Russian Defense Minister visits Ukrainian testing range in Crimea

KIEV, April 19 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Defense Minister Anatoly
Serdyukov and Ukrainian Defense Minister Mikhail Yezhel on Monday visited
a Ukrainian testing range of takeoff and landing systems NITKA in the town
of Saki, the Crimea.
"The two ministers got familiarized with the infrastructure of the
unique compound and its perfomance characteristics and tasks," the
Ukrainian Defense Ministry's press service said.
"Russia has always been our main partner in the operations at this
compound and it continues to be one," Yezhel said. "China and India are
also showing an interest towards NITKA."
"The Russian military use this testing range to train pilots for their
sea-based aviation," he said. "Annually, Russia pays up to $700,000 to us
for leasing the facility," Yezhel said.
The two ministers also visited the Nikolai Pirogov military
rehabilitation clinic in Saki, known all across the former USSR as a
resort with particulat healing muds.
After that, they left for Sevastopol where they were shown the
instruction process at the Admiral Nakhimov Naval Academy and a naval
college.
Tuesday, Yezhel and Serdyukov are expected to visit a number of
shipguilding yards and aircraft-manufacturing factories where they will be
shown the production capabilities of these enterprises.
In the southern city of Nikolayev, they will go to the Black Sea
Shipyards and the Sixty-One Communards Shipyard. Kiev is the next leg of
their trip and they will visit the Antonov State Aircraft-Manufacturing
Enterprise there.
"The main goal of the Russian defense delegation's working visit here
is to discuss some aspects of military and defense-technology cooperation,
as well as the course of practical actions on the agreements reached at
the fourth session of the Subcommittee for Defense that was held at the
end of March," the ministry said.
The subcommittee reports to Russian-Ukrainian interstate commission.