Russia exports record $13.2 bn in arms

Russia set an arms export record of $13.2 billion last year despite losing Arab clients and facing stiffer competition from China, a top official was quoted as saying Thursday. A quarter of Russia's sales went to India and 15 percent to Algeria, with Vietnam responsible for 10 percent of the purchases, Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation chief Mikhail Dmitriyev was quoted as saying by Vedomosti. "Russia's military-technical cooperation plan for 2012 stands at $13.5 billion," the Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily quoted Dmitriyev as saying. Russia exported $10.4 billion in arms in 2010, in second place behind the United States. Defense officials had earlier said they expected to lose some $4 billion in revenue from arms contracts abandoned by Libya following the fall of Moammar Gadhafi's regime and Moscow's hesitant support for the opposition. Dmitriyev said Russia compensated for its Arab world losses by resuming sales to European nations such as Germany and the Czech Republic, and picking up clients in Latin America and Southeast Asia.