Brussels, 13/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - During the EU-Russia aviation summit, the European commissioner for transport, Siim Kallas, did not hesitate in reminding Russia that it lacked transparency with regard to the issue of Siberian overflights, which formed the background to the goal of reinforcing their mutual cooperation. The summit took place on 12-13 October in St Petersburg (Russia) and was attended by Igor Levitin, the minister for transport from the Russian Federation and his European counterpart, Siim Kallas, in an effort to promote political, technical and industrial ties between the two blocks in the aviation sector. Of Russian flights, 40% go to the EU and Russia is in a pivotal geostrategic position between the Union and Asian markets, which fully justifies a rapprochement between the two partners. The commissioner said: “I am confident that the EU-Russia aviation summit will mark a turning point in our aviation relations with Russia, which for too long have not been exploited to their full potential.”. Kallas did not hesitate to tackle controversial subjects and reminded Russia that an agreement dating back to 2007 had still not been applied with regard to payments for Siberian overflights. The European commissioner stated: “We are not questioning Russia's right to collect fees for overflights. (…). It's a question of how it is being done now, which - as we have said repeatedly - is not at all transparent.” He is counting on Russia's forthcoming accession to the World Trade Organisation as a deadline for applying the principles agreed upon. (MD/transl.fl)