MOSCOW. April 25 (Interfax) - Russia is the world's second largest exporter of conventional weapons after the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
"We have confirmed this once again that Russia is one of the leaders of the global market and remains firmly in second place in terms of weapons export volume," Putin said at a session of the commission for Russia's military-technological cooperation with foreign states.
The U.S. controls 29% of the world's weapons market, Russia 27%, Germany 7%, China 6%, and France 5%, he said.
"Last year exports of Russian commodities and services as part of military-technological cooperation grew by 3% to $15.7 billion, which is a little higher than in 2012," the president said.
New long-term contracts worth $18 billion were signed, bringing the "Russian portfolio" of arms export contracts to an all-time high of $49 billion, he said.
"It is important not to stop at this, but move rapidly to overhaul the industrial base, introduce cutting-edge technologies and broaden the agenda of research and development efforts," Putin said.