PARIS, October 28 (RIA Novosti) – Since the beginning of 2014, Russia has sold $9.8-billion in arms and military equipment abroad, the deputy director of Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation said Tuesday.
“According to the figures for October of this year, Russia has exported arms and military equipment totaling $9.8 billion,” Anatoly Punchuk, who is heading the Russian delegation at the Euronaval-2014 exhibition in Paris, told RIA Novosti.
In 2013, Russia sold arms and military equipment abroad totaling $15.7 billion.
On September 17, Vladimir Kozhin, the presidential aide on military-technical cooperation stressed that Western sanctions have not affected Russia's arms exports and could never lead to the collapse of the country's defense industry.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in July that Russian arms exports in the first half of 2014 reached $5.6 billion.
The European Union and the United States have imposed sanctions on Russia over its alleged involvement in the Ukrainian crisis, a claim Moscow has repeatedly denied. The latest round of sanctions came into effect on September 12, targeting Russian defense companies, alongside the country's largest banks, energy companies and certain high profile individuals.
Several defense companies, including Oboronprom, United Aircraft Corporation and Uralvagonzavod, were restricted from seeking finance capital on European financial markets. The European Union also banned sales of dual use equipment to Russian companies partly or wholly involved in the design and production of military and military machine-building equipment.
In 2013, Russia sold arms and military equipment abroad totaling $15.7 billion.
