6 October 1999
DAILY REVIEW FROM TATARSTAN
Tatarstan Secures Health Deal With Hungary
Tatarstan's Trade and Economic Cooperation Ministry and the Hungarian company Euromedic Group signed a protocol of intentions in Kazan on 5 October, Tatar Radio reported. Tatar Prime Minister Rustam Minnikhanov and the president of Euromedic Group, Joseph Priel, signed the agreement after holding talks. The Euromedic Group, which produces pharmaceuticals and invests in health care projects, is ready to invest some $14 million in a venture on the creation of infusion solutions in Tatarstan. The sides also discussed the possibility of supplying diagnostic equipment to a cancer center being built in Kazan.
Tatarstan's Speaker Attends Russian-Japanese Meeting
Tatarstan's State Council chairman, Farid Mukhametshin, participated in a meeting between Russian Federation Council head Yegor Stroev and a Japanese parliament delegation in Moscow on 4 October, Tatar Radio reported. Mukhametshin told of his republic's development of economic ties with Japan, adding that those ties were instituted by leading Tatar companies KamAZ, Nizhnekamskneftekhim, and some major Japanese companies. Mukhametshin said that the Tatar-Japanese information and cultural center Sakura opened in Kazan in 1996 and has played a great role in developing relations between the two countries.
Official: Tatarstan's Islamic School Did Not Train Extremists
The chairman of the Council on Religious Affairs within Tatarstan's Cabinet of Ministers, Renat Nabiev, said that there are no grounds for the closure of the Yoldyz Islamic School in Chally. Nabiev made his comments in an interview with Tatar Radio on 5 October. Nabiev is a member of a commission which has checked the activities of the school--which was accused recently by the Russian media of training extremists for duty with terrorists in Chechnya. Following the accusations, Tatarstan's Education Ministry froze the school's license. Nabiev said that the commission members were convinced that "the school did not train extremists," despite the fact that there were some shortcomings in the school's educational process, quantity of teachers, programs, and its director. A final decision on the issue will be reportedly taken at a commission meeting on 6 October.
Militiamen Injured In Clash With Youths
Five militiamen were injured in a clash between the militia and some 150 hooligans in Tatarstan's district center of Bua over the weekend, Tatar Radio reported. The skirmish occurred when the militia tried to prevent a fight between two rival gangs. Deputy Interior Minister Renat Timerzyanov said in an interview with Tatar Radio on 5 October that none of the gang members were injured. He said that more than 100 participants of the melee were detained and the main organizers are still being held by law enforcement officials. The Prosecutor's Office is conducting an investigation into the incident.
Compiled by Gulnara Khasanova