BISHKEK. April 23 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian defense enterprises produced over RUB2.5m (USD80,160) worth of special equipment for Kyrgyz border guards in 2001, Kyrgyz Defense Minister Asen Topoyev said after meeting with visiting Director of the Russian Federal Border Guard Service Konstantin Totsky on Tuesday.
An agreement between the Kyrgyz Defense Ministry, the Russian Federal Border Guard Service and the Atomic Energy Ministry paves the way for supplying the necessary tools to the southern and northern sections of the Kyrgyz border, Topoyev said. Mutual settlements and Russian military assistance are resorted to in the process, he said.
In 2001, Russia supplied to Kyrgyzstan the Vitim and OS-21 radars. In addition, radar systems on the Kyrgyz-Chinese border with a help of Russia's Tar production association.
According to Topoyev, the measures aim to strengthen both Kyrgyzstan's foreign borders and southern boundaries of the CIS in general.
Gratuitous training of Kyrgyz border guard officers in Russia is another important factor of bilateral interaction. As many as 40 Kyrgyz officers study in Russia.
Kyrgyz-Russian relations in the sphere of border protection will continue to develop on a sufficient level in the future, Topoyev said.
He noted that Kyrgyzstan would establish an independent border guard structure in 2003. At present, border control in Kyrgyzstan is effected in the framework of the National Security Service, while border protection is a prerogative of the Kyrgyz Defense Ministry.