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Russian arms, military exports to top $4 bln in 2001
December 17, 2001
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian arms and military exports will exceed $4 billion this year and may climb again in 2002, Interfax news agency quoted a government official as saying Monday.
Russia reported $3.68 billion in weapon exports in 2000, with revenues to state coffers totaling $2.84 billion.
Alexander Denisov, deputy chairman of Russia's committee for foreign military-technical cooperation, said the exact figure for this year would only be clear by March 2002 but that it would be "more than $4 billion and less than $5 billion."
"Next year we hope that Russia will exceed that level," Denisov said.
He added that one-third of the total sum to be received by Russia in 2001 would consist of payments for military hardware and arms deliveries carried out the previous year.
Earlier this year, officials from Russia's key arms exporter, state-owned Rosoboronexport, said they expected governments' future requirements would reflect an increased emphasis on counterterrorism and internal security following the Sept. 11 hijack attacks on the United States.
The report said new orders rose in 2000 for the third year running, but deliveries fell. The Middle East accounts for around 40 percent of the world market.
Russia has supplied tons of equipment, including tanks, rifles and ammunition, to help Afghanistan's Northern Alliance overthrow the formerly ruling Taliban regime.
An annual review by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said India and China were Russia's main customers for 2000, but that Iran was shaping up as one of the biggest for the future.
The IISS said the United States was the world's biggest exporter of arms, now accounting for almost half of global deliveries. Next in line is Britain. Russian deliveries are rising sharply.
Arms exports remain an important source of revenue for Russia, which saw its share of world weapons trade shrink dramatically after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
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