ASTANA. Sept 14 (Interfax) - The Kazakh and Russian governments could sign an agreement on cooperation in tackling cross-border forest fires in November, Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov said.
"I instruct the Agriculture Ministry and the Emergency Situations Ministry to draw up a draft intergovernmental agreement with Russia addressing measures to combat cross-border forest and steppe fires," Masimov said at a session during a working visit to the Pavlodar region on Tuesday.
A "tentative agreement" has already been reached with the Russian authorities on this issue, he said.
At a recent cross-border cooperation forum in Ust-Kamenogorsk, the Kazakh and Russian presidents ordered their countries' services to expand cooperation in tackling forest fires, Kazakh Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Bozhko said.
"An agreement was reached with Russian Emergency Situations Minister Shoigu to hold a working meeting in Moscow to draft a document regulating all of the issues, including the crossing of the border by aircraft, firefighters and firefighting equipment, measures to combat cross-border fires and information sharing," Bozhko said.