MOSCOW, November 28 (RIA Novosti ) - Russia has received permission from the Ozone Secretariat to produce 140 metric tons of ozone-depleting Freon-113 used in space technology, the natural resource ministry said on Wednesday.

"Delegations from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Roskosmos [Russia's space agency] managed to reach an agreement for exclusive production of the substance in Russia," the Ministry press service said.

It also said, "There have been no ozone-friendly equivalents found so far."

The Ozone Secretariat is based at the UN Environment Program offices in Nairobi. It is mainly responsible for protecting the ozone layer according to agreements signed in the mid-1980's banning the manufacture, use, transportation and other handling of ozone-depleting substances.