By empty (8/31/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Chinese embassy officials met with Tatarstan officials on 29 August to express their interest in purchasing land in that republic for Chinese to farm, RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service reported. When told they cannot purchase land there, the Chinese said that they are willing to rent land, since that is possible. (RFE/RL).

By empty (8/30/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Ilham Aliev, the first deputy president of SOCAR oil company and the son of President Heidar Aliev, said on 30 August that Baku does not want to increase the tariffs it will pay Georgia for the transit of oil, but that it understands the pressure Georgia is under from the World Bank to get more and will seek a negotiated settlement. At the same time, Ilham Aliev said that "the World Bank should not interfere in the relations of the two friendly states." (Turan).

By empty (8/30/2001 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Interior Ministry officials in Daghestan said on 29 August that an oil pipeline there burst following an explosion, Russia and Western news agencies reported. The officials said that the most likely explanation for the leak is "a terrorist act," but they indicated that it might have been caused by criminals seeking to divert oil from the pipeline without paying for it. No oil was being pumped through the pipeline at the time of the blast -- Azerbaijan had already filled its quota for August -- and as a result, there was only a minor spill of oil into the Caspian Sea.