Opening the session, Vladimir Putin said that in 2001 Russia earned $4.4 billion from military exports, much more than the previous year.
The President noted that the last few years had seen a growth in Russian exports of combat equipment and military technologies, though statistics did not give grounds to draw overly optimistic conclusions. In his opinion, Russia was just beginning to restore its lost positions. He said that Russia cooperated with about 60 countries in that sphere but the number of its main partners was much less impressive – just two or three countries.
According to Vladimir Putin, in determining a strategy of military-technical cooperation it was necessary to objectively assess the potential of the national defence industry and review the priorities of R&D work.