Kazan has bid farewell to Vasily Likhachev

(KZN.RU, April 10). Today in Kazan, a civil funeral and a farewell ceremony with Vasily Likhachev, the chairman of the State Council of the RT of the first convocation, politician and diplomat were held in the Tatar State Philharmonia of G. Tukay. The heart of a famous public figure stopped on April 8 at the age of 68.

Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, Vasil Shaikhraziev, the deputy prime minister of the RT, Yuri Kamaltynov, the deputy chairman of the State Council of the RT, Rimma Ratnikova, the deputy chairperson of the State Council of the RT, Ravil Akhmetshin, the deputy prime minister of the RT and the plenipotentiary representative of the RT in the RF, veterans, representatives of academia and the public came to farewell Vasily Likhachev. Hundreds of Kazan residents took part in the civil funeral, many of whom worked or studied together with Vasily Likhachev.

Yury Kamaltynov, the deputy chairman of the State Council of the RT, expressed condolences to the relatives and friends on behalf of the deputies of the parliament of the republic.

Vasil Shaikhraziev, the deputy prime minister, opened the mourning ceremony. In particular, he marked that the politician made an invaluable personal contribution to the formation of the modern statehood of the republic. As head of the State Council of the RT, Vasily Likhachev did a lot to strengthen the role and increase the authority of the parliament. “His professionalism, intelligence, responsiveness, and a sense of responsibility manifested themselves in all areas of his work”, emphasized Vasil Shaihraziev. “Business and human qualities, respectful attitude towards people have brought Vasily Likhachev the deserved authority both in our republic and far beyond its borders”.

“Today, many of us remember the years of joint work, study, friendship with Vasily Likhachev”, Yury Kamaltynov addressed the audience. “He headed the newly created legislative body, the State Council of the first convocation. And of course, many of the innovations of parliamentary activities: the first parliamentary hearings, the government clock, and even the first Christmas tree for children from poor families were associated with his name”.

Yury Kamaltynov noted that Vasily Likhachev headed the parliament of the republic at a difficult time, requiring consideration of many opinions. During this period, the mechanism of work of conciliation commissions, the legal basis for the functioning of the Constitutional Court, and the institution of the Commissioner for Human Rights were developed. “We can talk about him for a long time, it was a high-ranking, intelligent, god-chosen man”, concluded Yuri Kamaltynov.

Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, called Vasily Likhachev a politician of Russian scale. The head of the city noted that he was a student of V. Likhachev during his studies at Kazan University, and later in the municipal service. At the same time, V. Likhachev always helped his students with wise advice and supported them, noted the Mayor of Kazan.

In a conversation with journalists, Rimma Ratnikova, the deputy chairperson of the State Council of the RT, noted that the sudden death of Vasily Likhachev was taken as a blow. “He was a man of high political culture, able to understand that people may have different opinions. And that different opinions are very important in society, that they should be able to express”, she marked. “We lost a great politician. When a person is alive, one cannot always evaluate it. You begin to understand the whole value when the person’s gone. It's hard to talk about it”.

Vasily Likhachev was buried in Arskoe cemetery of Kazan, reports the press service of the State Council of the RT.