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Arms exports and restructuring in the Russian defence industry

2004; Routledge; Volume: 56; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/09668130410002351000

1465-3427

Antonio Sánchez Andrés,

Russia and Soviet political economy

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes SIPRI, SIPRI Yearbook, 1993. World Armaments and Disarmament (Oxford, Oxford UP, 1993); SIPRI, SIPRI Yearbook, 1994 (Oxford, Oxford UP, 1994); SIPRI, SIPRI Yearbook, 1995. Armaments, Disarmament and International Security (Oxford, Oxford UP, 1995); SIPRI, SIPRI Yearbook, 1996. Armaments, Disarmament and International Security (Oxford, Oxford UP, 1996); SIPRI, SIPRI Yearbook, 1997. Armaments, Disarmament and International Security (Oxford, Oxford UP, 1997); SIPRI, SIPRI Yearbook, 1998. Armaments, Disarmament and International Security (Oxford, Oxford UP, 1998); SIPRI, SIPRI Yearbook, 1999. Armaments, Disarmament and International Security (Oxford, Oxford UP, 1999); SIPRI, SIPRI Yearbook, 2000. Armaments, Disarmament and International Security (Oxford, Oxford UP, 2000); and SIPRI, SIPRI Yearbook, 2001. Armaments, Disarmament and International Security (Oxford, Oxford UP, 2001). Boris Kuzyk et al., Rossiya na mirovom rynke oruzhiya (Moscow, Voennyi parad, 2001); International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), The Military Balance, 1996–1997 (Oxford, Oxford UP, 1996); and International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), The Military Balance, 2000–2001 (Oxford, Oxford UP, 2000). Yurii Kirshin, ‘Conventional Arms Transfers during the Soviet Period’, in Ian Anthony (ed.), Russia and the Arms Trade (Oxford, Oxford UP, 1998), pp. 38–70; and Ian Anthony, ‘Economic Dimensions of Soviet and Russian Arms Exports’, in Ian Anthony (ed.), Russia and the Arms Trade (Oxford, Oxford UP, 1998), pp. 71–92. The economic impact of the most recently granted licences may be arguable as they could limit Russia's capacity to export. This is the case with the granting of a production licence to India for Su‐30MK aeroplanes, which could call Russian exports of this class of aeroplane into question after 2003. Julian Cooper, ‘The Civilian Production of the Soviet Defence Industry’, in R. Amann & J. Cooper (eds), Technical Progress and Soviet Economic Development (Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1986), pp. 31–50. Antonio Sánchez‐Andrés, ‘The Transformation of the Russian Defence Industry’, Europe‐Asia Studies, 47, 8, December 1995, pp. 1269–1292. For some defence organisations, which have traditionally had a smaller role to play in military production, civilian activity has permitted them to reactivate part of their production capacity. In many cases the development of new civilian activities has brought about the creation of small businesses within the large defence organisations, so that growth in production has not been beneficial to the defence company as a whole. The development and impact of civilian production on the defence industry are not, however, the subject of this article; on this issue see Antonio Sánchez‐Andrés, ‘Privatisation, Decentralisation and Production Adjustment in the Russian Defence Industry’, Europe‐Asia Studies, 50, 2, March 1998, pp. 241–255. SIPRI, SIPRI Yearbook 1993, p. 444. Other information about this aspect appears in Viktor Tema & Vasilii Potapenko, ‘Voenno‐ekonomicheskaya bezopasnost’', Svobodnaya mysl'‐XXI, 2001, 10, p. 73. Irina Kobrinskaya & Peter Litavrin, ‘Military–Technical Cooperation Between Russia and Countries of East‐Central Europe’, in Anthony (ed.), Russia and the Arms Trade, pp. 177–193. Alexander Sergounin, ‘Military–Technical Cooperation Between the CIS Member States’, in Anthony (ed.), Russia and the Arms Trade, pp. 