NEWS

A presentation of the project “The World Summer Universiade of 2013 in Kazan” will be made at the Olympics-2010 in Vancouver. Oleg Matytsin informed about it today.
According to his words, the Universiade-2013 presentation will be held in Vancouver at the Russian House on February 13 as part of the all-Russian programme of Kazan Universiade-2013 promotion among the world public. Oleg Matytsin emphasized that the presentation would give an opportunity to show how effectively Tatarstan prepares for the Universiade and which steps had already been accomplished.

The III All-Russia Kazan Islamic book fair will be held at Kazan Mosque Marjani on June 1-14.
Large Russian Islamic publishing houses will take part in the fair-exhibition. Other participants will include Russian Islamic University, the Muslim Library for the Blind, Dagestan Muslim Religious Board and other organizations.

The 28th International Opera Festival named after Fyodor Shalyapin opens on February 8 on the stage of Jalil Tatar Academic State Theatre of Opera and Ballet. This year, it has gathered a fascinating entry-list – some 40 performers from the largest Russian theatres and abroad. The festival programme consists of 10 shows – Jalil Tatar Theatre of Opera and Ballet’s best staging of the recent years. Two gala-concerts will close the festival.

The Kazan Motor Building Production Association, KMPO, in 2010 expects an increase in sales by comparison with 2009. According to the company’s press service, the sales are to grow 5.6 percent.

In August 2010, Kazan is likely to host a large-scale tennis tournament on the basis of the Tennis Academy.
”Most likely, we will hold a women’s tournament with the prize fund of 75 thousand dollars here. That will be the start of organization measures for the Universaide-2013 preparation,” Russia’s Tennis Federation Vice-President Vladimir Lazarev sain on Sunday.

The international conference ‘Islamic Revolution in Iran: civilizational phenomenon and perspectives’ will open in Kazan on February 9. Quite a representative delegation of the Islamic republic of Iran led by Prof. Dr. Hassan Rahimpour Azghadi, a member of the Higher Council of the cultural revolution in Iran, arrived in Kazan to take part in the conference.

February 6, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev met with Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiev. The Head of Russia expressed his gratitude to the current President of the Republic of Tatarstan for his many years of leadership and his contribution to the development of confederate relations in Russia.
Dmitri Medvedev also said that he had signed an executive order awarding Mintimer Shaimiev the Order for Services to the Fatherland, III degree.

The delegation of Tatarstan of 18 people will take part in the Maslenitsa Russian Festival to take place from 5 to 9 February in London.

TAIF-NK, a subsidiary of the Tatarstan-based TAIF holding company, could borrow up to $1.95 billion to build heavy oil residue conversion plant, the holding's company's general director, Albert Shigabutdinov, told Interfax.
Shigabutdinov said the project might cost $2.3 billion overall, and that no more than 80%-85% of this would have to be borrowed.
TAIF-NK itself is financing the initial stage, consisting of design and license acquisition.
Alexander Babynin, general director of TAIF-NK, told Interfax that the company had signed front-end engineering contracts with the UK division of UOP Limited in October for mechanical dewaxing and hydrocracking units and to acquire the technology at a cost of more than $10 million. The plans should be ready in April, after which a third technology, heavy residue gasification and hydrogen separation, will be acquired.
The whole complex should be built in 2014. It will push TAIF-NK's overall throughput capacity up to 9.1 million tonnes from 8.2 million tonnes of crude and refining depth to 95%.