OREANDA-NEWS  Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a government decree on an agreement with the Central African Republic (CAR) to establish a representative office of the Ministry of Defence in the country. The document is posted on the official Internet portal of legal information.

The draft agreement was prepared by the Russian Defense Ministry and agreed with the foreign Ministry. The Cabinet of Ministers said that the military Department will be authorized to negotiate with the leadership of the CAR to create a representative office.

Representation in the CAR will be maintained at the expense of the Russian side. According to the Annex to the agreement, the staff of the structure will consist of five persons — the head, the Deputy head, the assistant on contract work, the senior officer and the senior referent-the translator.

The staff of the representative office must have immunity: in case of committing offences, they will not be subject to the jurisdiction of the law enforcement agencies of the CAR. Thus, when committing any violation, they will be responsible under Russian law. The office itself and its documents will also be inviolable for the Central African side.

According to the document, the office will be established "to assist the Central African side in addressing issues of military and military-technical cooperation and to provide leadership to the activities of Russian military specialists... assistance in the construction of the armed forces of the Central African Republic, training in operation, maintenance and use... weapons and military equipment".

In addition, some aspects of the work of the representative are in a document section dedicated to opportunities, which should ensure the CAR Russian employees: "visit if necessary and by prior agreement of the military unit with the equipment of armament and military equipment of the Russian production" and "to visit places of stay of the Russian military experts and the objects on which they operate". Also, they should be given the right to personally inform the leadership of the Ministry of defense of the CAR "on military cooperation".