Algeria tops Arab world countries in acquisition of Russian military equipment

Algeria comes at the second position among the foreign countries that import arms from Russia with a gross total estimated at USD 1.366 billion over the year 2008, the Russian company in charge of arms exports overseas has revealed

• The Russian news agency “NOVOSTI” has reported from “Russ Operon Export” that Russia is still leading other countries in a second comfortable position in terms of manufacturing and selling of arms all over the world. It has received more than 1000 orders from different countries and signed some 1500 contracts over the year 2008, it said.
• Algeria counts among the most important clients, coming just behind India and leading China while Syria is lagging behind. In other words Algeria and Syria are considered as strategic partners in the Arab world for the Russian company.
• It should be noted that Algeria struck a deal with Russia in the beginning of the year 2008 which stipulates that 15 Russian “MIG” bought in 2006-2007 should be brought revealing manufacturing faults. In return, Algerian military forces will acquire 35 “MIG 29” with a value of USD 1.286 billion.
• Russia is implementing a new strategy as part of an overall strategy to find other outlets. In this respect it has allocated a credit to Indonesia amounting to USD 1 billion in order to finance the acquisition of military equipment for this country, while Croatia has acquired 10 military copters as part of past debts incurred by the former Soviet Union.