KALUGA, January 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Tuesday that Russia would gradually merge its defense industry companies into large holdings.
"In the near future, we will create a large aircraft manufacturing holding, which will combine both civilian and military components," Ivanov told a news conference. "We will continue to create similar integrated structures in the more distant future."
Ivanov said such a system could be very effective for both the Russian defense industry and the armed forces, because it would reduce the number of organizational problems and simplify pricing policies for different types of military equipment.
No other organizational reforms are planned in the defense industry in the near future, the minister said.
"We are not planning to form new ministries or agencies," Ivanov said.
