NEW DELHI, January 20 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, who is presently on an official visit to India, announced Tuesday that India intends to pay Russia for the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier in hard currency.
At a reception with Russian journalists Mr. Ivanov stated, "the total sum of the contract comes to $1.5 billion dollars." At the same time the defense minister did not rule out the possibility that in the near future Russian military supply export contracts will be denominated in Russian rubles.
"We can realistically achieve this in 4-5 years," Mr. Ivanov noted. "I am not an economist, but according to specialist evaluations, if Russia continues to develop at the same dynamic rate, the ruble can become a convertible currency." He added that even now, "the ruble is accepted as a convertible currency in many countries, albeit only on the 'black' and 'gray' markets."
