The Kremlin will not cut state defense spending despite Russia's economic woes, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has announced.
Preliminary data already shows that
Russia's defense industry grew by more than 10 percent in 2016, the
state-owned TASS news agency reported Tuesday.
The government will instead be rolling out a new modernization program for the country's military-industrial sector between 2018 and 2025.
"Funding has already been set aside for the coming years and that amount won’t be changed," Medvedev said at a defense industry meeting.
"Just 10 or 15 years ago, nobody could have imagined that we would be creating these kinds of production facilities, increasing defense contracts, and improving upgrade programs for arms manufacturers," he said.
Special praise was given to Russia's arms and military technology manufacturers, who fulfilled 99 percent of their government orders in 2016, TASS reported.
Russian space agency Roskosmos struggled with more “modest results,” the Prime Minister said, only fufilling 83 percent of government quotas.
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