will be held in Moscow on 28 August.
KamAZ Looks For Ways To Repay Debt
The chairman of the KamAZ truck concern's board of directors, Russian Economics Minister Andrei Shapovalyants, said a restructuring of the company's debt can no longer be postponed. Shapovalyants made his comments at a meeting of the KamAZ board in Chally on 20 August. It was reported at the meeting that KamAZ's debt totals $1.2 billion. A decision on a transition of the debt into the company's shares is expected to be taken at the next shareholders' meeting scheduled for 24 September. KamAZ's main creditor, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which for a long time opposed such a means for repaying debt, reportedly did not object to the idea at the 20 August meeting. The next board of directors' meeting will be held in London, Tatar Television reported. The results of KamAZ activities in the first half of the year and the prospects of settling its debt were also negotiated at a meeting between Shapovalyants and Tatar President Shaimiev in Kazan on the same day, Tatar-inform reported.
New Helicopter Shown At Moscow Air Exhibition
The Kazan helicopter plant demonstrated for the first time a new light helicopter, the Ansat, at the international air exhibition MACS-99 in Moscow on 20-21 August. The deputy prime minister of the republic, Vladimir Shvetsov, said during his visit to the exhibition that Tatarstan could be represented more widely at the MACS-99 show, Tatar Television reported. Other Tatarstan-produced models of helicopters--the MI-8 and the MI-17--are exported to some 60 countries.
Tatarstan To Send Humanitarian Aid To Turkey
Tatarstan's government collected an aircraft full of humanitarian aid and sent it to Turkey, Tatarstan's premier, Rustam Minnikhanov, said on 21 August during a meeting in Kazan with the Turkish consul-general in Tatarstan, Akhmet Reza Demirer. Minnikhanov said in an interview with Tatar Television that such a huge loss of life could have been avoided if shortcuts were not taken in the construction of housing in Turkey, as was apparently the case.
Compiled by Gulnara Khasanova