MOSCOW. Nov 20 (Interfax-AVN) - Problems pertaining to financing the state defense order are history, Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said at a meeting of the Defense Industry Commission in Moscow on Monday.
"Moreover, the amount of funds, allocated to arms and materiel research and development, procurements, and repairs, has been increasing with each passing year. In 2007 it will exceed that of 2006 by almost a quarter, by 23.2% to be precise," Ivanov said.
He pointed out that in excess of 40% of the state defense order would go to the state armament program for 2007-2015. For instance, the Defense Ministry will get 300.4 billion Russian rubles ($11.3 billion), Ivanov said.
He emphasized that the state defense order should fulfill annual state armament program plans, as well as main indices of 2007 state defense order, adopted by at the previous meeting of the Defense Industry Commission.
Developing, placing, and fulfilling the state defense order are priorities, the defense minister said. According to him, the commission will discuss the 2007 draft state defense order, one of the major financial documents. "The entire national defense establishment, including defense capabilities, law and order enforcement, and border protection, clearly depends on the way the state defense order is fulfilled next year," Ivanov underlined.