KHIMKI, Moscow region. April 12 (Interfax) - The National Space Center that is expected to be built in Moscow can and should become a world-class center, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
The project will cost some 25 billion rubles and will create around 20,000 new jobs, he said.
"I believe it can and should become a world-class center [...] This project will cost approximately 25 billion rubles. We hope this contour will appear in 2022," Putin said during a visit to NPO Energomash on Friday, speaking about the plans to create the National Space Center.
Putin said he hopes that Russia's scientific and educational potential will be concentrated in this center.
"We want, or I would very much like it, to look modern, beautiful, suitable for the industry, so that our scientific and educational potential can be concentrated there," Putin said.
The center should not only contain everything related to space, but it should also have a cluster of related areas nearby, which are of high necessity for the space industry, for example, materials science, he said.
"And of course, it will be very interesting to people like you; young, promising specialists. I think we can create up to 20,000 new high-class jobs there," the president said.
During a visit to Energomash on Friday, Putin became familiar with prospective developments in the sphere of rocket engine-building and talked to the company staff.