Russia to spend $30 bn on defence: Report

Russia will allocate over 880 billion rubbles (about $30 billion) for defence spending in 2012, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Monday.

Moscow: Russia will allocate over 880 billion rubles (about $30 billion) for defence spending in 2012, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Monday.

In 2011, the government spent 750 billion rubles on defence, Putin said. He stressed the importance of timely execution of the contracts, Xinhua reported.

"Breaking up the agreed timing of (arms) supply is unacceptable."

"In the next five to 10 years we have to fully re-equip our army and navy. By 2020, the share of the modern weaponry must go up to 70 percent," Putin said at a government meeting.

Russia plans to allocate 20 trillion rubles (about 666 billion) for the re-armament by 2020.

IANS