16 March 2005
DAILY REVIEW FROM TATARSTAN
Putin Officially Nominates Shaimiev For Tatar President
President Vladimir Putin nominated Mintimer Shaimiev as a candidate for president of Tatarstan on 15 March, RFE/RL's Kazan bureau reported the same day. The day before Putin's staff submitted Shaimiev's candidacy, the Tatar parliament finally approved the draft amendments to the republican constitution on the new scheme of appointing the republic's president (see "RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Report," 15 March 2005). After being officially nominated, Shaimiev will be considered by the republican State Council within 14 days. Under federal law, if the Tatar parliament fails to approve Shaimiev as president, Putin has the authority to dismiss the State Council.
Government Interested In Relaunching Kama Alani Nuclear Project
Speaking at the 15 March governmental meeting on the republic's fuel and energy complex development till 2020, Economy and Industry Minister Aleksei Pakhomov said that Tatarstan is likely to unfreeze the project of building a nuclear power plant in Kama Alani, which was halted in 1989, RFE/RL's Kazan bureau reported the next day.
Marat Galeev, the chairman of the parliamentary Economy and Investment Committee, opposed the idea of including the nuclear-power sector in the program of fuel and energy complex development. He said that the government experts in charge of the program used outdated approaches to the nuclear energy industry and standards "as much as 30 years old."
Compiled by Iskender Nurmi
DAILY REVIEW FROM BASHKORTOSTAN
Bashkortostan Duma Mandate Transferred
The mandate of State Duma Deputy Kirill Ragozin, who died recently in an accident, has been passed to Bashkir State Pedagogical University Rector Eduard Khemitov, Interfax and RosBalt reported on 15 March. The decision was made at a meeting of the Russian Central Election Commission (TsIK) the same day. On 2 March, the Duma voted to terminate Ragozin's powers as a deputy after he disappeared on 29 January and was officially declared dead on 20 February. The TsIK passed the vacant mandate to the next candidate on the federal list of Unified Russia. Khemitov was sixth in Unified Russia's Bashkortostan's list.
Interior Officer Killed In Sterletamaq
Interior Ministry Criminal Investigation Department officer Senior Lieutenant Ruslan Zeinullin was killed on 15 March in Sterletamaq, Interfax-Povolzhe reported on 16 March. Zeinullin entered an apartment during a special operation investigating drug selling and was stabbed with a knife. Six people present in the apartment were detained and one of them confessed.
Compiled by Gulnara Khasanova