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investigator at 4:45 p.m. He testified as a witness in a case of forged documents, it said.
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian law enforcement agencies provided data on some foreign attempts to recruit employees of the Investigation Committee in the Prosecutor's Office of Russia; the Investigation Committee leaders have not provided this information, it said.
"This information was published at the session by representatives of the law enforcement agencies. Investigation Committee leaders have not provided this information," Investigation Committee official Vladimir Markin said.
According to earlier reports, the committee employees "became a priority target for western special services and terrorist organizations," said one of the participants of the session chaired by Investigation Committee head Alexander Bastrykhin.
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax-AVN) - The overall crime rate in Russia's armed forces is declining but the amount of embezzlement by officers is rising, a source in the upper house of parliament said, citing a report that Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika is due to present to a house session on Friday.
In 2007, 545 members of the armed forces were killed as a result of crimes or accidents, but the general crime rate in the military was 20% lower than in 2006, the source said, citing the report.
Serious crimes such as murder, attempted murder and suicide- provoking treatment showed a trend to decrease in number, the source said.
At the same time, crime among officers remains a problem.
Embezzlement made up the bulk of last year's 3,700 recorded crimes by officers. "As a result, damages in that year alone more than doubled in amount and reached more than 1 billion rubles," the source quoted the report as saying.
Offenses relating to social security remain widespread in the armed forces, the source said.
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia's Prosecutor General's Office is alarmed with violations of law in prisons.
The prosecutor's checking has detected numerous offenses of the law on procedure of examination of applications from Russian prisoners. "The prisoners complaints concern illegal use of force, special means, insufficient supply of basic necessities and medicines, abuse of office, as well as illegal incarceration in punitive cells," Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika will say in his address to the Federation Council on Friday.
A source in the Federation Council familiar with the contents of the report told Interfax that last year the Prosecutor General's Office asked the prime minister "to instruct the Justice Ministry to take additional measures to eliminate the offenses and to ensure that the rights of prisoners be observed unconditionally."
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax-AVN) - The percentage of unsolved crimes has decreased slightly, but they still account for over half of all crimes in Russia, Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika said.
"Over 1.8 million of 3.58 million crimes were not solved last year. Almost half of them are serious crimes, every seventh is a murder," Chaika said in the Federation Council on Friday.
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Crime rate in Russia has decreased, Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika said.
"It is for the first time over the past five years that the growth in the number of registered crimes has not only slowed, but gone down 7%," Chaika said at the Federation Council on Friday.
The number of murders in the country has gone down almost 20%, Chaika added.
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax-AVN) - The work of Russian law enforcement agencies in the fight against corruption is unsatisfactory, Prosecutor General Yury Chaika said.
"The organization of the activity of all law enforcement agencies in the area of fighting corruption related crimes needs serious attention. The number of crimes exposed decreased almost 3% last year. This situation does not correspond to the reality at all," Chaika said delivering an annual report at the Federation Council on Friday.
"The need to reassess the criteria of the efficiency of fight against corruption has matured. It should be directed at exposing systemic corruption patterns and mechanisms," Chaika said.
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax-AVN) - The number of arrests imposed on suspects and defendants is unreasonably high, Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika said.
"The number of complaints from individuals concerning investigation has doubled and is growing, which is one of the main signs of ill-being. The wide use of custody as a pre-trial restriction measure is inconsistent with the crime situation," Chaika said at the Federation Council on Friday.
More than 90% petitions for remanding in custody lodged by investigators are being accepted, he said. "Currently, over 30% of defendants charged with misdemeanors are remanded in custody, and more than 70% of them subsequently get a punishment other than imprisonment," the prosecutor general said.
At the same time, "based on complaints from Russian citizens, the European Court made a number of conclusions that clearly suggest that the severity of a committed offense per se is not an absolute ground for arresting an individual, and we are being charged considerable sums of money for that," Chaika said.
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax-AVN) - The illegal use of Russian forests is turning into a "threatening" situation, Prosecutor General Yury Chaika said.
"Last year the Prosecutor General's Office unearthed a whole stratum of environmental problems related with irrational use of our rich natural resources, and illegal use of forests, wooded areas and the sale of lumber and other forest resources," Chaika said at the Federation Council on Friday.
