Russian Defense Ministry Concludes Contracts Worth $3.6Bln in 2016

The Russian Defense Ministry has concluded some 1,400 contracts worth 230 billion rubles ($3.6 billion at the current exchange rates) during the first 11 months of 2016, the head of the ministry's department responsible for state procurement said on Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — He added that the conference would focus on the problematic issues of procurement and Russia's legislation in the sphere.

"As of December 1, 2016 we have concluded 1,400 contracts worth about 230 billion rubles after considering the results of competition's procedures," Georgiy Forsov said at the conference dedicated to the results of the state procurement.

Russia is currently implementing a large-scale rearmament program, announced in 2010, to modernize 70 percent of its military hardware by 2020. The total modernization program cost is estimated to reach about 20 trillion rubles.