8 September 2005
DAILY REVIEW FROM TATARSTAN
Kazan May Host EBRD Annual Meeting
Acting European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Secretary-General Nigel Carter said on 7 September in Kazan that a 2007 annual meeting of shareholders and the EBRD's board of governors will most likely be held in Kazan, and that a final decision will come shortly, intertat.ru and AK&M reported the same day.
Carter's comments came during his meeting with Tatarstan's Trade and Foreign Economic Cooperation Minister Khefiz Salikhov. Carter noted that the last time an EBRD meeting was held in Russia was in 1994 in St. Petersburg.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov made the proposal to hold the EBRD meeting in Kazan.
Ukrtatnafta Privatization Ruled Illegal
Ukraine's Supreme Economic Court has determined that the sale of 18 percent of Ukrtatnafta to affiliates of Tatneft was illegal, "Kommersant-Daily" and "Vremya novostei" reported on 7 September.
The stake in the Ukrainian-Tatar joint venture Ukrtatnafta, which controls the Kremenchug Oil Refinery, was sold to the U.S. Seagroup International and the Swiss Amruz Trading.
The sale reduced Tatneft's and the Tatar government's stake in Ukrtatnafta from 55 percent to 37 percent.
The sale was contested Ukraine's state-run Naftohaz Ukrayiny, which controls 43 percent of the venture.
Board Chairman Aleksei Ivchenko said that in the event the 18 percent stake is returned to Ukraine, as ordered by the court, Naftogaz Ukrainy will buy it.
Tatarstan's Mufti Elected Leader Of Islamic Council Of Eurasia
Tatar Muslim Religious Board (TMDN) Chairman Mufti Gosman Iskhaqov was elected on 6 September to serve as vice president of the Islamic Council of Eurasia, which unites representatives of 37 Muslim countries and regions, Tatar-inform reported on 7 September. The vote was held at the organization's meeting in Istanbul, at which a TMDN delegation is participating.
Speaking at the forum opening, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed the importance of efforts by Muslim theologians toward discrediting the myth of "Islamic" terrorism.
On the agenda of the forum, held from 5-9 September, is discussion on the identity, culture, and history of Muslims in the Balkans; in Turkic countries of Central Asia; and regions of the Russian Federation.
Ex-Senator From Tatarstan To Represent Ryazan In Federation Council
The Ryazan Oblast Duma on 7 September appointed Refget Altynbaev, co-chairman of the Russian Party of Life, to represent the oblast government in the Federation Council, "Kommersant-Daily" reported on 8 September. Altynbaev was approved by a vote of 25-3. Altynbaev used to be a representative of the Tatar president to the upper chamber of the Russian State Assembly, where he chaired the Local Self-Government Committee. However, he was recalled by Mintimer Shaimiev in 2003 for political reasons.
Altynbaev was Shaimiev's leading opponent in the republic and was proposed by Shaimiev in May 2001 to be a senator in the Federation Council in exchange for not running for Tatar president in 2002. Shaimiev, who is Unified Russia co-chairman, dismissed Altynbaev for his promotion of the Party of Life in Tatarstan on the eve of the 2003 State Duma elections.
Compiled by Gulnara Khasanova
DAILY REVIEW FROM BASHKORTOSTAN
Federal Arbitrage Court Upholds Privatization Of Bashkir Petrochemical Firms
The Ural Federal District Arbitrage Court on 7 September upheld the ruling of Bashkortostan's Arbitrage Court regarding the privatization of four Ufa oil refineries and Bashkirnefteprodukt, an RFE/RL Ufa correspondent reported the same day. However, the Bashkir prosecutor's office is reportedly planning to take the case to the Arbitrage Court's appeal chamber to overturn the privatization and return the shares to the state. Meanwhile, buyer of the state stakes, Bashkirskii Kapital, which is controlled by President Murtaza Rakhimov's son Ural, has sold most of the shares to the AFK Sistema group. The appeal chamber will take up the case on 12 September.
Compiled by Iskender Nurmi