MOSCOW, March 10. /TASS/. A new agreement with the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) will be signed in 2018 to embody Russia’s participation in construction of the second stage of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), Russia’s Education and Science Ministry said on Saturday.

"In 2018, the government of the Russian Federation and CERN are planning to sign a new agreement which will confirm Russia’s participation in the second phase of construction of the Large Hadron Collider and all experiments on that accelerator.".

In addition, the new agreement will include CERN’s involvement in construction of mega science facilities in Russia.

"The draft agreement is undergoing negotiation. In the first half of the year, the draft will be debated at the CERN Council and then the document will be signed," the ministry said. "As a result, Russia will substantially increase its level of participation in that major nuclear research organization."

Russia and CERN have shared 60 years of meaningful collaboration since the current agreement was signed in 1993.

"Since then, the status and name of the organizations that put their signatures under the agreement have changed as well as legislation and contents of the experiments which were a matter for discussion at the time of signing," the ministry said.

"In 2017, Russia’s Education and Science Ministry and CERN agreed to adopt a new cooperation agreement which will provide Russia with a special status concerning experiments. The agreement will have a higher status and will raise the level of collaboration more than the associate membership," it said. "That is why Russia had revoked its application for becoming an associate member."

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) with the head office in Geneva was established in 1953. The organization’s members are 20 European countries, and other countries, including the U.S., Japan, India and Russia, have a status of observers. In 2010, CERN decided to offer to non-European countries a right for an associate member status. This status has been granted to India, Pakistan, Turkey and Ukraine.

In 2012, Russia filed an application for becoming the Organization’s associate member. This status binds a country to make regular payments, and the country receives the right to vote at CERN’s Council, besides, the country’s citizens may join the organization’s staff.