Countries that are major importers of Russian weapons, such as Algeria and Egypt, are among those that have been most affected by the ongoing coronavirus disease pandemic, a top Russian official said.
Russia’s deputy minister of defense, Alexander Fomin, disclosed this in an interview with the Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper on Sunday.
“Unfortunately, Russia’s main partners in the field of military-technical cooperation, such as Algeria, Egypt, India, China, and others, are among the most affected.
“It is expected that over the next two years, global military spending will decrease by eight percent and the global export of military goods (will fall) by four per cent,” Fomin remarked.
Acording to him, analysts are predicting that the global arms market is unlikely to return to pre-pandemic growth levels until 2023.
Russia has postponed several arms deliveries throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to date.
In part, this was caused by international travel restrictions that prevented foreign experts from conducting pre-delivery inspections of goods.
Also, the inability of Russian specialists to travel to other countries to provide technical support is another factor that has affected arms delivery. (Sputnik/NAN)