ST. PETERSBURG. May 24 (Interfax) - The Afghan government will be unable to cope with heroin production after the pullout of the Western coalition: it will need international assistance, both economic and other, Russian Federal Drug Control Service Director Viktor Ivanov said in St. Petersburg on Thursday after a meeting of the Russian-U.S. working group on the suppression of drug trafficking.
"The Afghan government will assume full responsibility for security after 2014. We all know that the Afghan government has insufficient economic capability for doing that," he said.
The drug black market in Afghanistan is estimated at no less than $65 billion, "and the Afghan government has a much lesser budget," Ivanov said.
"Therefore, we expect efficient international cooperation in the enhancement of anti-drug measures and economic development of Afghanistan," he said.
Judging by the material presented at the NATO Chicago summit, Western military units will stay in Afghanistan for some time after the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) pullout.
"I do not think that the situation will change drastically with the [ISAF] pullout. The [drug trafficking] problem can be solved with the destruction of drug infrastructure in Afghanistan," he said.