Russian state defense orders topped 1.9 trillion rubles ($35.54 billion) in 2014, helping the defense industry grow despite Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday.
Medvedev told the lower house of parliament that Russia had sold $15 billion worth of military equipment abroad last year — some 3.2 percent of Russia's total exports — and outstanding defense orders were currently more than $49 billion.
He said state defense orders in 2013 had totaled 1.5 trillion rubles in 2013. Russia's armed forces are in the process of being modernized. ($1 = 53.4600 rubles)
