MOSCOW. Nov 30 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia and Ukraine are planning to sign an intergovernmental agreement on the resumption of the activity of the Russian Defense Ministry's 31st test center stationed in Feodosiya in the Crimea in 2006.
"I believe this agreement will be signed in 2006," Ukrainian Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko told journalists following negotiations with his Russian counterpart Sergei Ivanov in Moscow on Tuesday.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has signed the agreement, but, in line with Ukrainian law, the issue must be cleared with other governmental institutions, as it lies is "outside the Defense Ministry's remit," Hrytsenko said.
The 1997 treaty between Russia and Ukraine stipulated that Russia would rent several military bases and airfields in the Crimea over the next 20 years with rent being set off against Ukraine's debt to Russia for energy. The 31st missile launch and test center in Feodosiya is among these facilities.