TASS After 1971, TASS was elevated to the status of State Committee at the Government of the Soviet Union. The agency was frequently used as a front organization by the Soviet intelligence agencies, such as the NKVD (later KGB) and Main Intelligence Directorate, with TASS employees serving as informants. In 1959, Alexander Alexeyev was dispatched to Cuba on a fact-finding mission, ostensibly working for TASS. In January 1992, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, a Presidential Decree signed by Boris Yeltsin re-defined status of TASS and renamed it the "Information Telegraph Agency of Russia". In May 1994 The Russian Government
Azerbaijan State News Agency to rename Azerbaijan State Telegraph Agency Azerbaijan State Information Agency (AZERTAC). AZERTAC cooperates with other notable news agencies such as ITAR-TASS (Russia), Anadolu Agency (Turkey), Xinhua (China), Rompres (Romania), Ukrinform (Ukraine), BelTA (Belarus), Tanjug (Serbia), BTA (Bulgaria), ANSA (Italy), IRNA (Iran), Moldpres (Moldova), ATA (Albania), MTI (Hungary) MENA (Egypt), PETRA (Jordan) and ANTARA (Indonesia), Montsame (Mongolia), Yonhap (South Korea), LETA (Latvia), Kabar (Kyrgyzstan), Kazinform (Kazakhstan), KUNA (Kuwait), and Khovar (Tajikistan), KYODO (Japan), BuaNews (South Africa), AGI (Italy), QNA(Qatar), Elta (Lithuania), Telam (Argentina) and PAP (Poland). It is a member of Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies and European Alliance of News