LE BOURGET, France, June 18 (AVN) - The Rosoboronexport state-owned arms trader accounts for over 80 percent of Russian arms exports, the company's director general, Andrei Belyaninov, told a news conference here on Monday.
Belyaninov was speaking at a news conference held at the Paris Air Show, which also involved leaders of the Russian international military-technical co-operation committee, Sukhoi aircraft corporation, MIG aircraft corporation and other leading Russian exporters.
Russia sells arms to over 60 countries, and 35 of them have officers of Rosoboronexport, Belyaninov said. The supplies volume estimated at over USD3bn in 2000. The company made all contract obligations towards our customers.
The Rosoboronexport bench at the Paris Air Show represents 36 enterprises. Mainly those which are aircraft companies for the Russian arms trade market consist of aircraft at almost 50 percent. The air show envisages the wide range of models of aircraft, arms, aircraft equipment, space vehicles aimed at foreign markets. The main attention was paid by Belyaninov to SU-30MK Flanker, MIG-AT and YAK-130 planes which daily participate in flights. For the first time the arms trader demonstrates the MI-35N modernised helicopter abroad which is the export variant of the MI-24 Hind helicopter.
The share of Russia's profits gained from contracts with China and India estimates at over USD4.5bn and the arms are being exported to other countries, Belyaninov told the Military News Agency being asked to comment on Russia's foreign arms supplies. He confirmed the sum of USD6bn from the signed contracts but refused to disclose the names of the countries and kinds of arms which were supplied there.
There were some claims to the arms trader that it did not deal with small contracts. Currently the situation changed and the main contract of the arms trader will be signed in future though there will be no rapid breakout to the market, Belyaninov said. The Russian aircraft equipment is being modernised by the foreign companies as well. Particularly, the air show demonstrates the SU-25 Frogfoot attack plane which was modernised in Israel and the MI-24 Hind helicopter which was modernised by French and Uzbek companies. It is not fair and the situation should be changed in favour of Russian companies, Belyaninov added.
Speaking on the company prospects Belyaninov said that the arms trader planned to reach the USD4bn per year level. Its main task is to restore all markets of the former Soviet Union, particularly, those from the Eastern Europe, Middle East, etc.
Finishing the conference Belyaninov stressed that one of the main aims of the arms trader participation in the air show was to unite Russia's power as well as the efforts of defence industry enterprises in the sphere of promoting the Russian arms at the world market.