State defense orders include spending on arms by all of Russia’s military organizations — such as the Defense Ministry, Interior Ministry and special services — as well as repairs and spending on research and development.
Putin was meeting officials including Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and foreign intelligence chief Mikhail Fradkov at his Black Sea Sochi residence on the first anniversary of the war in Georgia.
Russia crushed a Georgian assault launched shortly before midnight on Aug. 7 in Tbilisi’s rebel South Ossetia province. Russian tanks and paratroopers routed Georgia and briefly held large chunks of its land in the five-day war.
But the war also exposed Russia’s obsolete armaments, a lack of modern communications and precision weapons, accelerating long-overdue military reform and leading analysts to doubt if Moscow would be able to defeat an enemy bigger than Georgia.
“Despite the difficult conditions we face because of the global economic crisis, we have found a possibility not only to maintain but also to increase the state defense orders by 1.2 percent,” Putin said.
State defense orders are different from the national defense spending in the budget, which also includes soldiers’ salaries and is publicly disclosed.
The 2010 defense order plan should be ready by Aug. 20. Putin said strategic nuclear forces, air defense, modern assault weaponry, intelligence, command and communication systems and military infrastructure were top priorities.
Putin, who did not disclose the total amount of the country’s state orders, said the government would allocate up to 200 billion rubles ($6.41 billion) in 2010 to help fulfill long-term defense contracts jeopardized by the crisis.
Putin also vowed to assign 124 billion rubles ($3.98 billion) to provide permanent housing for officers.
“It will be difficult to do, having in mind the budget deficit and economic problems, but we will do it,” Putin said.
Russia will run its first budget deficit in a decade this year. The deficit is set to reach 9.4 percent of gross domestic product in 2009 and ease to 7.5 percent of GDP in 2010.
Ivanov, who oversees the country’s military industrial complex, said the government would spend 470 billion rubles ($15.07 billion) purchasing new weapons and building infrastructure in 2010.
He said part of this money would be spent on improving the combat-readiness of ground forces and strengthening the military capacity in key directions, including the south where Russia borders Georgia.
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