MINSK. May 14 (Interfax-AVN) - Military-technical cooperation between Russia and Belarus is developing dynamically and efficiently, Vladimir Paleshchuk, deputy chairman of the Russian Committee for Military-Technical Cooperation with Foreign States, said here on Wednesday.
"In the past two years, military-technical cooperation between Russia and Belarus has developed dynamically and efficiently. It cannot fall out of the framework of Russian- Belarussian interstate relations," Paleshchuk told Interfax- Military News Agency.
Paleshchuk is the leader of the Russian delegation to the Milex 2003 arms and military hardware exhibition that is underway in Minsk.
Speaking about Belarus's share in arms supplies performed jointly with Russia, and about joint projects on foreign markets, Paleshchuk said the share was "quite considerable" and "the highest among all CIS nations." He declined to disclose any figures, stressing that he was "an opponent of any calculations."
Upgrade of armament and military hardware will be "ahead of traditional supplies" in the next five years, Paleshchuk went on. Speaking about urgent measures, he mentioned the need to increase activity on arms markets of third countries and joint research. Paleshchuk does not consider necessary the creation of parallel enterprises in Russia and Belarus producing identical armament, military hardware, and their components, and called for using available facilities on the territory of other nations.
Paleshchuk also said that Russia sells arms to Belarus "on domestic market prices."
According to him, there is no competition among CIS nations on the markets of third countries. "There is some lack of coordination, but it stems only from faults of some officials," he stressed.
Paleshchuk said it was time to streamline joint Russian- Belarussian activity in the sphere of exhibitions and advertisement. Joint participation of the two nations in arms shows on the territory of third nations, up to establishment of joint sections, is a potential way of increasing efficiency of such activity, he argued.
"At the same time, domestic exhibitions are still important, because many enterprises are incapable of delivering their products abroad due to various reasons," Paleshchuk said.
He stressed that domestic exhibitions help make more progress in military-technical cooperation within the CIS. Plans to arrange arms shows in Kyrgyzstan and in Transcaucasia seem very attractive, he added.