HELSINKI, September 4 (RIA Novosti, Olga Andrianova) - The Murmansk region (northwestern Russia), Lapland (Finland) and four Norwegian provinces signed an agreement on cooperation in the Barents Sea region Saturday, a Finnish Rescue Service official said.
The agreement signed in the town of Finnmark (Norway) strengthens the guarantees of international cooperation between six provinces in the Barents Sea region during large-scale natural disasters or industrial accidents, he said.
The document also provides for the exchange of information between respective rescue services, expansion of cooperation and conduct of annual joint exercises.
The agreement has been signed during the Barents Rescue 2005 international exercise in Finnmark. About 2,000 rescuers from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia and the UK participate in the exercise that will continue till September 9.
