The arms market for Russia is expanding, with India and China set to remain long-term partners for Russia

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

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The arms market for Russia is expanding, with India and China set to remain long-term partners for Russia, Sergei Chemezov, the head of Russia's leading arms exporter, Rosoboronexport, said today in a newspaper interview. He told Vremya Novostei, a popular daily, that the company was gaining more partners, reaching 59 in 2004 in comparison with 53 countries in 2003. Rosoboronexport's order book remains at $12 billion plus or minus $1 billion. Aircraft generally represent the chief export item (about 60%), but this year the navy is predominating. Out of the $5 billion earned by the agency over the last year $3 billion came from India and China. "The share of these two major buyers will fall to some extent next year, because we have concluded major deals in other regions - with Malaysia, for example," said Chemezov. "We are not ruling out reopening in Algeria." Contracts that have already been drawn up with Algeria are worth about $3 billion. Rosoboronexport's annual sales will continue to be worth just more than $5 billion. And all parties to military-technical cooperation could provide the country with around $6 billion. The past year has seen a dramatic rise in military technical cooperation with Latin America. "We have attended all the exhibitions in that region, in Chile, Brazil and Venezuela, to promote our weapons," the head said. "And they are gradually emerging on this market, above all small arms and helicopters. The feedback has been very positive." This year's supplies to Latin America will double. Chemezov mentioned contract payments with goods produced in the country supplied with arms as a new form of cooperation. At the last meeting of Russia's military technical cooperation commission, he proposed that the president advance tied loans to several Latin American countries. "No decision has yet been made on this region, but Jordan has been allocated about $500 million for a period of five to six years," the Rosoboronexport head said.

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