Certification of Sukhoi Superjet to end in summer.

MOSCOW, March 2 (Itar-Tass) - The certification of the Sukhoi Superjet is to be completed in summer and the serial deliveries of the aircraft to customers are to begin in the second half of 2010, Sukhoi Corp chief Mikhail Pogosyan told journalists on Tuesday.

Pogosyan said the Company is faced with a priority task: "to complete
the certification of the engine and finalize support for batch production".
"We must complete the certification of both the engine and the
aircraft this coming summer. Serial deliveries to customers are to begin
in the second half of this year," Pogosyan pointed out.
The Sukhoi chief specified that this year's timetable for the
deliveries of the engine had been fixed. "The aircraft engine makers
clearly understand the task facing them," Pogosyan pointed out. He added
that an exact timeframe for serial deliveries of the Superjet "is being
fixed with the leading customers".

.Int'l exhibition of travel services opens in Irkutsk Tue.

IRKUTSK, March 2 (Itar-Tass) - An international exhibition of tourist
and hotel services, the Baikaltour-2010, opens here on Tuesday. The main
emphasis of the present exhibition has been laid on the formation of a
modern infrastructure for tourism and recreation in Russia's regions. The
exhibition is held for a 14th time.
An international conference on the theme of "The Baikal (Lake) Region
is the Territory of Hospitality" will be the central event of the
exhibition. It will draw specialists from various parts of Russia, as well
as those from China, Mongolia, France, Sweden, and other countries, an
official at the management office of the SibExporCenter exhibition complex
has told Itar-Tass.
The exhibition has been organized by the SibExpoCenter in conjunction
with the travel agency of the Irkutsk Region government under the auspices
of the Russian Union of the Travel Industry and the Russian Hotel
Association.
A new tourist itinerary, the Great Tea Road -- from China via Mongolia
to Russia -- is to be introduced during the exhibition that will run
through Friday.
A charitable auction has been planned out. An elite Chinese tea,
brought to Irkutsk, will be among the offered items. The organizers are to
use all the proceeds from the auction in support of orphans and the
disabled.
Traditionally, many exhibitors are to present their travel services.
Seminars are to be also held on the following themes: "The Peculiarities
of the Sale of Cruises Along the Yenissei River", "The Development of
Tourism in the Republic of Korea", and "The Traditional Culture of
Indigenous and Local Communities as a Tourist Resource".

.Five-point earthquake rocks Kyrgyzstan Tue morning.

VLADIVOSTOK, March 2 (Itar-Tass) - An earthquake measuring five points
occurred in Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday morning.
According to the Geological Service of the United States, the
epicenter of the temblor was at a distance of 75 km from Bishkek and 135
km from Almaty, the capital of Kazakhstan. The tectonic cataclysms were
recorded at a depth of 14.4 km. There have been no data on the aftermath
of the earthquake so far.
The Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences has
reported that an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.7 points was also
recorded in Turkey on the night from Monday to Tuesday.
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