MOSCOW, June 5 (RIA Novosti) – Kiev does not intend to refund Moscow’s prepayments for Russian defense orders placed with Ukrainian enterprises, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Thursday.
Rogozin, who oversees Russia’s space and defense industry, said the Ukrainian partners “are late with deliveries of [ready-made] products [and] are not returning the advance payments.“
"Note that Ukraine hasn't paid and is no longer going to pay for the orders placed with these enterprises," the deputy prime minister emphasized.
Rogozin stressed, referring to the conditions under which Russia and Crimea’s defense industries have to work, that Western sanctions against Moscow will only become tougher.
In this regard, Rogozin expressed dissatisfaction with the pace of execution of defense procurement directives by Crimean enterprises.
"The rate of execution of these orders is not impressive,” the deputy prime minister said.
Rogozin added that the reason for the delays was the lagging pace of a number of federal agencies, which has resulted in a lack of the necessary documentation for the Crimean enterprises to recommence production of arms and military equipment.
Following Crimea’s reunification with Russia, Ukraine’s monopoly arms maker Ukroboronprom has barred all exports of weaponry and military equipment to Russia. Ukraine previously produced helicopter engines, aviation radar, missiles and other goods for Russia.
