Russia halts using Emba range in Kazakhstan
ASTANA. KAZINFORM Minister of Defense of Russia Sergey Shoigu signed the Kazakh-Russian Interstate Protocol on Termination of Russian-Kazakh agreement on lease and use of the Emba training range.
“The Protocol was drafted to further implement the agreements reached by Kazakh, Russian presidents on optimization of land parcels of training ranges leased by the Russian Federation in Kazakhstan. In 2015, Kazakhstan and Russia signed a number of documents on verification of the borders of the Sary-Shagan range and fields of the 929th state flight test facility of the Ministry of Defense of Russia,” Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia Anatoly Antonov says, Kazpravda reported citing RIA Novosti.
As per the Protocol, Russia will return 300hectares of land to Kazakhstan.
“We did our best to meet the interests of the Kazakh partners in using the lands,” Antonov noted commenting on the document signed Oct 20.
“We return the territory on which Kazakhstan will build modern communications system and explore mineral deposits,” he added.
Besides, Russian side saves up to $718,000 due to halting use of the range.
Russia plans to continue collaborating with Kazakhstan Defense Ministry in use of military ranges and carrying out tests.
“The armament and vehicles tested on our ranges serve to ensure security and safety of the two countries,” Antonov stressed.
The Emba training range is located in the Aktobe Region in Kazakhstan 200 kilometers (124 miles) southward of Aktobe.