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Acting President Putin said while the first President Boris Yeltsin had encouraged the Russian constituent entities to “take as much sovereignty as you can swallow”, and this was justified at the time, the priority task at present was to bring regional laws in conformity with the country’s Constitution. Mr Putin explained that the existing differences often hindered the economic development of the regions.

Mr Putin commended the system proposed by Tatar President Mintimer Shaimiyev on improving relations between the republic and the federal government, which stipulates the adoption of a number of federal programmes for the development of Tatarstan.

Mr Putin emphasised the need to consolidate the common constitutional, legal and economic space in Russia. But any efforts along those lines should not affect the lives of ordinary people, he stressed.

The Tatar President, who also communicated with the media, underlined that the Tatar Constitution was adopted before the Russian one currently in force, and that explained the differences between the two documents. He agreed with Mr Putin on the need to bring the republican Constitution in conformity with the Russian principal law.