22 August 2000
DAILY REVIEW FROM TATARSTAN
Shaimiev On Whether To Stand For President, Relations With Moscow
Tatarstan's president, Mintimer Shaimiev, said on 18 August that he still has not decided whether to seek another presidential term, and added that he will consider personal issues in making his decision. Shaimiev made his comments at a meeting with republican media officials and journalists. He said there would not be much motivation, particularly on Moscow's side, for developing relations between territorial entities and the "center" based on bilateral treaties, and, additionally, those entities that wanted to share power with Moscow have already done so. He said many territorial entities don't need to gain more power. As for Tatarstan, Shaimiev added that the power-sharing treaty was a defining moment for the republic, but the issue of bringing Tatarstan's Constitution and other laws into harmony with the federal ones will be difficult to deal with.
Tatars Comment On Value Of National Sovereignty
Speaking in the runup to the 10th anniversary of Tatarstan's Declaration of Sovereignty, the president of Tatarstan's Academy of Sciences, Mansur Khasanov, said that for all people, the highest value is placed on achieving statehood, and no degree of cultural or national autonomy can replace it, because, as history shows, statehood is the highest stage of development for a nation, and it is the only effective guarantee of viability, as well as the economic, social, and spiritual progress of a nation, Tatar-inform reported on 21 August. That's why people have always fought and will always fight for national self-determination, he continued. A famous Bashkir poet, Mustai Karim, told Tatar-inform that the people who don't have statehood are like a house in an open field. Anyone can enter the house and do whatever he/she wants to there. And people who have their own state, have the possibility to protect their freedom, their way of life. If their sovereignty is encroached upon, or if somebody wants to restrict it, it harms all of Russian society.
'Memorial Book' For The Oppressed To Be Published
A Memorial Book of the Victims of Political Repression of the Republic of Tatarstan is to be published, Tatar-inform reported on 21 August. More than 2,600 names of natives and residents of Tatarstan who suffered repression and were accused of high treason (the 58th clause) from 1918 until the 1950s were included in the first volume of the book. Every sixth person from the composed list was either shot or died during interrogation. The book will be issued by 30 October--the Memorial day for victims of political repression.
Nizhnekamskshina Going Through Difficult Times
The financial status of a company and its results from the first half of the year were at the top of the agenda at a board of directors meeting of Tatarstan's tire company Nizhnekamskshina on 21 August, Tatar Radio reported the same day. Unstable production, a lack of raw materials, and a shortage of capital were listed as the main factors in causing the crisis that the company is experiencing. The board said that signing agreements stabilizing the supply of raw materials, modernizing equipment, increasing profitability, and reducing barter payments by 15 percent by the end of the year were the most important steps the company should be undertaking. The meeting was chaired by the chairman of the board, the general manager of the Tatneft oil company, Shafagat Takhautdinov.
By Gulnara Khasanova