Putin appoints Rogozin as head of space agency

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree to appoint former deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin to the post of CEO of the state-run corporation for space activities Roskosmos. The decree came into force after it was signed, the Kremlin informs.

Before that, Putin and Rogozin discussed prospects of the company’s development. “You presented to me proposals to strengthen and develop the company. We discussed them several times. There is great opportunity to start implementing them being the head of the company,” the president noted.

“One job in the space industry automatically creates nine jobs all over the country. So, the responsibility is quite high. I want to say that I will do my best to deal with the task,” Rogozin said.

Expert in the space industry Vitaly Yegorov believes that Roskosmos needs to determine its goal and priorities in developing the industry. “First, we need to decide why we need to fly to space and then to go on the route,” Yegorov is quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.