Foreign countries are making new attempts to put pressure on Russia, introducing regular sanctions against certain individuals and organizations. Nevertheless, the political course of Moscow remains the same, which is why the initiators of such hostile measures have to invent new ways of pressure. One of the main themes in the context of sanctions against Russia in recent months has been the possible break of several contracts and the termination of cooperation in the military-technical sphere. July 21 Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin commented on the latest statements and events in the field of military-technical cooperation with foreign countries.Since spring of this year, appear regularly news on the contract for the supply in the US of Russian rocket engines RD-180. So, at the end of April, the US Court of Federal Law prohibited the signing of new contracts for the supply of these engines due to violations during the signing of the existing agreement. Leading enterprises in the space industry and the administration of the President of the United States have sharply reacted to this decision, demanding its cancellation. However, deliveries must continue for the time being, since the court’s decision concerns only new contracts.
D. Rogozin said that the supply of engines RD-180 will continue, despite all the new sanctions. The reasons for this decision are pragmatic: Russia must continue to work in profitable areas and suspend or terminate unprofitable projects. The Vice Prime Minister noted that the supply of rocket engines is beneficial for our country. All the money received on account of the deliveries goes to the technological re-equipment of the enterprises in the space industry, primarily NPO Energomash, which builds exported engines.
In addition, D. Rogozin believes that cooperation with the United States can be useful for the domestic space industry. Now our country needs high thrust engines. Free funds are required for their development. For this reason, Russia can sell existing engines at a profit for itself, “without trading, as they say, the Motherland and treating sanctions exclusively pragmatically.” Rogozin also noted that the United States, introducing sanctions, also show pragmatism. The lists of companies against which various measures are being taken have not yet included NPO Energomash and OAO Kuznetsov, which play a leading role in the production of RD-180 engines.
Until recently, the Russian defense industry could without special problems cooperate with related enterprises from neighboring countries, but recent events in Ukraine can seriously affect such cooperation, and in some cases lead to its complete cessation. In this regard, over the past few months, Russian specialists have been preparing a plan for import substitution in the field of the production of conventional weapons. In accordance with this plan, domestic enterprises should master the production of various components that were previously supplied by Ukrainian organizations.
Vice Prime Minister D. Rogozin revealed new details of this plan. According to him, the document is ready, and has been agreed with the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Industry. In the coming days, the plan will be presented to the president. The implementation of the plan will not require the investment of "some crazy money." Nevertheless, D. Rogozin was forced to admit that due to the rupture of the existing production links, some plans would have to be moved to the right in terms. First of all, this will affect some projects of surface ships. At the same time, the Deputy Prime Minister noted that the US sanctions against some Russian enterprises would be a serious incentive for their development. In this area, Rogozin does not see any problems that could not be solved.
According to D. Rogozin, the sanctions imposed by the United States will be able to seriously affect only one domestic enterprise, the Kalashnikov concern. Concern supplies a large number of different weapons on the American market. The termination of such deliveries will hit both the income of the company and the American buyers. In this case, as noted by the Deputy Prime Minister, the loss of “Kalashnikov” will amount to millions of dollars, and not tens of millions.
The deputy prime minister did not forget to touch on the disputes that arose around the Mistral-type amphibious assault ships being built in France by order of the Russian Ministry of Defense. Rogozin doubts that official Paris will break the existing contract. He notes the pragmatic nature of the French leadership, which will not allow them to refuse to fulfill contractual obligations. In case of breach of contract, France will have to pay a large fine. In addition, the Russian side will have a reason to demand not only money, but also the stern parts of the ships built in Russia.
D. Rogozin summed up the possible termination of the contract: for Russia it will be a hundred times less damaging than for France. In addition, Russian enterprises received some large-capacity assembly technologies. If Russian ships need such ships the fleetthen domestic enterprises will be able to build them on their own.
Nevertheless, the main theme in the field of military-technical cooperation remains production ties with Ukrainian enterprises. Not so long ago, the new Kiev authorities ordered the cessation of any cooperation with Russia in the military-technical sphere. D. Rogozin commented on this situation briefly and clearly: “Ukrainian defense industry is coming to an end. Full. There is nothing to rejoice here. ” The Vice Prime Minister expressed regret and noted that Ukraine for him and many is not a foreign country.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, independent Ukraine got almost 3600 of various defense industry enterprises, which employed about 4 million people. After two decades of collapse and an extremely bad attitude on the part of the government, in 2010, the number of operating enterprises decreased to about one hundred and fifty, they provided jobs for 200 thousand people. Almost all of these organizations worked in cooperation with their Russian colleagues and supplied various products to Russia.
It should be noted, in addition to Russia, the Ukrainian defense industry cooperates with more than four dozen foreign countries. However, Russia accounts for about 60% of exports of military products. In addition, about 70% of suppliers manufacturing components for the needs of the Ukrainian defense industry are in Russia. Without the supply of Russian components, the Ukrainian industry will be able to produce only a few types of armored vehicles. As for Ukrainian products, they are mostly not interested in foreign customers (besides Russian enterprises). For 23, the country's independence, Ukrainian enterprises were able to create only a few joint projects with Western partners.
From the words of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, it follows that Russia intends to further promote its position and build a policy based on its own interests. At the same time, however, the reaction of foreign countries may lead to some difficulties, but they are not a sufficient reason to abandon their plans. The existing military-technical cooperation with foreign countries has an interesting feature. Termination of cooperation in one direction or another can harm Russia, but the consequences for a recent (or unreliable) partner will be much more severe.
On the materials of the sites:
http://ria.ru/
http://vz.ru/
http://itar-tass.com/