KAZAN. May 3 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Navy will invest most of its five-year budget into submarines, Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Vladimir Masorin told a news conference in Kazan on Wednesday.
"In the near five years the priority domain for us will be the nuclear submarines, and then we will redistribute funding for development of general purpose forces," Masorin said after meeting with directors of defense industry companies from Tatarstan held on the premises of the Zelenodolsk shipyard.
He emphasized that the naval leg of the strategic nuclear forces will have to be totally renewed in the coming years.
"The leadership of the Zelenodolsk shipyard did understand that general-purpose ships, i.e. surface ships, have good prospects for the future. I don't mean cruisers now, as we think that the mainstay of the future general-purpose fleet will be made by the ships we are building now, i.e. gunboats and frigates," he said.
Tatarstan's President Mintimer Shaimiyev noted during the news conference that the main merit of the republic's leadership is the fact that during the time of instability it managed to retain the defense industry afloat. "The defense industry potential of the republic was retained, and the enterprises are ready to make the products needed by the Navy to defend the interests of the country at sea," he said.