"The increasing scale of illegal harvesting and export of timber today poses a threat not only to Russia's economic interests, but also to its environmental safety," the prosecutor general said.
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax) - The direct murderer of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya has been identified.
"The direct murderer of Politkovskaya has been identified. Every measure to search for and apprehend this person is being taken," representative of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office Vyacheslav Smirnov said in a military court.
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax) - The investigation of the Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya murder case has been extended until September 7, 2008, representative of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office Vyacheslav Smirnov said in a military court on Friday.
Thus, the investigation was extended up to 23 months, the prosecutor said.
"Nine people, including [former FSB officer Pavel] Ryaguzov, are being brought to criminal account within the framework of this case," Smirnov said.
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax) - The Moscow Garrison Military Court has met the prosecutor's motion and prolonged the term in custody for former FSB officer Pavel Ryaguzov, who is involved in the Novaya Gazeta journalist Ann Politkovskaya murder case, until August 21.
The court ruled "to prolong the term in custody for Pavel Ryaguzov for four months and 14 days - 12 months in total - until August 21, 2008," the judge said at the hearing.
Ryaguzov is accused of "establishing the abiding dwelling of Politkovskaya and giving this information to Burayev [a suspect in the Politkovskaya murder case]," the judge said.
Ryaguzov was charged with abduction, extortion and breach of the inviolability of dwelling on August 24, 2007, prosecutor Vyacheslav Smirnov said at the hearing. Charges of abuse of office were brought against the former FSB officer on September 17, 2007, the prosecutor added.
The period of investigating the Politkovskaya murder case was extended up to September 7, 2008 at the hearing as well, Smirnov said.
MOSCOW. March 24 (Interfax) - United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) has offered to purchase shares in Russian aircraft maker Irkut (RTS: IRKT) at 22.28 rubles per share, UAC reported.
The offer, which is effective from March 24 to June 11, aims to net 49.9% of shares (488.048 million).
Irkut shareholders will also have the opportunity to exchange their shares for UAC shares from a supplementary issue that could be announced in the second quarter 2008. The exchange coefficients will be calculated based on a valuation to be carried out by an independent appraiser. The parameters for the valuation are to be approved by the board.
The highest quote for Irkut shares on March 21 was $0.92 per share (21.875 rubles) on the RTS exchange and 20.816 rubles on MICEX.
The value of Irkut shares was computed based on the weighted-average price of shares in exchange trading over the six months preceding submission of the share offer to the Federal Financial Market Service (FFMS).
UAC's first offer for Irkut shares, made in January 2007, offered to pay 29.19 rubles per share. The FFMS rejected the offer because it was made without bank guarantees.
UAC currently controls 50.09% of Irkut shares, including 38.22% contributed by private shareholders and 11.89% held by Sukhoi. EADS, the European aerospace concern, owns 10% of Irkut shares, which it plans to exchange for shares in UAC.
The private shareholders in Irkut are themselves shareholders in UAC: CJSC Company FTK controls 6.95% in UAC, Auditors LLC has 2.2% and Fin Market - 0.75%. The state owns 90.1% of UAC.
UAC was legally obligated to make a share purchase offer after acquiring 38.2% of Irkut shares in January 2007. After the FFMS initially rejected the offer, UAC shareholders approved the bank guarantee issue on July 30. UAC has only now announced its offer to purchase Irkut shares.
UAC earlier announced plans to move Irkut onto consolidated shares in 2008.
Irkut, Russia's leading military and civilian aircraft manufacturer, produces the Sukhoi Su-30 and Su-27 fighters, as well as the Beriev Be-200 multipurpose amphibious aircraft. It unites a number of leading Russian aircraft design bureaus and manufacturers including Irkutsk Aviation Production Association, Beriev Aircraft Company (TANTK Beriev) and OKB Yakovlev design bureau.
The company's charter capital is split into 978.132 million 3-ruble shares.
MOSCOW. March 24 (Interfax-AVN) - A Russian Cosmos-3M rocket will put into orbit a German reconnaissance satellite SAR-Lupe on Tuesday evening.
"The Plesetsk spaceport is readying for the launch of the Cosmos-3M rocket carrying the SAR-Lupe satellite. The launch is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. Moscow time on March 25," Federal Space Agency spokesman Alexander Vorobyov told Interfax-AVN.
