Prime-Tass, RIA Novosti plan product cooperation

MOSCOW, June 21 (Prime-Tass) -- Russia's leading news agencies, Prime-Tass and RIA Novosti, have signed a cooperation agreement in accordance with which the two agencies will create joint products and market them in Russia and abroad, the two agencies said in a press release Monday.

A relevant agreement of intent was signed by RIA Novosti General Director Svetlana Mironyuk and Prime-Tass Director Oleg Ananyev on June 18.

The two agencies, which are not direct competitors, expect their cooperation to strengthen the position of both companies on the Russian and global news services markets.

"The cooperation between RIA Novosti and Prime-Tass will help improve the efficiency of operations of both agencies in the face of increasing competition on the information services market," Mironyuk was quoted in the press release as saying.

Ananyev said that the companies agreed that Prime-Tass' news products in Russian, English and other languages are to be distributed abroad by RIA Novosti.

He also noted that the companies plan to create new products focusing on the Russian economy.

Prime-Tass is one of the leading business news agencies in Russia. Privately owned, the agency has no political affiliations, and is known for its objective coverage worldwide. With over 200 permanent staff and a large number of stringers across Russia and the CIS, the agency provides quality live coverage of the Russian economy and markets to clients around the world in Russian and English.

RIA Novosti is one of the most respected and highly professional sources of information in Russia and abroad.

The agency has a broad network of correspondents in Russia and the CIS and in more than 40 non-CIS countries. RIA Novosti daily provides socio-political, economic, scientific and financial information in Russian, in the main European languages and in Arabic through electronic media and the Internet. End