Russia and the Czech Republic are ready to sign an agreement on the modernization of Mi helicopters, delivered earlier to the Central European country, to meet NATO standards, the head of Russia's government staff said Tuesday.
Russia agreed in September 2004 to deliver 16 Mi-171 Hip transport helicopters and 10 Mi-35 Hind combat helicopters, worth $184 million, to the Czech Republic by the end of 2006 as a partial payment of Russia's outstanding $741 million debt to the country.
The Czech Republic, which joined NATO in 1999, will modify the helicopters to meet NATO specifications, and will add communication and other technical equipment.
"We clearly understand that cooperation in terms of technical regulations is the basis for the development of trade, primarily in the machine-building industry," Sergei Naryshkin said, adding that the two countries are working on 30 joint scientific-technical projects.
"We have also prepared agreements on the protection of intellectual rights in military-technical cooperation," the Russian official told a news conference following a meeting of the Russian-Czech intergovernmental commission. |
