NABEREZHNYE CHELNY. Oct 15 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Defense Ministry is planning to adopt the practice of signing long-term contracts with defense industry enterprises in the framework of the armament program, Army General Alexei Moskovsky, chief of armament and deputy defense minister, said on Friday.
At the moment, nearly all contracts with defense industry enterprises are signed for a period of one year, which does not suit the industry, especially the manufacturers of products with a long technological cycle, Moskovsky told Interfax-Military News Agency.
"Contracts should be signed for a period of three or more years. This is not only my personal opinion, this is also the position of the Defense Ministry," he said.
At the same time, there are several legislative and financial problems that prevent the Defense Ministry from signing a higher number of long-term contracts, Moskovsky stressed.
"In 2004, three-year contracts were signed on five types of armament and military hardware. This mostly concerns the space industry," Moskovsky said.
According to him, long-term contracts dealing with much more armament and hardware samples will be signed in 2005. They will concern various products, not only those with a long production cycle.