MOSCOW. Dec 4 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia is dynamically turning into an independent and powerful dealer on the world military products market, Rosoboronexport Director General Sergei Chemezov said in an interview published by the Monday issue of the Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper.
"We set a historic record and sold about $6 billion worth armaments last year. Even the U.S. Congress had to admit our leading position in deliveries of weaponry to developing countries. Russia ranked top in this field, according to U.S. statistics," he said.
The U.S. sanctions on Rosoboronexport are also a result of the company's foreign economic relations, Chemezov said. "Rosoboronexport's portfolio until 2012 exceeds $12 billion, which guarantees jobs to several hundred Russian defense plants for the next three or four years and salaries to thousands of workers," he said.
Weapons have become a political commodity, Chemezov said. Rosoboronexport trades with companies and law enforcement agencies from more than 70 states.
"In general, by actively promoting armaments abroad, Russia boosts its geo-political potential. It is obvious that we are gaining more and more ground on foreign markets. Today nobody doubts the fact that this country is strong not only in energy resources. Fortunately, we have preserved high technologies in the defense sector and machine-building industry. They allow us to enter the world market with unique proposals and ensure a stable outlook into the future," he noted.
Asked how arms supply may change the balance of power in a certain region of the world, Chemezov said that military power cannot be excluded from the national security maintenance system in the near or foreseeable future. "Look what happens. The priority in the U.S. geopolitics is given to control over all the main oil regions of the world and large-scale natural gas fields. At the same time, the U.S. not only declares military domination, but realizes it. In other words, oil wells, gas fields and military conflicts of any intensity correlate. Moreover, sometimes there is synchronization and coordination of these processes," he noted.
"As a result, must be ready for any challenge and any confrontation, too. The country's sovereignty and power largely depend on the capability to design and export arms," Chemezov concluded.