MOSCOW. April 20 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia is taking active measures to increase its potential for exporting conventional weapons, says the Russian publication of the SIPRI-2003 annual report.
The publication presented in Moscow on Tuesday is prepared in cooperation between the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and the Russian Academy of Sciences' International Relations and World Economy Institute with aid from the Geneva Center for Democratic Control of Armed Forces.
"Weapons are considered one of the main categories of Russian industrial goods that have export potential, and Russia is taking steps to increase its weapons export potential," the report states.
According to the SIPRI experts, Russia had 22% of the world's weapons export market from 1998 to 2002, which makes Russia the second largest weapons exporter in the world. The United States was first with 41%, and France third with 9%.
The experts say that the Rosoboronexport state-owned arms trader has achieved a growth in orders thanks to "creative cooperation" and use of compensatory deals involving companies from other countries.
According to the experts, Russia is laying a heavier stress on upgrading (increasing quality) of the main types of export- oriented hardware, trying to secure future orders and revenues. Efforts in this sphere have been quite limited so far, which is partially explained by lack of progress in developing advanced subsystems, which is the core of modernization activity. However such activity can develop in cooperation with foreign companies, the publication reads.
Having studied Russia's research and technological potential, SIPRI experts concluded that the country has possibilities to boost arms exports. At the same time, Russia has some problems in the sphere.
The main problem is structural and financial limitations, not the lack of military skills or technologies. As to long-term difficulties, they are creation of the required research and technological basis for future research and development projects and making production of new military hardware efficient, the publication reads.
"An important issue is how long Russia will be able to be guided by requirements of foreign markets, not its own demands, while developing armaments. At the moment export revenues constitute a considerable share of funding of Russian military- related R&D," the publication says.