Russia hopes to sustain arms export despite sanctions

Russia hopes there will be no decline in its arms export in 2014 despite Western sanctions, a senior official of the defense industry said Tuesday.

"Starting spring, we've done a huge work at the markets of South America, Africa, and Asia," said Sergei Chemezov, head of the state-controlled conglomerate, Rostec.

The negotiations give hope that Russia would compensate its arms export losses incurred due to the Western sanctions, he was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying.

According to Chemezov, Russian arms export declined mostly for the cost of light arms used for sports and hunting, which were mainly sold to the United States before the sanctions.

Kalashnikov Concern, the Russian firm producing the iconic Kalashnikov rifles and exporting about 40 percent of its civilian arms to the United States, has been blacklisted by Washington since March.

"We've lost a very big market," Chemezov said. However, Rostec has found new markets in 2014 for Russian arms, particularly in Egypt and India, while contracts on light arms exports were signed with Thailand and Indonesia, he said.

President Vladimir Putin said in November that Russia has secured at least 7.5 billion U.S. dollars in arms contracts with foreign customers since the beginning of 2014.

Russia, already the world's top arms exporter, sold some 15.7 billion dollars worth of weapons abroad -- primarily guns, missiles and fighter jets -- in 2013. Russian-made weapons are supplied to 66 countries, and Moscow has military-technical cooperation agreements with 85 countries. Enditem