Results of the joint 49th session of the Board and 23rd session of the Operations Committee

New Chair of the Board takes office.
Intersputnik Director General elected.
Financial results of 2020 approved.

Held remotely on 5 April – 14 May 2021, the joint 49^th session of the Board and 23^rd session of the Operations Committee of the Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications was attended by representatives of the organization’s member countries and national Signatories.

Agenda items of the joint session were discussed on 5 May 2021 during a videoconference opened by Mr. Jacek Oko, President of the Office of Electronic Communications of the Republic of Poland, and outgoing Chair of the Board. Mr. Oko addressed the participants with welcoming remarks noting that Intersputnik was one of the first international satellite telecommunications organizations, which had been contributing to the growth of the telecommunications industry already for half a century. On behalf of the organization, Mr. Oko thanked Mr. Vadim Belov who had to a great extent shaped Intersputnik’s overall success over his 16 years in office as Director General. Having stressed that 2021 was Intersputnik’s anniversary year, Mr. Oko also extended appreciation to staff members, business partners and all those who promoted the development of the organization.

The authority of the Chair of the Board was assigned to Mr. Andrey Zhivov, representative of the Russian Federation on the Intersputnik Board, Deputy Director, Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, until the next, 50^th session of the Board. The substantive discussion held during the videoconference was led by Mr. Zhivov, who pointed out that it was a great honour and high responsibility for him to head the Board as Intersputnik’s highest governing body.

The focal issue of the joint session was the election of the Director General of Intersputnik. This key office was taken up for a term of four years by Ms. Ksenia Drozdova, Deputy Director General for Business Development, Russian Satellite Communications Company, who had been Chair of Intersputnik’s Operations Committee for over 10 years. When nominating Ms. Drozdova, the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation expressed confidence that her election to the office of the Director General would help the organization operate reliably and further grow. According to Ms. Drozdova, who was elected Director General of Intersputnik, it was the principles of respect for the sovereignty, independence and equal rights of all member states of the organization laid down half a century ago that became the cornerstone of Intersputnik’s longevity. “I am sure that together we will be able to make a tangible contribution to the development and prosperity of our countries and the satellite telecommunications sector as a whole,” said Ms. Drozdova.

Prior to the election of the Director General, Ms. Drozdova stepped down from office as Chair of the Operations Committee and delegated the further exercise of her authority to Mr. Evgeny Buydinov, Deputy Director General for Communications Systems Development and Operation, Russian Satellite Communications Company, who had earlier held the office of the Chair of the Operations Committee. Mr. Buydinov noted that in the capacity of the Chair of the Operations Committee he would do his utmost to secure the organization’s stability and efficient performance.

Within the framework of the approved agenda, the Board and the Operations Committee reviewed a wide range of issues dealing with the organization’s current operations and development prospects. The delegates to the session approved principal results of Intersputnik’s performance and financial indicators for 2020 as well as a report on the audit of the organization’s financial and economic performance during that period. During the joint session the Board and the Operations Committee also discussed the implementation of the Program for the Development of Business in the Field of Space Communications aimed at supporting projects of telecommunications companies using interest-free loans granted by Intersputnik.

Much attention was paid to matters related to the growth of Intersputnik’s international satellite telecommunications system with a focus on acquiring the organization’s own satellite resource consisting of new satellites, and on the maximum possible utilization of the existing orbit and spectrum resource. The delegates to the session approved steps taken by the Directorate to implement joint satellite projects.

The next joint session of the Board and the Operations Committee will take place in 2022 by personal attendance or in hybrid or remote mode depending of the epidemiological situation in the world.

About the Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications

Founded in 1971 under the Agreement on the Establishment of the Intersputnik International System and Organization of Space Communications, Intersputnik is an international intergovernmental organization headquartered in Moscow. The organization’s mission is to contribute to the consolidation and expansion of economic, scientific, technological and cultural relations using satellite telecommunications, video and audio broadcasting and to support cooperation and coordination of the efforts of the member countries aimed at designing, procuring, operating and expanding an international satellite telecommunications system. Intersputnik can be joined by the Government of any state that shares the principles of Intersputnik’s activity. Today, the organization has twenty six member countries.

Intersputnik’s core activity is to make available to interested customers the world over geostationary satellite capacity used to offer a full range of satellite telecommunications services. At present, Intersputnik provides access to satellite resources of major satellite telecommunications systems, including ABS, Azerspace, Eutelsat, Intelsat, SES, Express, and Yamal. To offer full-scale services encompassing the establishment and operation of satellite telecommunications networks, including ground infrastructure, Intersputnik founded Isatel, its Russian subsidiary company.

Owing to its status of an intergovernmental satellite organization and according to its technological policy, Intersputnik files with the International Telecommunication Union satellite networks on various orbits, which may be further used in cooperation with the Organization’s member states and other partners in order to implement projects aimed at establishing national satellite telecommunications systems.

More information on Intersputnik is available at intersputnik.int