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| | Publication : The Republic of Tatarstan (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-26) |
 | | In Tatarstan, the state council, or legislature, is firmly in the president's pocket, with two-thirds of its seats filled with his appointees, from local administration heads to the prime minister to directors of state-owned factories. |
 | | Tatneft, the local oil company that is the source of much of the republic's wealth, is publicly traded, but firmly under the regional government's control, as are all its major petrochemical factories. |
 | | For five years, Tatarstan has been able to keep half of its federal tax revenues, an arrangement heavily criticized in Moscow but widely applauded here, where the standard of living is among the highest in Russia. |
| www.tatar.ru /index.php?wrap=61&page=2&node_id=1379&full=738 (1802 words) |
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