MOSCOW, March 4 (UPI) -- The development of Russia's high-tech sector, primarily the national space program, resembles a Camel Trophy race, while official reports do not always reflect the real situation.

In late February, Anatoly Perminov, director of the Federal Space Agency -- Roskosmos -- told the respected Novosti Kosmonavtiki magazine he positively assessed the results of Russia's space exploration in 2007. He said that all projects had been financed in line with official programs.

According to Perminov, successful efforts were made to implement the federal space program until 2006-2015, to deploy the Russian Global Navigation Satellite System -- GLONASS -- and to expand the country's national space centers under federal target programs.

The following Russian joke highlights a tendency to divide any problem into many aspects. A duty officer told the regimental commander that everything, except one mere trifle, was all right. However, it later turned out that the unit banner was missing.

With the exception of two mere trifles, the 2007 Russian space program has yielded mostly positive results.