Russia hands over to Poland 11 volumes of Smolensk crash case.

MOSCOW, August 20 (Itar-Tass) - The Russian Prosecutor General's
Office handed over to Poland 11 volumes of the criminal case over the
plane crash near Smolensk in which 96 people on board the presidential
plane were killed including head of state Lech Kaczynski.
Deputy Prosecutor General Alexander Zyvagintsev passed an inventory
attachment and all the 11 volumes to Poland's chief military prosecutor
Krzysztof Parulski in the presence of reporters on Thursday.
"At present, we're passing the copies of the protocols of the
questionings of witnesses, the protocols of the inspection of the crash
scene with a tie to terrain, photo tables, objects and documents retrieved
during the inspection of the scene of the accident, and the conclusions of
the complex forensic medical genetic examinations of the fragments of
victims' bodies," Zvyagintsev said.
The plane carrying the Polish president and a delegation of senior
Polish officials crashed near Smolensk on April 10. There were no
survivors. Warsaw and Moscow are conducting separate investigative events
to probe the cause of the tragedy and exchange materials in accordance
with legal assistance requests.
Russia has already passed to Poland the flight data recorder
information and a number of other procedural documents.
Zvyagintsev assured Parulski that the Russian Prosecutor General's
Office intends to quickly respond to Poland's inquires regarding the plane
crash.
The Polish military prosecutor thanked his Russian colleagues. He said
Russia had forwarded three legal assistance requests to Warsaw.
"We have nothing to answer with yet. But I guarantee that these
inquiries are actively worked on, and I hope the first inquiry within
which five more witnesses are to be questioned will be met in early
September," Parulski said.
Russian and Polish prosecutors intend to sign an agreement on more
complete cooperation.
"Neither the European convention of 1959 on mutual legal assistance in
criminal cases, nor the latest agreement between Russia and Poland of 1996
envision such a close form of interaction. We have a departmental
memorandum on cooperation signed in 2008 by the Russian Prosecutor General'
s Office and Poland's Justice Ministry, but it does no spell out such
opportunities either," Zvyagintsv noted.
In this connection, the Russian and Polish prosecutors general reached
an accord at their latest meeting to sign a new agreement on cooperation
in the investigation into criminal cases.
"I believe this new agreement will contribute to closer cooperation
between our states," the Russian deputy prosecutor general said.

.Russian shipyard to launch construction of diesel submarine.


ST PETERSBURG, August 20 (Itar-Tass) - Russia's Admiralteiskiye Verfi
shipyard on Friday will lay a non-nuclear submarine's keel of Project
636.3 (Kilo class), intended for the Black Sea Fleet.
Taking part in the ceremony will be Town Hall officials, executives
from the Unified Shipbuilding Corporation, and Black Sea Fleet military,
Admiralteiskiye Verfi's director general Vladimir Alexandrov told
Itar-Tass.
Project 636 sets an example of successful construction of Kilo-class
non-nuclear powered submarines. Their key characteristic is a low noise
signature, highly automated propulsion system, and powerful
missile/torpedo armaments.
The length of the submarine is 73.8 meters, its diving speed is 20
notes, and its range at an economic speed is 400 miles. A Kilo-class
submarine's diving depth is 300 meters and endurance loading is 45 days.
It has a crew of 52.
Specialists at the Rubin bureau, the designer of the submarine,
introduced changes to a number of systems and equipment to adjust the
vessel for operation by Russia's Black Sea Fleet.
Navy chief Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky said the Black Sea Fleet would
have three diesel-electric submarines of Project 636.3.
Admiralteiskiye Verfi has a large order portfolio for the Russian
Navy. It plans to build 4th generation submarines, such as "the
St.Petersburg," Lada class. The head vessel has already been commissioned
for the Russian Navy, and "the Kronshtadt" and "the Sevastopol" are "on
the stocks in various degrees of readiness," the company's director
general said.
The shipyard, which is part of the Western Shipbuilding Center,
Unified Shipbuilding Corporation, was founded in 1704. It has built more
than 2,500 warships, submarines, and trade and research vessels since.

.Georgian airline to resume flights to Moscow.

TBILISI, August 20 (Itar-Tass) - AIRZENA, a private Georgian airline
is resuming charter flights to Moscow on Friday. The company has Russia's
permission to make ten flights on August 20-September 15, an AIRZENA
representative told reporters.
On Friday afternoon, a Boeing 737 will fly from Tbilisi to Moscow's
Domodedovo airport and make a return trip in the evening.
Russia suspended air service with Tbilisi in August 2008. The Georgian
airline has made three charter flights between the capitals in January
2010, five flights in April, and two or three flights a week in the period
from May 24 to August 1.
Russia's Sibir airline will make its fight flight to Georgia on August
23. It has obtained permission from the Georgian authorities on equal
terms with the Georgian airline.
-0-myz