China Spurned Russian Offer To Sell MIR

China Spurned Russian Offer To Sell MIR Space Station
by Yan Gamarnik
Moscow - February 28, 2000 - The Mir Saga continues with Itar-Tass reporting that Russia offered China the chance to buy the orbital station Mir but Beijing reacted to the offer "sluggishly".

Quoting "informed Russian sources" Itar-Tass said the People's Republic of China up to now, has preferred a policy of "reliance on one's own" although in has drawn on the "technical solutions" of Soviet cosmonautics.

Meanwhile, in a separate report by Itar-Tass the Russian news agency says the Russian Aviation and Space Agency (Rosaviakosmos) has denied it had held any talks on the sale of the Mir space station to China.

"Media reports on the planned sale of the Mir space station to China are absolutely groundless," head of the Rosaviakosmos press service Sergei Gorbunov was quoted by Itar-Tass as saying.

"They are in no way related to the visit of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov and Rosaviakosmos top officials to China," the report added.

According to the Itar-Tass report "all works at the Mir station are held under the agreement signed by Russia's Energia space corporation and the Gold and Apple Transfer international holding company on February 17. As a result of this agreement the parties set up MirCorp with the controlling stock of shares held by Energia," Itar-Tass reported Gorbunov as saying.

SPACE TRAVEL
West Forcing Russia To Destroy Mir Says MP
by Yan Gamarnik
Moscow - February 28, 2000 - Ivan Melnikov, head of the Duma committee for education and science, is reported to be of the opinion, that "the West exerts pressure on Russia," wishing that the Mir orbital station ceases to exist, said a news report from Itar-Tass late last week.

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