Russia Can Buy Cheaper Foreign Weapons, Says President

The Russian Defence Ministry can shop for foreign military equipment if domestically produced weapons are overpriced, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said.

“You must purchase only high-quality hardware at transparent prices, not for the prices appealing to some companies,” he added.

The president also urged the ministry to make every contract as transparent as possible and to speed up the signing of military contracts, according to RIA Novosti.

The Defense Ministry previously said that it was ready to pay full in advance to military hardware and weapons enterprises and to purchase military products from manufacturers, providing a 25%-plus profitability.

The ministry had failed to conclude contracts worth around R108bn ($3.85bn) equivalent to 18% of the total 2011 state defence order, approved in the amount of R581.5bn ($20.7bn), due to high prices for military products.