MOSCOW. May 21 (Interfax) - Changes that have recently taken place in the Russian economy in general and the defense sector in particular have only contributed to economic growth in the country, Strategy and Technology Analysis Center director Ruslan Pukhov told Interfax.

The Wall Street Journal newspaper's article that analyzes reasons behind Russia's success on the world's weapons market and the operations of the Rosoboronexport arms exporter "is objective and, in general, assesses ongoing processes in Russia correctly," he said.

In the 1990s, "the Russian economy resembled a person who cannot swim and who has been thrown from a boat in the middle of a river in the hope that he himself learns to swim. But the 'pupil' started to drown, and urgent measures had to be taken," Pukhov said.

"It did not took the new team of market policy supporters long to realize that nobody was going to assist them. The only option was to take full control and return strategic, vital industries to the country's fold and appoint reliable people to head them," he said. Rosoboronexport general director Sergei Chemezov is among such people, he said.

An article by Wall Street Journal's Moscow correspondent Guy Chazan published in the newspaper a few days ago says that since his appointment as Rosobornexport's head in 2004, Chemezov has been working hard to reorganize the arms exporter into a conglomerate with a wide range of interests, and Russia's arms trade has started to prosper.