Interfax: Russia’s defense spending to amount to 2.3 trillion rubles in 2013 – Putin

SOCHI. Nov 29 (Interfax) – The Russian state is spending huge money on modernizing its armed forces, and therefore all goals that have been set must be attained, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

“The overall volume of the [Defense] Ministry budget in 2003 was 600 billion rubles, and this year, following the last adjustment of the budget, the expenditures on the Defense Ministry will amount to 2.3 trillion rubles,” Putin said at a working lunch following a series of conferences concerning the defense industry development that have lasted three days.

“The state allots this money so that our defense capability can be ensured for a long time and for a lengthy historical perspective,” he said.

“The goals that have been set must be attained, and they must be attained efficiently and within the deadlines that the country needs,” he said.

The state is alloting this “huge, really huge money” for rearming the army and the navy, Putin said.