Anatoly Isaikin: Rosoboronexport Holds Contracts for $35.5 Bln

09.06.2012 Current stock of orders held by Rosoboronexport is evaluated as $35.5 bln, said the company's director Anatoly Isaikin in the interview to Vedomosti.

According to him, "as of the end of 2011, backlog of orders was roughly $32.5 bln, so it has considerably grown since the beginning of the year".

Overall volume of contracts signed in 2011 was $10.7, Isaikin said. "Through five months of the current year, we've signed contracts to amount of $5 bln, and the year plan for 2012 provides somewhat $11 bln, so it is improper to talk about reduction in volume of orders. Perhaps, other participants of military cooperation process face a kind of a fall, but that isn't question to us, ask FSMTC [Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation]".

Isaikin declined to comment Russia's overall backlog of orders reported in media as $40 bln. He referred such comments were prerogative of FSMTC, and the figure included orders of all agencies authorized to carry on foreign economic activities independently (they are 22 in Russia).

Being interviewed by Vedomosti, Isaikin emphasized that "crisis by no means affected our activities, we face no decline. This has a simple explanation. The crisis struck the most developed countries like the US and Europe, they are states we have minimal military contacts with".

Answering the question about export credits for Russian armaments, Isaikin said that "we significantly yield to China in this matter. Through the last 3 years it was decided to grant such credits to the amount of $7 bln. Considering that they are long-term credits and deliveries stretch for many years, in annual volume, portion of deliveries on credit is insignificant".

Isaikin detailed on Russia's prospects for arms export, chances in current tenders and reasons for losses in several large tenders held in 2011.

In particular, recent local conflicts "explain splashed interest to all kinds of air defense systems made in Russia including S-300 and S-400 not only by neighbors of flash-point countries but all across the world".

According to Anatoly Isaikin, Rosoboronexport does not expect reduction in exports of Su-30MK fighters and considers training aircraft Yak-130UBS have good prospects.

As for him, "we've already signed contracts for Yak-130 with several states and are fruitfully negotiating with somewhat 10 countries".

Answering the question about reasons for losses in a number of large tenders, Isaikin emphasized that "those tenders were lost due to reasons not related to any systematic problems".

"In my view, MiG-35 fighter lost the Indian tender because that was not batch-produced aircraft, while French and American companies offered production samples".

"Production of Mi-28N helicopter was launched during the tender, and it was commissioned into Russian armed forces after the tender began. By the way, those tenders implied very severe specifications so that even batch-produced aircraft couldn't meet them… After all, mass production and commissioning were among the basic requirements, and that extended to our results".

Nevertheless, Anatoly Isaikin believes that "both MiG-35 and Mi-28N have good export potential. Through recent years, many of their performance characteristics were improved up to India's tender demands, Mi-28 is massively purchased by the Russian military. We're negotiating with several countries to export those choppers".

Answering the question about the Indonesian tender for two diesel subs, Isaikin said that "initially, we did not expect victory much, since Indonesia has longstanding ties with South Korea. Finally, it won the tender".

"Choosing South Korea, Indonesia was assuming how its further cooperation would develop. But the subs we offered on that tender are purchased by other countries", emphasized Isaikin.