31 October 2000
DAILY REVIEW FROM TATARSTAN
Tatarstan's President Reaches Agreement With Russian Sberbank Chief
Tatarstan's president, Mintimer Shaimiev, held a meeting with the president of Sberbank (Russian Savings Bank), Andrei Kazmin, Tatarinform agency reported on 30 October. The two reportedly agreed that the powers of Tatarstan's Savings Bank "will not be narrowed, despite the fact that there is a structural rearrangement going on within Sberbank."
Sberbank will also grant Tatarstan a loan for the construction of three Tu-214 aircraft. The Tatarstan Airlines company will receive the loan in the credit agreement, the terms of which are yet to be defined. Shaimiev told Tatarinform that the current project would improve the situation at the Kazan Aircraft factory and allow for wages to be increased. "For now," Shaimiev said, "salaries paid to highly-qualified specialists [at the plant] leave much to be desired."
Political Prisoner's Day Commemorated In Kazan
The names of some 208 victims of the Soviet-era were added to a stone-made list at Arkhangelsk cemetery in Kazan on 30 October to mark Political Prisoner's Day. The list now shows the names of about 2,700 citizens from Tatarstan who were executed by Soviet officials for their political beliefs. According to an investigation by Tatarstan's Memorial organization, the local State Security Committee's archives contain the files of at least 3,000 people executed in Kazan alone. Muslim, Christian, and Jewish officials were at the Arkhangelsk cemetery on the same day to pray for the souls of those persecuted for ideological reasons. The Memorial organization is planning to continue the list and install a stone monument at Black Lake next to KGB offices in Kazan by the end of the year.
New Oilfield To Be Developed In Leninogorsk
High-density oil extraction began at the Ashalich oil deposit in the Leninogorsk region of Tatarstan, the republican press reported on 31 October. According to the chief engineer of Leninogorsk, Razif Galimov, the new deposit's annual output is estimated at 2 million tons. Tatarstan's Tatneft oil company will reportedly provide the use of modern, ecology-friendly technologies for extracting the high-sulfur oil. The annual amount of oil extracted in Tatarstan is about 24 million tons.
Teacher Given Lenient Sentence For Child Abuse Conviction
The Yashel Uzen city court found a teacher at the Vasilyavo hostel school, Tatyana Yashina, guilty of the "physical and moral abuse of children," Tatarstan's press reported on 31 October. According to those who filed complaints, Yashina practices corporal punishment and even tried to correct a disobedient girl by making her stand naked in the boys' sleeping room. The court issued its verdict "taking into consideration such extenuating circumstances as being a single mother and [her otherwise] good reputation at work," and fined her 900 rubles. The teacher was cleared from paying the fine because of a state amnesty on minor crimes and is allowed to continue working at the school. The punished girl's mother told the press she was not satisfied with the sentence and would appeal to Tatarstan's Supreme Court.
By Iskender Nurmi