MOSCOW. March 22 (Interfax-AVN) - The investment program of the Russian Control Systems Agency will have been approved by the end of the year, the agency's administration said on Friday.
Primary installations for investment will be selected already in April, an administration spokesman told Interfax- Military News Agency. He quoted Control Systems Agency Director General Vladimir Simonov as saying that "it would be investment in selected enterprises and research centers developing and producing critical technologies chosen by the Russian government and Ministry of Industry and Science."
"We rely on substantial investment resources in implementation of the defense industry reform and restructuring program," Simonov said.
According to him, a special report was delivered behind closed doors at the recent expanded session of the agency's board. "Economists spoke on the spheres, hardships and possibilities of channeling more investments into the agency's enterprises," the director said.
Speaking at the session, Simonov mentioned the necessity to use traditional credit resources and own sources of financing as fully as possible and offered the administration of the Rosoboronexport state-owned arms trader the use of profits from arms and military hardware export as a resource for investment into the most important spheres of radioelectronics development.
The issue has been discussed by officials of the agency, government, Russian committee on military-technical cooperation with foreign nations and Defense Ministry many times, Simonov stressed.
If Rosoboronexport invests six to seven percent of annual export revenues into the industry, enterprises of the Control Systems Agency will be able to boost export supplies, he said.
"We are hoping for attraction of investment resources from investment programs of natural monopolies, and we have made some progress in the sphere," Simonov said. He added that the agency's board had held a joint session with the board of the Transportation Ministry and was planning to hold similar sessions jointly with the Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Communication and administration of the fuel and energy industry.
Russia's radioelectronic industry is "on the edge of extinction," Simonov said. "If we attract investments and renew main production facilities, our industry will work properly. If we fail to do it, we know very well that main production facilities will be worn out by 100 percent in two to three years," he stressed.