Space agreements with Ukraine, Brazil ratified

The State Duma (the lower chamber of Russian parliament) has ratified agreements on space cooperation with Ukraine and Brazil. The one between the Russian government and the Ukrainian cabinet of ministers on the movement of goods within the framework of cooperation in space exploration and in the creation and service of space rocketry and the missile technology was signed in February 2001. This agreement is intended, "with account for the mutual interests of Russia and Ukraine, to create a contemporary organisational and legal base for preserving and deepening integration contacts between organisations and enterprises in the space rocketry sectors of Russia and Ukraine, competitiveness on the international market of space services and technologies".

The agreement includes rules other than those obtaining in the Russian legislation. Particularly, exemption from duties and taxes of certain categories of goods brought to Russia which customs organs would otherwise have to handle.

The agreement which has been signed between the Russian and Brazilian governments on peaceful uses of space was inked back in November 1997. Now, ratification lays the ground for "reinvigorating relations with Brazil in the field of exploration and use of space for peaceful ends and the development of mutually beneficial cooperation in a series of promising directions in the creation and use of space technology". This agreement is also aimed at the creation of conditions required for strengthening, in Latin America, of Russian space and rocketry enterprises in this field of high-tech cooperation.