CIS Daily Bulletin, February 20

Below is a summary of events in the Commonwealth of Independent States on February 20:

* The upper house of the Russian parliament, the Federation Council, ratified an agreement on military-technical cooperation between the members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization

Belarus:

* Russia is ready to consider granting Belarusian producers access to state contracts on a par with Russian companies on a reciprocal basis, a senior Economic Development Ministry official said

Georgia:

* Georgian Defense Minister David Sikharulidze dismissed reports that his country is holding talks on setting up a NATO military base in the country

Kyrgyzstan:

* Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed a decree to close a U.S. airbase used since 2001 to support NATO operations in nearby Afghanistan, his press service said

* Kyrgyzstan formally informed the United States of the termination of an agreement on a U.S. military presence at the Manas airbase, the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry said

Ukraine:

* A Ukrainian An-12 cargo plane burst into flames as it tried to take off in southern Egypt killing five crew members, the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority head was quoted as saying by the MENA news agency