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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues.

We are holding our latest regular meeting of the Commission for Military Technology Cooperation. I propose that we discuss the current situation in this sector and outline our next steps to discuss the military technology cooperation system.

Let me start by noting that competition on the global arms and military equipment market has become noticeably more intense of late, though this was always quite a competitive sector really. Our defence industry companies have felt this change, and this year have encountered instances of unfair competition from some Western countries and companies. It is doubly difficult to work under politically motivated sanctions, of course, but this is not a unique situation.

At the same time, Russia is continuing to develop its cooperation with foreign states in the military technology sector. Our companies now have a very solid orders portfolio worth more than $50 billion. We meet our obligations to our foreign partners consistently on time and to the required quality standards. We have already fulfilled 70 percent of planned deliveries for this year, as of October 1. We have also continued our import replacement programme in the defence sector. Russian producers are becoming less dependent on foreign components. In short, our defence industry exporters are confirming their reputation of reliable partners.

It is essential, of course, to continue filling the order books in this sector, and develop our cooperation, especially in joint production of military equipment and training foreign specialists to service and repair this equipment. To do this, we need to make maximum use of the opportunities presented by the big international salons and exhibitions and demonstrate the most advanced models our country produces in this sector. In 2015, delegations from more than 60 countries in the Middle East, Africa, South America, and Central, South and Southeast Asia visited events of this kind held in Russia.

Talks with foreign buyers resulted in major contracts signed for aviation and armoured tank hardware, and also air defence systems. The MAKS-2015 salon alone resulted in contracts for a total of more than 350 billion rubles. Of course, we must work now to not just consolidate our position with our key partners, but also to take more active measures to promote our products on regional markets, offer flexible payment options, launch inter-sectoral projects and offer modern logistics support schemes.

I think it essential too that we analyse the experience of other exporter countries in the military technology cooperation sector and borrow their best practices, so as to ensure that in the current environment, we keep up our level and quality of cooperation with countries in all parts of the world.

Let’s discuss these subjects now.

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