MOSCOW, April 15. /TASS/. The salary of potential cosmonauts after the increase will on average reach about 300,000 rubles ($3,935) a month, and experienced cosmonauts - more than 500,000 rubles ($6,558), Roscosmos First Deputy General Director for Economics and Finance Maxim Ovchinnikov said on Thursday.

"The [Russian] president announced a significant increase in salaries. This is especially true for cosmonaut candidates: their salary will be 70% higher, a little less than 300,000 rubles per month. Those who had flights will see a 50% increase to slightly more than 500,000 rubles on average," Ovchinnikov said.

According to First Deputy General Director of Roscosmos, today's salaries of astronauts from the United States or Europe are almost double the size of their Russian counterparts’ earnings. In particular, NASA astronauts receive an average of about $8,000-9,000, and astronauts from the European Space Agency - $7,000-8,000, he said.