U.S. lifts sanctions against Russian space company

[Kshasty]

The U.S. government has lifted sanctions against the Russian space organization Glavkosmos, the U.S. Federal Register said on Thursday.

The United States imposed economic sanctions against Glavkosmos on July 30, 1998, accusing it of export control violations and engaging in proliferation activities related to Iran's missile program. The sanctions barred the company from exporting or importing goods to the United States and also blocked it from receiving any U.S. assistance.

The decision to remove the sanctions appeared earlier this week, and came into force on Wednesday.

Glavkosmos had faced an earlier set of U.S. sanctions in May 1992, after it signed a $400 million deal with the Indian Space Research Organization on the transfer of rocket engine technology, which was deemed inconsistent with Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) guidelines. The sanctions were removed after Russia and India signed a new deal for the sales of the engines without the transfer of technology.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100311/158159030.html