Russia's arms exports estimated to stay at $14 billion level in 2017
In 2017, Russia is expected to export arms and military equipment worth about $14 billion, Interfax reported.
Last fall, Alexander Fomin, the head of the Federal Service for Russia’s Military-Technical Cooperation (FS MTC), reported that the expected weapon exports for 2017 are worth $14 billion. At the Army-2016 forum, when answering questions about military equipment, Fomin said that Russia had sold arms and military equipment to the tune of about $14 billion and "approximately the same numbers are expected for the coming year."
In December 2016, Vladimir Kozhin, Putin’s aide on MTC issues, emphasized that 2016 was a successful year for Russia in terms of military-technical cooperation, despite the difficulties that occurred because of Western sanctions. According to him, "severe sanctions have touched almost all the players of the MTC system and despite the challenges faced, our military-technical cooperation was successful." Additionally, in February of last year, in an interview with Interfax, Kozhin said that the US is Russia’s main competitor in arms trade as the two countries are "in lockstep" in the development of advanced weapons.
Ultimately, on September 6th, 2016, Sergey Chemezov, the head of the State Corporation Rostec, said at the Army-2016 forum that the orders of Rosoboronexport, the sole state intermediary for Russian arms exports, exceed $46 billion.