30 December 1998
DAILY REVIEW FROM TATARSTAN
Tatarstan to Receive Vital Gas Deliveries in 1999
Tatar President Mintimer Shaimiev and Rem Vyakhirev, head of the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, met in Kazan on 29 December and agreed on the volume of gas deliveries to Tatarstan in 1999. Shaimiev told Tatar Television that Tatarstan will receive 14.5 billion cubic meters of gas from Gazprom next year. �It is the quantity I asked for,� Shaimiev said. �We are basically implementing the protocols that were signed earlier.� During the past three months, Tatarstan has paid Gazprom monthly fees as well as more than the amount due on its current debts to the gas company, he added. Next year the republic's mechanical engineering enterprises will continue to carry out Gazprom orders, Shaimiev said.
Shaimiev Says He Does Not Believe In New Russian-Belarusian State
President Shaimiev told Russian Public Television on 28 December that he does not believe the creation of a new Russian-Belarusian state is possible. �However, if the new state is a union of the two republics, we shall proclaim the status of Tatarstan and its place in this new state on the basis of a nationwide referendum,� Shaimiev said. �And if Belarus voluntarily yields its sovereignty and agrees to have a status equal to that of Russia's other republics, this is its own affair. We have nothing against it, although there will be questions connected to the Russian Constitution,� Shaimiev noted.
By-elections To Be Held In Tatarstan
By-elections for Tatarstan State Council deputies will be held on 28 March to fill vacancies owing to some deputies' terminating their mandate ahead of schedule, Tatarstan Radio reported. Tatarstan Central Election Commission reported that the poll will be held in 15 okrugs of the republic.
KamAZ Achieves Year's Highest Production Levels in December
In December, KamAZ achieved the highest level of monthly production for the year as a whole, Tatar Television reported. KamAZ First Deputy Director-General Viktor Belyaev was quoted as saying that the plant produced 1,000 trucks, 1,400 engines and some 1,500 Oka automobiles last month. Part of the wage arrears will be paid in December.
By G. Khasanova