MOSCOW, October 25 (RIA Novosti) – Russia has canceled an order for Austrian-manufactured Glock pistols placed by the Defense Ministry after the prices were found to be inflated.
The Federal Defense Contracts Service said Friday that the procurement process is to be investigated.
A preliminary probe revealed that the Defense Ministry’s procurement agency inflated the initial contract price in a notice on its website earlier in October, a contracts service spokesman told RIA Novosti.
He said that other defense, security and law enforcement agencies could buy the same guns at a quarter of the price.
The procurement agency said it would pay up 210,000 rubles ($6,600) for Glock 17 handguns and 191,000 rubles for Glock 26 models. This sum covers a full set, including barrels and silencers not mentioned in the order, the spokesman said.
The defense contracts service said it had raised the issue with the defense minister and proposed that an internal investigation be carried out.
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Monday that the Glock pistols were clearly overpriced and that Russia should rely on domestically produced small arms.
