NEW DELHI. Jan 20 (Interfax-AVN) - India will pay the contract sum for the delivery of the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier in hard currency, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told journalists in New Delhi on Tuesday.
"The payments under the contract will be made in hard currency," he said.
The contract for the Admiral Gorshkov was signed in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Ivanov said that in the near future, Russian arms deliveries may be paid for in Russian rubles.
"It is possible to achieve this in four to five years. I am not an economist, but experts have estimated that if Russia continues to develop as dynamically and steadily as now, the ruble may become a hard currency," Ivanov said.
"Already, the ruble is accepted as a convertible currency in many countries, but only on gray and black markets," he said.