In Kalmykia, the "Elista Panorama" newspaper was rejected of printing

The municipal newspaper named "Elista Panorama" was forced to print its circulation outside Kalmykia. The reason of the refusal to print the newspaper in the Republic, according to representatives of the mayoralty of Elista, was the indebtedness of the edition before the unique printing house in Kalmykia.

According to Angelica Gurskaya, adviser of the Mayor of Elista for working with mass media, on April 14 Director General of the only Republic's printing house - Closed Joint-Stock Company NPP "Dzhangar" refused to take the newspaper for printing, having referred to the indebtedness of previous years.

Meanwhile, according to Ms Gurskaya, the amicable agreement on settling the debt signed by the edition and the printing enterprise, is fulfilled under the schedule, and there is no current indebtedness.

In the opinion of Angelica Gurskaya, the newspaper was rejected of print because its editorial board, after the ban at the Republic's television of the weekly broadcast "On City Wave", was the only information resource of the mayoralty of Elista, covering the position of Radiy Bashirov, city mayor.

"I have no doubts that the head of the printing house is under the pressure of President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov," Ms Gurskaya told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"Moreover," as she continued, "at the Saturday's meeting of the Kalmykian leader with the municipality managers a lot was said about the information blockade against the "Elista Panorama" as a result of the conflict of the mayor of the capital and the head of the region. Starting from January 2008, the journalists of this edition cannot obtain information from the majority of the Republic's ministries, are not invited to official events, including the sessions of the government and the National Hural (Parliament) of the Republic of Kalmykia."