MOSCOW, January 15 (RIA Novosti) - The state will earmark 4 trillion rubles ($125 billion) for arms procurements by 2011, including 1 trillion rubles ($31 billion) in 2009, the Russian prime minister said on Thursday.
Vladimir Putin said the modernization of defense related enterprises would continue despite the global financial crisis.
"The modernization of defense industry enterprises as well as the development of modern weapons should continue," he said.
He added that federal defense programs need to be reviewed and "streamlined," in particular with regard to production volumes.
Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said earlier on Thursday the state had earmarked $10 billion for 'core enterprises' and defense-related sectors of industry.
