You're reading: Kliuyev: Ukraine, Russia planning to sign deal on development of GLONASS satellite system

The governments of Ukraine and Russia are completing preparations for signing an agreement on cooperation in the use and development of the GLONASS satellite navigation system, Ukrainian First Deputy Prime Minister Andriy Kliuyev said in parliament in Kyiv on Wednesday, May 12.

He said that this document would be signed during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Kyiv on May 17-18.

"The signing of the agreement will help unite scientific and technical potential and achieve a global level in the sphere of satellite navigation," Kliuyev said.

He recalled that the previous government had drafted the agreement in 2008-2009.

Kliuyev said that Ukraine’s demand for receivers for the GLONASS satellite system was estimated at 100,000 units per year, with the main sectors of their use being transport, agriculture, the use of mineral resources and land, and tourism.

As reported, in December 2005 Ukraine and the European Union signed an agreement on cooperation in a program to create the European global navigation satellite system Galileo. The Ukrainian parliament ratified the agreement in 2007.

According to some estimates, in the long run GLONASS could become complementary to Galileo.