Give an assessment to work of the international organization INTAS.

The INTAS-International Association for Strengthening Cooperation with Scientists from the Newly Independent States (NewIndependentStates) from the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was established in 1993 as an independent international organization with the aim of preserving the scientific potential within the borders of the partner countries. But on September 22, 2006 it was decided to terminate the program on the basis of the recommendation of the European Commission. From the beginning of 2007 the gradual curtailment of the fund's activities began. Despite the fact that all current INTAS programs were promised to be fulfilled, from April 1, 2007 the distribution of new grants was stopped.

The members of the organization were the countries of the European Union, Bulgaria, Iceland, Israel, Norway, Romania, Switzerland and Turkey. The partner countries are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Russia.

INTAS is a non-profit, charitable organization, exempt from taxes; was located in Brussels, financed mainly from the budget of the EU framework programs and on the basis of voluntary contributions from EU countries. The programs were aimed at solving a wide range of joint research problems for the EU and the CIS. During the period from 1993 to 1998, INTAS allocated nearly 65 million euros for scientific development.

A rigorous but affordable budget allocation procedure allows you to quickly and flexibly meet the needs of scientists from the CIS countries. Within the framework of the INTAS program, the following activities are presented:

- joint research projects and networks (associations of scientists and various research organizations) covering all fields of science (exact and natural sciences, economics, sociology and life sciences);

-conferences, seminars, meetings;

- Grants and scholarships for participation in conferences of young scientists from the CIS; Infrastructure, expanding access to research (protected unique databases), providing scientific literature;

- Dissemination and use of the results of research projects.

INTAS has developed a special system for the transfer of funds for partners from the CIS countries, which allows scholars to receive grants from local banks. The organization works directly with scientists on the basis of individual contracts, and apart from grants, finances trips, equipment and pays for other expenses. During the fund's work, more than 20,000 scientists from the CIS took part in 2,000 INTAS projects, many of them received individual grants to continue their research. 1250 joint projects were completed, high quality results were reflected in publications in many international journals, as well as in patents. Every year, INTAS allocated 4.6 million euros for accompanying events (accompanyingmeasures), which included:

- support of infrastructures, for example, the dissemination of the latest scientific articles or the preservation of unique collections of data;

- support for holding conferences that allow INTAS to evaluate completed projects;

- support for the participation of young scientists in scientific programs and conferences.

The INTAS budget until 2002 was 75 million euros, of which 70 million euros came from the Fifth Framework Program. This amount was spent on financing joint research in the following areas:

- physics (astronomy, nuclear physics, plasma physics, condensed matter physics, engineering sciences, space and sciences related to the exploration of outer space);

- chemistry and biology (life sciences and medicine, earth sciences, environment and energy);