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Russia hikes defence spending to $47 billion
Russia News.Net
Saturday 13th September, 2008 (IANS)
Moscow, Sep 13 (RIA Novosti) Russia has hiked its defence spending for 2009 to 1.2 trillion roubles ($46.8 billion), a top ranking government official has said.
The spending is outlined in the budget for 2009-2011 which is due to be tabled in the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, Sep 19.
'The state defence order overall for next year is planned to hit a record sum of 1.2 trillion roubles,' first deputy prime minister Sergei Ivanov said.
The three-year budget envisaged an additional spending of 170 billion roubles ($6.63 billion) in comparison to previous annual programmes.
Ivanov said the increase was caused by 'the need to implement decrees made by the president and prime minister, and obviously inflation.'
He said earlier that the Russian budget allocation for 2007 stood at 700 billion roubles ($30 billion) for state defence orders, with the figure expected to total 1 trillion roubles ($43 billion) in 2008.
Military analysts said Russia, which sold arms worth $7 billion last year making it the second largest exporter of conventional weapons after the United States, had decided to increase military spending following the five-day conflict with Georgia last month.
In July, a month before Georgia attacked the breakaway republic of South Ossetia, which Moscow recognised as a sovereign state on Aug 26, Russia increased its annual military budget by an additional $210 million, taking the total spending for 2008 to $997 million.
The US, which has strongly condemned Russia for its military operation in Georgia, has a defence budget of $696 billion for this year.
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Comments on this story
Cold War Again !
09-13-08, 08:24 AM |
Russia hikes defence spending to $47 billion
With the Russian Stock Market fall, Ruble
decline, high Inflation, infrastructure
decline. bad heath system what is Putin thinking ? The Russian citizens cannot
afford Putin any longer. Putin, how are
you going to pay for military buildup ?
At Our Expense ? Putin cannot even take
care of Russia Now ! Putin you are enslaving us while you get rich.
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waltky
09-26-08, 03:28 AM |
Guess they gonna pay for Chavez’s nukes...
:eek:
Putin offers nuclear energy help to Chavez
Thu Sep 25, 2008 - Russia said on Thursday it was ready to consider helping Venezuela develop a peaceful nuclear energy program, a gesture that will displease Washington as two of its sharpest critics draw closer.
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“We are all ready to look at the possibility of operating in the sphere of peaceful atomic energy," Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said as he welcomed Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for late-evening talks at his residence on the outskirts of Moscow.
Nuclear energy is a sensitive issue between the United States and Russia, which this week forced the scrapping of an international meeting to discuss sanctions against Iran over its atomic program. Russia has stepped up cooperation with Venezuela, an arch-foe of Washington, since coming under strong U.S. condemnation for fighting a war against Georgia last month.
Russia this month sent strategic bomber planes on a trip to Venezuela, their furthest mission since the Cold War. Though capable of carrying nuclear missiles, they did not do so. Putin noted that Russia also has warships en route to the Caribbean for joint military exercises between the two nations.
More [url:
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE48O5QS20080925[/url]
See also:
Russia lends $1bn to Venezuela to buy arms
25 Sep 2008, Russia has granted a one-billion dollar (682-million euro) loan to Venezuela to buy Russian arms, the Kremlin said in a statement on Thursday, ahead of a visit by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
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“Russia has taken the decision to grant Venezuela a credit of one billion dollars for implementing programmes in the field of military-technical cooperation," the statement said, using diplomatic jargon for arms sales. Venezuela has been asking for the loan for months, according to Russian media reports.
The Kremlin said Venezuela has signed 12 arms contracts with Russia since 2005 for a total value of 4.4 billion dollars (three billion euros). Venezuela has bought Russian fighter jets, tanks and assault rifles and wants to buy anti-aircraft systems, armoured personnel carriers and more combat aircraft, the Kommersant daily reported earlier, quoting Russian officials.
Chavez was due to meet Prime Minister Vladimir Putin later on Thursday and will hold talks with President Dmitry Medvedev in the Urals Mountains city of Orenburg on Friday on his third visit to Russia since June 2007.
[url:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3527626.cms[/url]
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