Russia earned $14 billion in arms sales in 2016

Russian presidential aide Vladimir Kozhin said the country sold about $14 billion worth of weapons and other military equipment in 2016.

A Russian arms exhibition. (Photo: TASS)

Mr. Kozhin said that 2016 was a successful year for Russia in the field of military-technical cooperation. "Last year, when we were planning for 2016, we acknowledged the difficulties and discussed solutions. Sanctions affected all aspects of arms exports. There was pressure on partners and leaders of countries that buy Russian weapons, as well as freezing of accounts and payment processes for the technologies we supply to them," he said.

Mr Kozhin also said that people should not expect an increase in Russia's arms exports in 2017 after the sanctions are lifted. "As concerns in 2017, we do not expect all sanctions to be lifted from January 1 and we will work in a favorable environment," he said.

Earlier, President Vladimir Putin said that the total revenue from Russia's export contracts could reach 50 billion USD. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that this activity could help Russia earn 20 billion USD annually.

In an interview with Russian television, Prime Minister Medvedev said: "We are currently at the level of earning $17 billion in arms sales per year and this figure could reach $20 billion in the long term."

According to Dan Tri