At the sitting of 4 November, the members of the Committee on Science and Technological Development discussed in principle the Bills on the Confirmation of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Government of the People’s Republic of China on scientific and technological cooperation and on the Confirmation of the Cooperation Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Government of the Russian Federation on importing irradiated nuclear fuel from the research reactor into the Russian Federation.

On the behalf of the Ministry of Science and Technological Development, the sitting was attended by Assistant Minister for International Cooperation, Prof. Dr Viktor Nedovic.

In his address, Assistant Minister Nedovic stressed that the Bill on the Confirmation of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Government of the People’s Republic of China on scientific and technological cooperation provides a wider framework for cooperation between the two countries in this sphere. China is a state experiencing an extensive economic, technological and scientific progress and transferring the knowledge thus gained into the sphere of economy. The proposed agreement provides the opportunity to launch concrete cooperation programmes and projects by exchanging knowledge, technologies, experts, as well as organising joint conferences and congresses. The agreement envisages the formation of a mixed committee to specify concrete cooperation projects.

The Bill on the Confirmation of the Cooperation Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Government of the Russian Federation on importing irradiated nuclear fuel from the research reactor into the Russian Federation is very important because it deals with the decommission of the reactor of Vinca scientific research institute. The irradiated nuclear fuel presents a potential danger considering that the reactor has not been in use since 1984, and the goal is to return it to the country of its origin under the strictest international norms and regulations. The Agreement also provides the grounds for further arrangements with the Russian Federation to import fuel of this kind. Serbia intends to complete the process initiated by the Agreement by the end of 2010 so as not to lose its place, because the Russian Federation enjoys cooperation in this field with all the countries in the region. The process of transportation of the fuel into the Russian Federation calls for funds that the state has secured from foreign aid and assistance of the Russian Federation itself. The Agreement envisages the storage, processing and permanent storage of the fuel on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Following a short discussion, the Committee members unanimously accepted both the Bills in principle.

The sitting was chaired by the Committee Chairman, Srboljub Zivanovic.