By Agence France-Presse European aircraft manufacturing consortium Airbus has signed an agreement with Russia's Kaskol Group to create a technical studies center in Russia. "The accord signed today is a particularly important step in our strategic partnership," said Airbus Executive Director Gustav Humbert. The head of Kaskol, Sergei Nedoroslev, said the arrangement would "ensure a direct access for Russian high-tech products to the international market." He stressed that Kaskol would take part in Airbus projects currently under way as well as those planned for the future. The center, the first such Airbus venture in eastern Europe, will initially employ 50 Russian engineers who will receive training in France and Germany in the next few weeks, Humbert said. With the establishment of production units, several hundred additional jobs will be created in Russia, he added. The center is to be established under an agreement signed between Airbus parent company European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. EADS NV and the Russian aerospace agency Rosaviakosmos. The Kaskol Group, established in 1988, is the principal shareholder in some 20 Russian and foreign aerospace and high-tech companies. Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2002
