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Russian arms sales set new record
April 24, 2003
AFP

Russian arms sales last year totalled 4.82 billion dollars (4.38 billion euros), President Vladimir Putin told a meeting of a government commission on military-technical cooperation with foreign countries Thursday.

The total represents a new record for arms sales in post-Soviet Russia, according to official Russian statistics, beating the previous record set in 2001 of 4.4 billion dollars.

Sales revenues came to "500 million dollars more than planned," Putin said, as quoted by Russian news agencies.

Aircraft provided the bulk of Russian military sales, accounting for almost 70 percent of the total, he said.

However exports of army and naval armaments also have good prospects, Putin noted.

Most of the export sales were made by the state-owned firm Rosoboronexport, which exercises a near-monopoly on foreign sales.

Putin highlighted the good performance of the aircraft constructor MiG but deplored the failure of several other arms manufacturers to achieve even half the objectives they set themselves.

Closer coordination among producers for the export market was needed, he said, adding that a deputy prime minister would be appointed shortly charged with overseeing cooperation with foreign countries in this area.

The move follows the appointment last Saturday of a young general, Alexander Burutin, aged 46, as presidential advisor for reform of military industry and technical-military cooperation.

Putin called moreover for broadening the range of export, particularly through hi-tech products. This would "act as an incentive for the development of hi-tech industries," he said.

A weak point in the Russian arms export drive was after-sales service "where no serious progress has been made," he added.

Russia's main clients for arms sales are China and India.

Russian arms sales statistics often give rise to apparent contradictions, with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) last year estimating Russia's military exports for 2001 as worth 4.97 billion dollars.

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