"This launch will make the German radar reconnaissance cluster operational, so it is of paramount importance," he said in a statement posted on the Khrunichev Aerospace Center's website.
Three SAR-Lupe satellites launched onboard Cosmos-3M rockets in 2006-2007 are functioning successfully. All in all, the cluster will be made up of five satellites.
The satellites are being launched from an instruction of the Russian government and in compliance with a contract Rosoboronexport, the Polyot federal unitary enterprise and Germany's OHB-System signed in 2003.
The first satellite of this kind was launched from Plesetsk on December 19, 2006; the second on July 2, 2007; and the third on November 1, 2007.
MOSCOW. March 24 (Interfax-AVN) - A new product of the Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems based in the city of Zheleznogorsk on the Krasnoyarsk territory, the Glonass-K satellite, will be put into orbit in 2009, the Federal Space Agency said.
The new satellite will have a service life of over ten years.
"The previous modifications had a service life of seven years. The Glonass-K will have the third L-band frequency for higher precision. The precision of the positioning signal may double as compared to the Glonass-M," the agency said.
The satellite's weight will halve, the agency said. "Therefore, launch expenditures will reduce, because the satellite will be carried by a lighter vehicle," the agency noted.
In contrast to the Glonass-M, the Glonass-K will have a new non-pressurized platform, which will carry additional equipment for rescuing people in distress. The last Glonass-M will be replaced with the Glonass-K in 2018.
MOSCOW. March 24 (Interfax) - United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) will receive a 5% stake in European aerospace concern EADS in the second half of 2008, UAC chief Alexei Fyodorov told journalists in Moscow.
"We will buy the EADS shares, or actually, it will be a swap. I think the decision will come in the second half of this year," Fyodorov said.
VEB currently owns the 5% EADS stake, which it acquired from VTB (RTS: VTBR) last December for 995 million euro.
VEB plans to transfer the stake to UAC in return for a 38% stake in Ilyushin Finance leasing company and shares in UAC. VEB deputy head Anatoly Ballo earlier said VEB is counting on receiving a 20% stake in UAC.
MOSCOW. March 24 (Interfax) - The delivery of Sukhoi Superjets (SSJ) may be delayed, United Aircraft Corporation President Alexei Fyodorov said.
"The delivery schedule is very tight. I do not rule out that the deliveries may be postponed," he said.
Fyodorov said that the date of the new plane's certification would soon become known. That will be done when Sukhoi and its component, Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, complete the tests, he said.
Most probably, the first client, Aeroflot - Russian Airlines (RTS: AFLT), will receive the Superjet with a delay, he said. So far, the client does not plan to issue any fines. "I think no fines will be paid," he added.
The tests are continuing and the first test-run of SSJ engines was made this February. Earlier Sukhoi Civil Aircraft planned to make the first flight of the Sukhoi Superjet 100 before the end of 2007. The company said this year that the flight would be made in March.
The Sukhoi Superjet 100 series will have three modifications for 75 to 95 passengers. The planes will have the SaM146 engines jointly designed by the French company Snecma and the Russian company Saturn.
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft has 73 confirmed Superjet orders.
MOSCOW. March 24 (Interfax) - The Russian government's Military- Industrial Commission will discuss on Tuesday a strategy for the development of defense enterprises manufacturing conventional weapons.
"The strategy provides for increasing the output 1.3 times by 2010, and 2.2 by 2015," First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
Ivanov will chair Tuesday's meeting of the Commission.
In addition to this, he said, the share of high-tech civilian products manufactured by these enterprises will increase to 53% by 2010 and to 59% by 2015, he said.
"This means that the share of civilian products, manufactured by the defense industry complex, must continue to expand," Ivanov said.
The Military-Industrial Commission will also discuss tentative state order parameters for 2009, said Ivanov.
KYIV. March 25 (Interfax-AVN) - The first launch of the Zenit-2SLB carrier with the Amos-3 satellite of the Israel Aircraft Industry (IAI) under the Land Launch project has been set for April 24. The launch vehicle will blast off Baikonur, the Ukrainian-Russian project operator, International Space Services (MKU), told Interfax-AVN.
Two more launches figure on the plan for 2008 - the satellites MiaSat-1R and Telstar-11, both ordered by Intelsat, U.S.
A spokesman for MKU said that Land Launch has seven firm launch contracts in its portfolio for 2008-10.
