NEWS

President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev takes part in Republican New Year tree party held in the Basket-hall on December 27. The event gathered together gifted children, leader of children’s and youth public organisations, excellent pupils and inmates of children’s homes and boarding schools.

Yesterday, the President of the Republic of Tatarstan signed a decree announcing the coming year of 2005 to be The Year of the 1000th Anniversary of Kazan in the republic. This recognises the historical role of the Tatarstan capital in the development of Russian and Tatarstan statehood. The RT Cabinet of Ministers and Kazan city Administration have to ensure the social and economic development of the capital during the realisation of measures on preparation and carrying out the anniversary celebrations in Kazan.

Issues of Tatarstan-Azerbaijan cooperation and prospects of future joint projects in the field of culture were discussed today in the Kazan Kremlin by Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiev and UN Goodwill Ambassador for Oral and Musical Traditions Mekhriban Alieva. Mekhriban Alieva was designated as UN Goodwill Ambassador in September 2004. In 1995, she became President of the Foundation of “Friends of Azerbaijan culture” and a year later founded a magazine in the Azerbaijan, English and Russian languages to promote the culture of Azerbaijan in the country and abroad.

On December 10, President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev visited Aznakaevo, Tatarstan to take part in the opening ceremony of the Ice Palace “Altyn Alka”. The President’s agenda also included visits to Aznakaevsky plant “Neftemash” and public objects.

Security measures to be implemented in summer 2005 during celebrations of the 1000th Anniversary of Kazan were discussed by President Shaimiev and Russian Interior Troops Commander-in-Chief Colonel-General Nikolai Rogozhkin at the meeting in the Kazan Kremlin on December 7.

Discussions of Russian-Turkish relations and their prospects proceeded in Ankara on December 6, the second day of the official visit to Turkey by President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. The programme of the official delegation of the Russian Federation, in which President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev was included, started with the visit to the Ataturk Memorial. The spotlight was the meeting of President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Turkey Ahmet Sezer and negotiations on issues of development of bilateral cooperation.

On December 15, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin arrived in Ankara for a two-day official visit. Turkish President Ahmet Sezer met the head of the Russian state at the airport. As a member of the official delegation, Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiev arrived in Ankara an hour and a half before President Putin. At the airport he was met by Ambassador of Russia Petr Stegny, First Deputy Ministry of Finance of Turkey Hasan Atkan, and RT Plenipotentiary Representative in Turkey Ramil Mavlyutov.

On December 1, in the Kazan Kremlin President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Denmark to the Russian Federation Mr. Lars Vissing. Head of the Presidential Administration Mr. Ekzam Gubaidullin, RT Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Economy and Industry Mr. Alexei Pakhomov, General Manager of the European Institute of Environmental Energy (EIEE) Mr. Sten Stenstrup and other officials took part in the meeting.

The international specialised exhibition "Energy. Resources saving", which has already become a tradition, opened on December 1 in the Expo-centre "Kazan Fair". It is held in parallel with the 5th international symposium "Resources efficiency and power saving" and the exhibition-presentation of the enterprises and companies of the Kingdom of Denmark in the field of development of energy and water sectors. President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev, RT Prime Minister Rustam Minnikhanov and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Denmark to the Russian Federation Lars Vissing opened the exposition.

Tatarstan is prepared to launch a pilot project in the Russian Federation to fight corruption. On November 30, at the session attended by RT President Mintimer Shaimiev, the RT Security Council approved the strategy of the republic's anti-corruption policy. The work over this document started after the Decree of the President was signed on July 12, 2004, it set up the Commission for the development of the strategy of the anti-corruption policy in the republic, headed by RT First Deputy Prime Minister Ravil Muratov.