146–176. However, it must be pointed out that there has been a relatively sizeable illegal sale of weapons to Armenia, although the weapons came from the Russian army; see Ian Anthony, ‘Illicit Arms Transfers’, in Anthony (ed.), Russia and the Arms Trade, pp 224–225. Alexander Sergounin & Sergey Subbotin, Russian Arms Transfers to East Asia in the 1990s (Oxford, Oxford UP, 1999). Alexander Sergounin & Sergey Subbotin, ‘Sino–Russian Military–Technical Cooperation: A Russian View’, in Anthony (ed.), Russia and the Arms Trade, pp. 194–216; and Aleksandr Mazin, ‘Gorizonty VPK Rossii’, Svobodnaya mysl'‐XXI, 2001, 11, pp. 56–69. Military parade, January–February, 1995, pp. 10–11. Nezavisimoe voennoe obozrenie, 2001, 1, p. 6. Vladimir Lyashchenko, ‘Rossiya v mirovoi torgovle oruzhiem: bor’ba za ⟨mesto pod solntsem⟩', Voennyi parad, 2000, 6, p. 12. Antonio Sánchez‐Andrés, ‘The First Stage of Privatisation of the Russian Military Industry’, Communist Economies & Economic Transformation, 7, 3, September 1995, pp. 353–367. Rosvooruzhenie was created in 1993 and disappeared at the end of 2000, when it was merged with Promeksport to create Rosoboroneksport. It must be pointed out that at that moment Promeksport (in April 2000) had taken over Rossiiskie tekhnologii; see ‘Ukaz prezidenta RF <O sozdanii kompanii po eksportu i importu vooruzhenii ⟨Rosvooruzhenie⟩’, no. 1932, 25 November 1993; ‘Ukaz Prezidenta RF <O reorganizatsii federal’nogo gosudarstvennogo unitarnogo predpriyatiya ⟨Promeksport⟩ v forme prisoedineniya k nemu federal'nogo gosudarstvennogo unitarnogo predpriyatiya ⟨Rossiiskie Tekhnologii⟩', no. 750, 27 April 2000; ‘Ukaz prezidenta RF <O sozdanii federal’nogo gosudarstvennogo unitarnogo predpriyatiya ⟨Rosoboroneksport⟩', no. 1834, 4 November 2000; and Vladimir Kudashkin, ‘Voenno‐tekhnicheskoe sotrudnichestvo’, Svobodnaya mysl', 1998, 8, pp. 56–67. Vladimir Lyashchenko, Torgovlya oruzhiem v Rossii: nekotorye voprosy organizatsii i ekonomiki (Moscow, Novyi vek, 2001), pp. 108–112. Antonio Sánchez‐Andrés, ‘Restructuring the Defence Industry and Arms Production in Russia’. Europe‐Asia Studies, 52, 5, July 2000, pp. 899–902. The results of an analysis of the situation and behavioural changes in the Russian defence industry can be found in Alexei Izyumov, Leonid Kosals & Rosalina Ryvkina, ‘Defence Industry Transformation in Russia: Evidence from a Longitudinal Survey’, Post‐Communist Economies, 12, 2, June 2000, pp. 215–228; Alexei Izyumov, Leonid Kosals & Rosalina Ryvkina, ‘Privatisation of the Russian Defence Industry: Ownership and Control Issues’, Post‐Communist Economies, 12, 4, December 2000, pp. 485–496; and Alexei Izyumov, Leonid Kosals, Rosalina Ryvkina & Yurii Semagin, ‘Market Reforms and Regional Differentiation of Russian Defence Industry Enterprises’, Europe‐Asia Studies, 54, 6, September 2002, pp. 959–974. This decision means the removal not only of the SRK ⟨MiG⟩ group from the defence industry but also of one of the main MiG aeroplane producing companies, not integrated in the group, Nizhegorodskii aviatsionnyi zavod ⟨Sokol⟩. This company sold 22 aeroplanes between 1992 and 1996 but only exported a total of three from 1997 to 2000 (see Izvestiya, 15 January 1999, p. 4; and Kommersant”‐Daily, 15 October 1999, p. 5). However, in this case, the loss of priority for the group is due more to a fall in external demand than to a previous political decision. Leonid Belykh, ‘U‐UAZ — 60 let v stroyu’, Voennyi parad, 1999, 4, pp. 28–29; and Vladimir Spasibo, ‘Restrukturizatsiya oboronno‐promyshlennogo kompleksa’, Vlast', 2001, 7, p. 33. It must be pointed out that the production capacity of these factories is 60 units in Kazan' and 50 in Ulan Ude; see Kommersant”‐Daily, 13 October 1999, p. 5. RIKA, 1994, 2, pp. 2 and 3. Nezavisimoe voennoe obozrenie, 1997, 43, p. 6; and Kuzyk et al., Rossiya na mirovom rynke oruzhiya, pp. 653–655. Voennyi parad, 1997, 6, pp. 119–121. Vladimir Svetlov, ‘Mashnostroitel’noe OKB ⟨Fakel⟩ imeni akademika P.D. Grushina', Vooruzhenie. Politika. Konversiya, 1999, 1, pp. 31–35; and Pavel Kamnev & Nikolai Klein, ‘Rossiiskaya ZRS S‐300V Amerikanskii ZRK ⟨Petriot⟩: Kto vperedi?’ Voennyi parad, 1997, 6, pp. 119–121. Yurii Novikov, ‘Rakety nauchno‐proizvodstvennogo tsentra ⟨Zvezda‐Strela⟩’, Vooruzhenie. Politika. Konversiya, 1997, 1, pp. 29–33. ‘Rasporyazhenie pravitel'stva RF’, no. 1846‐r, 31 December 1997; and Steven J. Zaloga, ‘Russia's Enigmatic Gem: the Yakhont/Oniks Supersonic ASM’, Jane's Intelligence Review, 10, 2, February 1998, pp. 17–20. Nezavisimoe voennoe obozrenie, 2000, 22, p. 6. Aleksandr Grebenok & Vladimir Bezmenov, ‘Novoe polozhenie rossiiskikh kompleksov s protivokarabel’nymi krylatymi raketami', Voennyi parad, 2000, 5, pp. 32–34. Valerii Khvatov, ‘Chempiony v legkom vese’, Voennyi parad, 1999, 4, pp. 92–93. Voennyi parad, 2000, 4, pp. 39–43. In this case the concentration of export orders in the company in Nizhny Tagil is due to political rather than economic decisions. Steven Zaloga, ‘T‐90: The Standard of Russian Expediency’, Jane's Intelligence Review, 9, 2, February 1997, pp. 58–64; and Kommersant”‐Daily, 3 November 1999, p. 3. Kommersant”‐Daily, 13 December 1995, p. 9; and Nezavisimoe voennoe obozrenie, 1999, 19, p. 1. In fact, other companies such as Khabarovskii sudostroitel'nyi zavod (Khabarovsk) or Sosnovskii sudostroitel'yi zavod (Sosnovka, Kirov region) have been left out of the export business in spite of having production levels similar to those companies that have exported. Vremya novostei, 8 February 2001, p. 5. Aleksandr Shlyakhtenko & Valer'yan Korol'kov, ‘Raketnye korabli na vozdushnoi podushke proekta 1239 ⟨Sivuch⟩’, Voennyi parad, 2000, 5, pp. 36–39; Voennyi parad, 1999, 4, pp. 128–129; and Kommersant”‐Daily, 11 July 1998, p. 4. To be precise, the order was for three frigates for India, construction of which was assigned to Baltiiskii zavod, and two destroyers for China built by Severnaya verf'; see Oleg Shulyakovsky, ‘Eksportnye fregaty stroyatsya na baltiiskom’, Voennyi parad, 2000, 5, pp. 28–30; Ekspert, 1999, 16, p. 42; Ekspert, 2002, 1–2, p. 50; Kommersant”‐Daily, 21 January 2002, pp. 1 and 4. Furthermore, and as is pointed out in the 1998 law on conversion, it is foreseeable that the conversion funds will also be concentrated in the organisations of the defence industry itself in order to diversify and maximise its production capacity and guarantee its survival; see ‘Federal’nyi zakon ⟨O konversii oboronnoi promyshlennosti v Rossiiskoi Federatsii⟩', no.60‐FZ, 13 April 1998. Compared with the Soviet period, there is a strategic change in the role played by exports within the defence industry; see Kelvin O'Prey, Cooperation Approaches to Export Management and Defense Conversion (Washington, DC, Brookings Institution, 1995), p. 5. Of these, the construction of the Mi‐38 transport helicopter, the Ka‐50‐2 attack helicopter and the MiG‐AT and Yak‐130 military training aeroplanes are the most significant; see Nezavisimaya gazeta, 30 April 1999, p. 6; Kommersant”‐vlast', 2000, 40, pp. 24–26; and Maksim Pyadushkin, ‘⟨Nepravil’nyi⟩ postavshchik', Delovye lyudi, 2001, 120, pp. 82–86. Michael Jasinski, ‘Russia and India Step Up Cruise Missile Co‐operation’, Jane's Intelligence Review, 14, 3, March 2002, pp. 34–36; and Rahul Bedi, ‘India, Russia Test Fire PJ10 Anti‐ship Cruise Missile’, Jane's Defence Weekly, 37, 20, 15 May 2002, p. 16. Anatolii Yanukevich, ‘Voennaya ekonomika v period reform’, Vlast', 2001, 9, p. 48. Ekspert, 2001, 25, p. 4; and Ekspert, 2002, 14, pp. 30–31. Kommersant”‐Daily, 21 January 2002, pp. 1 and 4; and Kompaniya, 2002, 11, p. 17.