In an exclusive interview with "Gazeta.ru" CERN Director General Rolf Heuer spoke of Russia's membership in CERN, the organization overseeing the Large Hadron Collider ,what he is expecting from cooperation with Russia and the prospects of the new CERN collider in Dubna.

-- What is the current state of Russia-CERN talks over Russia becoming an associate member of CERN? Last April Russian officials made a statement that talks possibly would start "in a month" and since then there has been no news on the issue. Then in May the new Russian government proceeded to business. Is CERN contacting the members of new government now?
---We are in constant contact, CERN has received an official letter of intent concerning Russian Associate Membership and expects to receive the final application very soon.

-- What advantages could CERN membership give to Russia?
--Staff employment of Russian nationals at CERN, and participation in the Fellows, Associates and Student programme; Participation in training and education programmes, such as CERN Schools, the Summer Student Programme, and the High School Teachers programme; Participation of Russian industry in selected areas of R&D, and in CERN procurement through industrial orders and service contracts.

-- What motivation is behind CERN intention to open its doors to our country?
-- A country like Russia, strong not only in science, but also engineering and industry is a very welcome partner. We look forward to links with industry and engineers/technicians through the associate membership. Science, in particular our research area, is becoming more and more global and getting Russia as a member country would reflect well on this.

-- Russian financial officials say that Russia-CERN talks are now focused on money and on the opportunity to receive significant discount in membership dues citing Israel. Is such discount possible for Russia, and what is the cost of the issue for now for our country?
--It would be impossible at this stage to say what percentage of GDP Russia would contribute. For a full Member State, the CERN annual budget is set and then divided among the Member States according to a calculation based on net national income (NNI), so that a large Member State like Germany pays around 20% of the CERN annual budget, while some of the smaller Member States pay under 1% of the CERN annual budget. Note that these figures are percentages of the CERN annual budget, not percentages of GDP. For an Associate Member, the situation is different because for each Associate Member, there is a negotiation concerning the precise obligations and benefits for that country. An Associate Member must pay at least 10% what they would pay as a full Member. And there is no reduction of membership fee, neither in the case of Israel nor in any other case.

-- How can you assess the role of Russian scientists and engineers in CERN projects?
-- CERN has a long relationship with Russia, going back to the 1960s, and more recently in the provision of magnets for the beam transfer lines into the LHC.In what extent does there future depends on Russian membership in CERN? ---see the answer to Q3, building on the just mentioned excellent long standing partnership.

-- What are long-term plans of CERN? Can we expect one day to host International Linear Collider at the Russian venue in Dubna?
--The medium term plans are to run the Large Hadron Collider with several improvements and upgrades until around 2030. The results obtained at the LHC will tell us then which type of accelerator would be the next one at CERN. We keep all options open through targeted R&D, a very good opportunity also for Russian nationals, institutes, enterprises to contribute to this and to acquire new technologies and experiences. Concerning the ILC, that depends on the politics in the different regions of the world.