According to Sea Launch, the program of launches for 2008 has six sea launches and three land launches from Baikonur. Two launches were carried out this year with the Zenit-3SL carrier, the most recent one on March 20 with the DirecTV-11 satellite, weighing 5,923 kilograms and ordered by DIRECTV Inc of the U.S.
Since 1999, 26 launches have been carried out under the program, of which 24 were successful.
MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax-AVN) - Sukhoi Civil Aircraft (SCA) plans the first test flight of its Sukhoi Superjet-100 (SSJ) regional plane within a month, a spokesman for the company told Interfax-AVN.
"The plane is going through the last test cycle - the first ready-to-fly model will take off within a month. There were some problems but they have been removed," the spokesman said.
Late last month, the company promised that the first test flight of the SSJ will take place at the end of March.
The SaM146 engines installed on the Sukhoi Superjet-100 were first switched on in February.
Initially scheduled for September 2007, the SSJ's first flight was postponed until December, and then until January and February.
The company hoped to score 100 orders for the SSJ by the end of 2007 but has only managed 73 so far.
The Sukhoi Superjet-100 will exist in three modifications capable of carrying between 75 and 95 passengers.
The SaM146 engines were co-produced by French company Snecma and Russia's Saturn.
MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax-AVN) - The Ilyushin Finance Co. leading company has signed a preliminary agreement with the Voronezh based Polet Airlines to supply three Il-76TD-90 transport aircraft, Ilyushin's spokesman told Interfax-AVN.
The memorandum with Polet provides for the start of the deliveries in 2009, he added.
The parties to the deal are going to agree the details in the near future.
MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian GLONASS global navigation satellite system will allow countries to be independent on the U.S. GPS positioning system in navigation matters, thinks Yury Zaitsev, an advisor with the Engineering Academy of Russia.
"GLONASS' operation in parallel with the U.S. GPS will provide all consumers independently of the country access to navigation services, which is critical for those nations who do not want to rely only on somewhat controlled from overseas," he told Interfax-AVN, noting that civilian customers from foreign countries consider GLONASS to be an alternative of GPS in case latter's malfunctions or intentional input of errors.
Zaitsev added that GPS distortion of signals is quite a frequent practice. For instance, Russian aviators encountered them during the counterterrorism in Chechnya, when helicopter-mounted GPS simply stopped receiving signals or received them with great distortions. Sometimes the errors of positioning exceeded 800 m, though the precision of 1 meter was claimed to be the feature of GPS. It was only thanks to GLONASS that the combat operations were carried on.
The U.S. used their capability to influence GPS signal precision intensively during the active phase of the war in Iraq, he said.
In 2006 the U.S. announced the decision to stop using intentional precision reduction system of the GPS, which caused a significant improvement in the precision of global positioning for GPS operators worldwide. However, the U.S. reserved a right of selective access, which allows it to input errors into positioning signals if required.
"There are multiple reports from operators in different corners of the globe that GPS signals are intentionally made inaccurate. Such U.S. moves may lead to an increase of foreigners to the Russian GLONASS and ground reception stations capable of receiving signals from two or three different positioning systems," Zaitsev said.
MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax-AVN) - Leading Russian designers and manufacturers of military hardware will exhibit their products at the 7th special operation forces show in Amman, Jordan, from March 31 to April 3, the Federal Military-Technical Cooperation Service has reported.
"The Russian exhibit will comprise products manufactured by the Bazalt defense-industry enterprise, the Novosibirsk instrument-building plant, the Kazan optics and mechanics enterprise, the Podolsk electrical engineering plant, and also the enterprises Elektromashina and Kupol mechanical plant in Izhevsk. Over 340 military-purpose products will be on display," the federal service said in a press release on Tuesday.
The SOFEX shows have been held since 1996 once every two years under the patronage of King Abdullah II. It is one of several specialized shows held in the Middle East and North Africa.
The exhibit features armaments, military hardware, and technical means and equipment intended for special operations, the press release says.
MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax-AVN) - The development of the SaM146 engine to propel Sukhoi Superjet 100 is going in compliance with the schedule agreed between the Saturn research and production association and Sukhoi Commercial Aircraft Co., Saturn's press service said in a statement, received by Interfax-AVN on Tuesday.
