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Russia Shares State Secret with UN
// Data on military export to China is revealed
UN published official data on Russian export of conventional weapons for 2005. The data, provided by Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, mentions the volume of supply even to those countries, the export to which is not usually commented on by Russian officials,--first of all, China. However, experts estimate the UN Register of Conventional Arms (UNROCA) for 2005 lacks data on Russian weapons export to the amount of minimum $1.2 billion.
The data which Russia handed over to UNROCA on the whole confirmed on-the-record statements of Russian officials in the sphere of military and technical cooperation. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided the data for UNROCA, having collected it from Russian Federal Service of Military and Technical cooperation, which is the government’s mediator for Rosoboronexport, and from the enterprises that have the right for independent export of weapons.
Despite that a large part of the data concerns state secret, Russia nevertheless passed to the UN the data on supplies even to those countries with which it has non-disclosure agreements, such as China, Vietnam, and partially with India and Algeria. Russian officials steadily maintain that “weapons export to such countries as China is not commented upon.”
According to UNROCA data, the major buyer of Russian weapons in 2005 remained China, and the main export item was equipment for naval forces. Thus, Beijing received seven warships from Russia in 2005. Apparently, six of them were Project 636M submarines (China had signed a contract with Russia for eight submarines in 2002). Experts of the Center for Analysis of Strategy and Technology (CAST) estimated the total cost of six vessels at $1.5 billion. Seventh vessel for China is Project 956EM destroyer Taijou. Two ships of this type of the total cost of $1.4 billion were contracted by Beijing in January 2002. The second destroyer will be delivered to China in 2006.
Yet, independent experts believe that UNROCA does not possess complete information on Russian weapons exports. “There were cases when Russian suppliers presented incomplete data on their annual total to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” explained CAST expert Dmitry Vasiliev. “Air-cushioned Project 12061E assault landing ship Murena for South Korea, two S-300PMU-1 systems for Vietnam, antitank missile systems for Eritrea and Oman, for instance, were not included into 2005 report.” Besides, experts say that UNROCA data does not mention five full sets of Su-30MKI pursuit planes given to Indian corporation HAL to be assembled.
UNROCA data is also incomplete without modernized equipment and repair parts which constitute a large part of Russian weapons export. Thus, India received modernized Project 08773 submarine with new antiship missile system Club-S in 2005. Yemen received 12 modernized MiG-29SMT pursuit planes, and Eritrea—two of these. The total cost of modernized equipment and repair parts exported in 2005 and not registered with UNROCA is estimated at minimum $1.2 billion.
Konstantin Lantratov
All the Article in Russian as of June 20, 2006
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