GORKI, September 10 (Itar-Tass) — Vladimir Popovkin, the head of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos), said on Monday that the way in which the Russian space industry was run and managed should be changed.

“Of course, we should change the system of management in the industry,” Popovkin told a meeting on improving the quality and reliability of the Russian space sector chaired by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Popovkin said that at present Roskosmos employed less than 200 people which makes running space enterprises difficult and added that there would have been no problems with the quality of space products if the staff had been increased to 400 people.

“There is an impression that space items are assembled at enterprises rather than by Roskosmos. Hence, the quality should be checked at enterprises and not at Roskosmos,” Medvedev, commenting on Popovkin’s remark.