Senior Russian Military Official, Customised Defence Deals Are Available To Counteract The Effects Of The Sanctions

Dmitry Shugaev, Director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) of Russia, Russian exporters of military goods are now operating in a new reality where payments for defence deals in U.S. dollar and euro have been reduced to a minimum and they are adopting various measures to offset the impact of sanctions including switching to payments in national currencies.

“As a result of recent political developments, certain logistical issues could occur, requiring adjustments to the timing of the supply of military goods to overseas clients. To counteract the barriers set up by Western nations against Russia in the area of military-technical cooperation, Mr. Shugaev “we are taking measures together with partners, including the Indian side, to find and implement alternative ways of supplying military products.

Speaking further about the measures being taken to simplify payments, Mr. Shugaev explained that Russian “countermeasures” against sanctions include a customised approach to every client, attractive contract terms, modifying the payment forms, and “providing more flexible schemes, abandoning the dollar and switching to other currencies, including national ones.”

“Our partners applaud many of the anti-sanction measures created by the FSMTC of Russia, as they are generally in line with their national strategic objectives,” he said. In order to lessen the harmful effects of the “technical blockade” of Russia enforced by hostile nations, we are building new production and logistical chains and adapting the tools and capacities to the changing conditions.

Officials from the Indian Defense Ministry had stated that in addition to concerns about timely equipment and spare parts deliveries as a result of the conflict in Ukraine, another issue has emerged regarding payments for ongoing deals since Russia was excluded from the international SWIFT system for money transfers.

Officials noted that although modest payments have resumed after significant discussion between the central banks of the two nations, arrangements for larger payments are still being made.

The rupee-rouble exchange rate will be used for payments between India and Russia, as has already been negotiated. There are a lot of payments to be made due to the implementation of various expensive transactions, such as the S-400.

Meeting timelines

Regarding fulfilling deadlines, Mr. Shugaev indicated that Russia is prepared to uphold the prior standard, complete its contractual commitments, and in some cases, enhance military-technical cooperation with foreign partners. “Believe me, the challenges that arise in military-technical cooperation aren’t all that unlike from the issues that typically arise in international business. They are settled by bargaining. Since relationships with partners are typically long-lasting and have a positive track record, there is typically no urgent need to impose sanctions on the other side. We usually meet halfway,” he said.

Regarding the ongoing India-Russia defence cooperation, Mr. Shugaev stated that other areas of cooperation between our countries included creating the necessary conditions for maintaining the delivered weapons and equipment in India as well as jointly producing a variety of equipment and weapons for sale in other nations.

The emphasis is on establishing up the manufacture of weapons and military equipment of Russian design in India and undertaking collaborative research and development, he added, emphasising that they are in line with the “Make in India” policy.

On the other hand, he stated that when working on joint projects, it should be remembered that coming to an agreement on the terms of cooperation, notably in the area of shared R&D, and “real implementation of such cooperation require careful study and take quite a lot of time”