It calls false some mass media reports concerning the delays in engine production. "Provided that some mass media misinterpreted some extracts from the Saturn COE Mikhail Kuzmenko's interview, we would like to make it clear that SaM146 engine development meets the agreed schedule," reads the company's press release.
The first launch of the engine as part of SSJ100 was made on February 20. Sukhoi Commercial Aircraft Co. is now preparing the aircraft for the first flight, it says, noting that the flight tests of the engine with the Il-76LL flying lab continues. The engine was first tested in air on December 6, 2007.
The ground and flight tests of the engine proved the announced test life of the engine as equal to 80 flights and 180 flight hours, which is quite enough to start certification flights.
MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax-AVN) - There are plans to develop a dedicated patrol aircraft from the Il-114 short-haul plane.
"The list of requirements is being drafted for the development of a new patrol aircraft for law enforcement agencies from the Il-114 plane," a source in the Russian defense industry told Interfax-AVN on Tuesday, noting that the development of such an aircraft was included in the State Arms Acquisition program until 2015.
The aircraft will be available both for domestic and foreign operators, with Venezuela already showing quite some interest in it.
"The talks with Venezuela over supplies of Il-114-based patrol aircraft has been on for almost a year now. According to preliminary agreements, the country is going to buy as many as 20 planes," he said, adding that Italian companies were invited to take part in the project. "Talks have been held with Italian partners on the use of their avionics in the aircraft," the source said.
The aircraft will be propelled by either Russian Klimov TV7-117SM engine or a Pratt & Whitney one in export configuration.
The patrol Il-114 version still is unlikely to replace in-service Il-38s because the aircraft are of the different type.
MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax-AVN) - First Deputy Chief of Armament Lt. Gen. Andrey Tyulin has said that as many as 20 billion Russian rubles are necessary for Defense Ministry's research, development and test facilities to continue effective operation.
"The MoD has developed a target program to improve testing activities of the Russian Armed Force during the period from 2009 to 2011. There are plans to earmark 20 billion rubles for the purpose. The program is undergoing a confirmation phase, and is likely to be approved soon," he said during the Tuesday meeting of the Federation Council's Defense and Security Committee, which addressed prospects of research and development activities in the Armed Forces.
Half of the sum is to be used for maintenance of test facilities and ranges and acquisition of new pieces of equipment and materiel to be employed in the research and development process. "Another eight billion will be paid to ensure repairs and retrofits of test centers, while the remainder will be used for social support of scientists and researchers and their dependants," the general said.
He confirmed that the research and development complex of the Russian Armed Forces is in a difficult situation now, which cannot help influencing the process of tests of new weapons for the Armed Forces.
MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax-AVN) - The Ilyushin aviation complex is developing an initial flight training aircraft for the Russian Air Force from its Il-103 plane.
"The experimental aircraft has already been assembled. The preliminary flight tests were held in Lukhovitsy last year, and now retrofitting is in progress to improve the shortcomings revealed," a source in the Russian defense industry told Interfax-AVN, noting that as soon as it is done, the agreement is likely to be signed with the Ministry of Defense on acquisition of the first batch of aircraft for the Russian Air Force.
According to him, there is a need for several dozen aircraft.
The four-seated single-engined Il-1093 is mass produced at the MIG corporation's facility in Moscow region's Lukhovitsy. The aircraft is propelled by the IO-360ES piston engine developing 210 hp.
The max takeoff weight of the aircraft is 1,310 kg. It has the max horizontal speed of 220 km/h, the range of 800 km and the run/roll of 380/320 m.
MOSCOW. Marcy 26 (Interfax-AVN) - The share of civilian products in the overall output of Russian defense enterprises is to reach 60% by 2015, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said.
"The production of conventional weapons is to increase by 30% by 2010 against 2006, and by 120% by 2015. The share of civilian products in this segment of the military-industrial complex is to grow to 53% in 2010 and 59.6% in 2015," Ivanov told the Russian government's Defense Industry Commission in Moscow on Wednesday.
The Commission will discuss, among other issues, a draft strategy for the development of the conventional weapons industry for the period ending in 2015, Ivanov said.
MOSCOW. March 26 (Interfax-AVN) - The Sukhoi company invites graduates of Russian higher education institutions to take part in the production of civilian and military aircraft at company's manufacturing facilities.
