KOLOMNA, Moscow Region. July 25 (Interfax-AVN) - The Machine Building Design Bureau, a leading Russian missile developer, received RUB690m (USD22.76m) from sales of its products in the first half of 2003, the bureau's chief and constructor general Valery Grishin said on Friday.
"The profits are several times higher than in the same period of last year," Grishin told Interfax-Military News Agency.
The bureau's net profit amounted to about RUB19m (USD626,860) in the first half of 2003, which is also more than in the first half of last year, he said.
"The major share of net profit will be spent on developing and expanding the enterprise's research, technical and production activity, as well as on maintaining the social and cultural sphere," Grishin noted.
According to him, the bureau does not have debts to the federal budget and extra-budget funds at the moment. The taxes paid by the enterprise in the first half of the year reached RUB1.5m (USD49,520).
"The bureau's stock of orders for 2003 includes R&D related to 20 projects," Grishin said.
The Machine-Building Design Bureaus among the few Russian defense industry enterprises that are authorized to operate on the foreign market independently. Products of the bureau and its partners are in great demand on the global arms market.
The bureau was created in 1942. It specializes in the development of portable air defense missile systems, anti-tank missile systems, tactical missile systems, and active protection systems for armored vehicles.