Privileged grain transportation tariffs may be extended - Medvedev

MICHURINSK, July 26 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
believes privileged grain transportation tariffs may be extended.
"As for long-term solutions on privileged tariffs for five years or
something like that, it would be a worthy step from the state," the
president said at a meeting on the grain market situation.
"I do not know whether it is possible with due account of the
financial situation and so on and so forth, but it would be possible to
practice it, if not for five years, but so that the producers could make
some plans," he noted.
The grain producers offered Dmitry Medvedev to make privileged grain
transportation tariffs five years in effect, particularly for Siberia and
the Far East.
"We have a systematic problem. The Federal Tariff and Duties Service
approves the tariff rates before December 31 of each year and extends the
rates each year, if it is decided to keep the privileged tariffs," the
president of the Russian Grain Union Arkady Zlochevsky said at a meeting
chaired by the Russian president. He asked the president "to make a
long-term solution" for Siberia and the Far East.
"It is extremely important for investments. Just for five years,"
Zlochevsky said, noting that many investments were lost due the current
rules to extend the privileged tariffs each year. He noted that extended
privileged grain transportation tariffs are a vital measure.
"I would like to ask for making the situation quite opposite (a longer
distance from Siberia as compared with southern Russia) as for the tariff
rates, which we had in the previous season on domestic shipments from
Siberia - 70% of a discounted tariff rate for the distance of over 100
kilometers, from the south - over 300 kilometers," the president of the
Russian grain union said.

.Kadyrov fires all deputies of Grozny mayor, chiefs of departments.

GROZNY, July 26 (Itar-Tass) -- Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov
dismissed all deputies of the Grozny mayor and the chiefs of the
departments for violations in the land and flat deals.
"I had a meeting at the Grozny mayor's office, where were found
violations in the use and distribution of lands and flats and, therefore,
decided to fire all deputies of the Grozny mayor and the chiefs of the
departments," the Chechen president said at a meeting with the republican
chief law enforcers.
Kadyrov noted that many problems were found in this issue and the
republican authorities should combat corruption. "I instructed the Grozny
mayor to reshuffle the lineup of the mayor's office," the Chechen leader
said.
For his part, Chechen Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov noted that
seven bribe-taking cases and three bribe-giving cases were exposed in the
republic from the beginning of this year.
"Six bribers were found and the criminal cases on eight crimes were
passed to court. A total of 104 crimes against the republican authorities
were exposed in the Chechen Republic and the criminal cases against 20
defendants were passed to court," Alkhanov underlined.
-0-baz