Progressive youth is invited for cooperation in the framework of the comprehensive human resources program, led by the Novosibirsk Chkalov aircraft association, reads Sukhoi press release, received by Interfax-AVN on Wednesday.
The association is now faces large-scale challenges, posed by the increased state defense order and introduction of new types of products, including the state-of-the-art Su-34 tactical bomber. Sukhoi handed over two such aircraft to the Russian Air Force last year. Pilots have started retraining to master these aircraft, with several more of them to be assembled in 2008.
"The factory is also largely involved into Sukhoi's Superjet 100 regional airliner program and the fifth-generation fighter development program. Both require professional human resources and progressive minded young employees," the press service of the company says.
The system approach to human resources has helped the company to change the cadre situation for the better, with more than 1,500 more people employed last year, with the total headcount reaching 7,000.
KAZAN. March 26 (Interfax-AVN) - Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiyev met with JSC Aeroflot Chairman Viktor Ivanov, dual-hatted as an Assistant to the Russian President, in Moscow on Wednesday to discuss possible award of contracts for aircraft production to the Kazan Gorbunov aircraft association (KAPO).
The meeting was attended by plant's CEO Vasil Kayumov, the Tatarstan president's press service has said.
KAPO is a manufacturer of Tu-214, Tu-334 short-haul, Tu-324 regional and Tu-330 cargo aircraft.
MOSCOW. March 27 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, who also chairs the board of Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), has denied allegations that UAC will start regular manufacture of Sukhoi Superjet regional aircraft later than scheduled.
"UAC has never announced an exact date for finishing the tests of Sukhoi Superjet," Ivanov told reporters in Moscow.
"As any new aircraft, it needs extremely close attention from the viewpoint of safety. I may assure you that the Sukhoi corporation and the entire United Aircraft Corporation see Sukhoi Superjet as one of its top projects and work round the clock developing software in order to get the aircraft into the air and start testing it as soon as possible," he said.
"Unlike in Soviet years, we aren't planning to take years to test this aircraft; we are planning that the entire series of tests will take less than a year on condition that all the work on the ground is done conscientiously," Ivanov said.
The deputy premier said UAC is not spending longer on in-flight tests than leading world aircraft manufacturers do, which is one to two years.
"We are not going to fall behind schedule," Ivanov said.
MOSCOW. March 27 (Interfax-AVN) - Fields in the Vitim uranium province in Buryatia could hold 100,000-150,000 tonnes of uranium overall, including C1+C2 reserves of 55,000 tonnes, Vadim Zhivov, general director of the state uranium mining holding company Atomredmetzoloto, said at a meeting with Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn, the internal Russian republic's president.
OJSC Khiagda, which the holding runs and which will become a subsidiary of Atomredmetzoloto, is developing uranium fields in the province.
Khiagda mined 26 tonnes of uranium in a pilot phase in 2007, and could mine 120 tonnes in 2008. The company has drafted a feasibility study for a mining operation to produce 1,000 tonnes per year, but the province contains enough uranium to double this to 2,000 tonnes in 2015, Atomredmetzoloto believes.
MOSCOW. March 27 (Interfax-AVN) - The Konus detector designed in Russia and installed on the U.S. Wind spacecraft has registered the brightest space gamma-ray burst.
"An emission of such brightness could be observed with a naked eye. Throughout the whole history of observation only a few of such gamma-ray bursts have been registered," chief spokesman for the Russian Space Agency (Roskosmos) Alexander Vorobyov told Interfax-AVN.
The burst was registered on March 19 and its maximum luminosity exceeded the sixth stellar magnitude, he said. The favorable location of the Wind spacecraft in inter-planetary space made it possible to make more than fifty pictures of gamma-ray emission.
"Detailed comparison of the findings from the Wind-Konus experiment with data from earth observations will provide new information on the nature and mechanism of the generation of giant streams of electromagnetic radiation in the sources of gamma-ray bursts," Vorobyov said.
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and Rosnanotekh Corporation signed a cooperation agreement on Friday.
"We will be making nanomaterials and nanosystems with unparalleled operating qualities," Roscosmos head Anatoly Perminov said after the ceremony.
Rosnanotekh General Director Leonid Melamed signed the agreement on behalf of his corporation.
The sides will form a system of technological forecasting and choose the most topical directions of developing nanomaterials for the aerospace industry.
