$641 Billion to be spent on arms procurement

[Safriz]

MOSCOW, June 24 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian
Defense Ministry has signed 737 billion rubles
(about $22.5 billion) worth of contracts as part of its
arms procurement program for 2013, a senior
ministry official said on Monday.
The signed deals account for 82.4 percent of this
year’s arms procurement quota, Deputy Defense
Minister Yury Borisov said.
The total defense spend this year exceeds 1 trillion
rubles, up 40 percent on 2012, including credits and
subsidies to defense firms, he said.
The Russian government has allocated 20 trillion
rubles ($641 billion) for the comprehensive
rearmament of Russia's armed forces up to 2020.
Russia's 2011-2020 arms procurement program
stipulates the upgrade of up to 11 percent of the
forces' military equipment annually and will boost
the share of modern weaponry in the armed forces'
inventory to 70 percent by 2020.
The Russian defense industry has been criticized
recently for delays in the signing and fulfilment of
military contracts, as well as for the inefficient use
of state funds in the production of new weaponry.
The Finance Ministry has proposed extending the
duration of the arms procurement program in
“problem areas,” such as the delivery of combat ships
and strategic submarines, beyond 2020.