On April 29, Secretary of the RA National Security Council Artur Baghdasaryan held a meeting with the managers of 39 enterprises cooperating with the RA Ministry of Defense. The participants discussed the problems of Armenia’s military-industrial complex and ways of resolving them.

RA President Serzh Sargsyan signed a decree forming an interagency commission for the military-industrial complex chaired by Artur Baghdasaryan. He pointed out that the commission is supposed to elaborate a concept of developing the country’s military-industrial complex and a state program of developing the industry.

“The National Security Council conducted serious surveys to get information on the development of the military-industrial complex in other states. The developed countries in West Europe spend 10 to 15 per cent of their budgets on their military-industrial complex, as it means ensuring the development and modernization of other industries. High importance was attached to the development of the military-industrial complex in the Soviet Union. The enterprises also produced consumer goods. Our surveys show Armenia has a potential. We have to make right calculations to achieve results,” he said.

Summing up the results, Baghdasaryan pointed out the importance of analyzing the problems and finding the right ways of resolving them. “Our meetings with representatives of Russian and Belarusian companies are producing the first fruits. We have signed preliminary agreements on developing ties between military-industrial enterprises of Armenia and other states. Armenian and Russian Security Councils set up a task group to ensure progress in this field. I am sure we will be able to reach progress in several fields within a year,” Baghdasaryan said.

T.P.