TULA, Russia. March 24 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia will export twenty- four Pantsir-S1 combined surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery systems in 2008, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said.
Ivanov made the announcement after a conference on organizing the regular manufacture of Pantsir-S1 systems.
"None of the conference participants has any doubts that the 24 [systems] will be supplied this year," he said.
Most of the tests of Pantsir-S1 are over, Ivanov said.
Pantsir-S1 systems are manufactured by the Instrument Design Bureau (KBP), a Tula-based developer and manufacturer of precision weapons.
MOSCOW. March 24 (Interfax) - The Federal Industry Agency (Rosprom) believes that the main reason why Algeria dropped its $1.5 billion contract for 36 MiG-29SMT fighters, 15 of which have already been delivered, must be political.
"Apparently the reasons for renouncing the Algerian contract lie in the sphere of politics. This is not a question of industry. Each country looks for allies itself and the sphere of armaments is also a sphere of looking for allies," Rosprom Deputy Head Andrei Dutov said in an interview published in Vedomosti on Monday.
He did not specify the political difficulties related to the Algerian contract. "Rosprom is implementing the industrial policy, not dealing with foreign policy issues," he said.
Dutov said that Algeria's decision to return the Russian fighters will not badly damage the industry because the Russian Defense Ministry has shown great interest in the aircraft.
ALGIERS/MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Air Force will receive fifteen MiG-29SMT fighter jets soon.
"After they return from Algeria, the MiG-29SMTs will be assigned to the Russian Air Force. The relevant decision has been made, according to our sources," a source in Algeria told Interfax-AVN on Monday.
No details have transpired on the terms of the planes' handover to the Russia Air Force. But modernization is not being considered, according to the source. "The planes will be handed over to the Russian Air Force in the modification delivered to Algeria - MiG-29SMT," he said.
Under a contract signed in 2006, Russia was to deliver 36 MiG-29SMT/UB fighter jets worth some $1.5 billion under trade-in arrangements. In exchange for the new planes, the MiG corporation was to receive Algeria's old MiG-29s.
In 2006 and 2007, 15 MiG-29SMT/UB fighter jets were transferred to the Algerian Air Force. Before sending the planes to Algeria each plane was carefully examined. Although no defects were uncovered - which was documented in an act - after the planes arrived, Algeria claimed that they did not comply with the terms of the contract. That was the formal reason for the rejection of the planes.
But experts argue that the real reason was the wish by influential groups in the Algerian leadership to buy France's Rafale aircraft.
BISHKEK. March 25 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia has been honoring all of its obligations to pay the rent for its military installations, Kyrgyz Defense Minister Ismail Isakov said at a press briefing on Tuesday.
"Russia pays annually rent of $4.5 million for its three military installations," Isakov said.
The Russian military facilities are located in the village of Chaldovar in the Chui Region, near Karakola in the Issyk-Kul region in northern Kyrgyzstan and in Mailuu-Suu in the Jalal-Abad region in southern Kyrgyzstan," the defense minister said.
"All speculation over alleged plans to hand the territory of the naval base [on Lake Issyk-Kul] over to Russia was baseless. The rent agreement is automatically extended by 12 months each year. The issue was raised in parliament by newly elected deputies who were not informed. The extension of the rent benefits both sides. No environmental damage will be inflicted on Lake Issyk-Kul," Isakov said.
"Kyrgyzstan used the rent paid for the Russian military installations to train officers at Russian military academies. Now we are reducing the number of trainees and will spend the money thus saved on buying the military equipment our armed forces need so much today," he said.
"Kyrgyzstan is to receive this year military equipment worth $2.5 million under Russian-Kyrgyz interstate military-technical cooperation agreements," Isakov said.
MINSK. March 26 (Interfax-AVN) - Belarus will help Venezuela to create an anti-aircraft defense system and electronic warfare support, Belarusian deputy chief-of-general-staff Pyotr Tikhonovsky said.
"We plan during a six-year period to supply to Venezuela with an anti-aircraft defense system and train their commanders," Tikhonovsky said in the parliament in terms of discussion of such a Belarus-Venezuela agreement in Minsk.
This year, Belarus will send 10 military advisers to Venezuela, and then the number of military advisers will increase, he said.
Currently Venezuela "has detached units, fighters, but no anti-aircraft defense systems," he said.
