Budapest, Hungary, hosts the joint XLII session of the Board and 17th meeting of the Operations Committee of the Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications

Financial results of 2013 approved;
Board Chair and Operations Committee Chair elected;
New members of Audit Committee take office

On May 27-28, 2014 representatives of the following Intersputnik member countries met in Budapest, Hungary, on the invitation of the Ministry of National Development of Hungary for the joint XLII session of the Board and 17th meeting of the Operations Committee of the Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications (Organization, Intersputnik): Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Hungary, Vietnam, Germany, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Russia, Romania, Ukraine, and Czech Republic.

The delegates of the joint session were welcomed by H.E. Dr. Balázs Károly Solymár, Deputy State Secretary for Infocommunications of the Ministry of National Development. In his statement he pointed out that Hungary attached special importance to the expansion of multifaceted cooperation with Intersputnik exemplified by the close interaction between Hungary and Intersputnik at the recent World Radiocommunication Conference.

During the joint session, the Operating Agreement was signed by H.E. Dr. Monika Karas, President of the National Media and Infocommunications Authority of Hungary – the newly appointed Intersputnik Signatory from Hungary. Addressing the delegates, H.E. Dr. Monika Karas emphasized that the ratification by the National Assembly of Hungary in February 2014 of Intersputnik’s fundamental documents – the Protocol on Amendments to the Intersputnik Agreement and the Operating Agreement – is a vivid illustration of constructive cooperation between Hungary and Intersputnik.

The delegates of the joint session unanimously elected Mr. Péter Vári, Deputy Director General of Hungary’s National Media and Infocommunications Authority, Chairman of the Board – Intersputnik’s highest governing body.

Another important issue was the election of the Chair of the Intersputnik Operations Committee. For another three years, this key position will be held by Ms. Ksenia Drozdova, Deputy CEO for Business Development, Head of Service for Business Development with Russian Space Communications Company.

Within the framework of the approved agenda, the Board and the Operations Committee reviewed a wide range of issues related to Intersputnik’s current operations and prospects for the future. The Director General presented a report describing Intersputnik’s performance in 2013. It was again stressed that Intersputnik was growing at a high rate using more satellite capacity and cooperating with more partners. This was confirmed by the report of the Audit Committee on the examination of Intersputnik’s financial and economic performance in 2013 and the report on the fulfillment of the 2013 finance plan. The Board and the Operations Committee elected new members of the Audit Committee for another three-year term.

Considering that over the previous several years Intersputnik’s revenues and profit had been steadily growing, the Board and the Operations Committee approved a new investment strategy aimed at acquiring highly remunerative assets.

Considerable attention was paid to the expansion of the Organization’s international satellite telecommunications system with a focus on the procurement of Intersputnik’s own space segment based on new satellites, and maximum use of the available orbit and frequency resource. Information was presented to the delegates on progress in the implementation of joint satellite projects and prospects of potential cooperation with new partners in activating satellite networks which had not been used earlier. The Board and the Operations Committee upheld steps taken by the Directorate and instructed it to successfully complete earlier satellite projects and launch new ones using Intersputnik’s orbit and frequency resource.

The Ministry of Communications and Informatization of the Republic of Belarus invited the Board and the Operations Committee to meet for their next joint session in Q2 2015 in Minsk.