The deputy chief of the general staff said the creation of the anti-aircraft defense systems in Venezuela will make it possible for the country to enter the armaments markets in Latin America. He said it is planned to use various types of armaments, "the 125th system and others that will be supplied to Venezuela under the contracts of the authorized bodies."
Current Venezuelan anti-aircraft defense systems include mostly French and U.S. materiel, "but currently they have decided to orient on the East: Russia and China," Tikhonovsky said.
MOSCOW. March 26 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia has delayed for one day Tuesday's planned launch of a German satellite of the SAR-Lupe reconnaissance satellite series "due to the weather conditions in the cosmodrome area," a source in Russia's Space Forces told Interfax-AVN.
The satellite is to be launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, in Russia's Arkhangelsk region.
Earlier, the Space Forces successfully launched three SAR-Lupe satellites from Plesetsk.
Space Forces official spokesman Lt. Col. Leonid Zolotukhin confirmed to Interfax-AVN that the launch of the satellite had been put off.
He said there were currently winds at an altitude of 13 kilometers that might throw the launch vehicle off course.
The Kosmos-3M launch rocket and satellite "are on the launch pad," Zolutukhin said.
The spokesman said the postponement order had been issued by the cosmodrome head Maj. Gen. Oleg Ostapenko.
PERM. March 27 (Interfax-AVN) - The Perm-based Motovilikhinskiye Zavodycompany has shipped the third batch of Smerch multiple launch rocket systems to the India Armed Forces under the contract signed between India and the Rosoboronexport arms trade company, Perm company's spokesman told Interfax-AVN.
The price of the contract with India, providing for the supply of equipment and training of operators, is $450 million.
The contract, signed in December 2005, envisioned that two regiments of Smerch systems are to be supplied.
The Smerch MLRS is developed by the Splav research and production company in Tula. It has 12 launch tubes. The effective range of fire is 90km.
MOSCOW. March 27 (Interfax-AVN) - A foreign ministerial conference of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will take place in Moscow on Friday, March 28, to discuss relations between the CSTO and NATO, a military diplomat told Interfax-AVN.
"The ministers will ponder the possibility of allowing for the transit of non-military cargo through the territories of several CSTO member countries for NATO forces in Afghanistan," he said.
"They will view peculiarities of the relationship with the alliance through the prism of the situation in the CSTO zone ahead of the NATO Bucharest summit," he said.
The CSTO is made up of Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
MOSCOW/BELGRADE. March 27 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia's MiG Aircraft Corporation is modernizing Serbia's fleet of MiG-29 fighter jets on schedule, a military diplomat told Interfax-AVN in Belgrade.
"We are expecting the soonest delivery of the first modernized MiG- 29," he said.
Russia will modernize five jets, including four combat jets and a training jet, he said.
The former Yugoslavia had 30 MiG-29 jets, he said. "The majority of them were shot down or destroyed at airfields during NATO's air campaign in the Balkans," the source said.
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian Space Forces launched the carrier rocket Cosmos-3M with a German surveillance spacecraft SAR-Lupe, Space Forces spokesman Lieut. Col. Alexei Zolotukhin told Interfax.
"The launch from Plesetsk space center was normal. It will take some thirty minutes to put the spacecraft into orbit," he said.
This is the fourth satellite of the SAR-Lupe series that the Space Forces have launched for the Bundeswehr. Currently three spacecrafts of the SAR-Lupe satellite group are successfully orbiting. They were taken to orbit by the Cosmos-3M rockets in 2006-2007. The total orbiting group will eventually consist of five satellites.
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia has launched and put in orbit the fourth satellite of Germany's SAR-Lupe reconnaissance series, a Russian Space Forces spokesman said.
The satellite was launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia's Arkhangelsk region on Thursday.
"Currently the satellite is outside the [radar] visibility zone. Around 22:00 Moscow Time [1700 GMT] we should be able to see it, after which control of the satellite will be handed over to the customer," the spokesman told Interfax-AVN.
The previous SAR-Lupe was launched on November 1, 2007. The first satellite of the series was sent into space on December 19, 2006.
All four SAR-Lupe satellites were launched by Russia from Plesetsk.
MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Polet, a leading Russian cargo airline, said on Thursday that one of its aircraft had taken the upper stage for one of the rockets that the Sea Launch service uses for launching commercial payloads from a