On Tuesday, May 14, Andrey Belousov delivered a speech to the russian parliament, preceding his appointment as defense minister, where he will replace Shoigu. He reported about his main tasks and how he would solve them.
The speech contained a huge amount of populism and adulation for putin, but Defense Express separated out the main point. In particular, Belousov emphasized the need to tighten control over arms prices, capital construction costs, and the development of new weapons.
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It is worth noting that this is the first time that the task of controlling the prices of weapons, ordered under the state defense order, has appeared in russian government rhetoric. Because according to propaganda, russian weapons had no analogues in all respects, and were several times cheaper than Western ones.
But now, according to Belousov, stricter control over arms prices will be introduced. And this is a rather painful process for russian arms companies, because we are talking about their profits and decades-old schemes. This means that resistance from manufacturers is expected. In addition, when a customer sets the price of a product, it indicates a planned economy with its efficiency.
At the same time, Belousov has a very powerful mechanism from the times of "war communism" in his hands. russia introduced 10-year punishments in the military industry for non-fulfillment, violation of contract terms, and even refusal to fulfill a contract in September 2022. At the same time, the russian Defense Ministry was given the absolute right to set prices, but did not use it very much.
The reasons for the need to control prices are quite simple. Because according to Belousov, "defense spending has already exceeded 6.7% of the country's GDP."
According to the Federal State Statistics Service, russia's GDP is about $2.24 trillion. russia spends $150 billion on the war. But Belousov's words allow us to interpret these costs as annual, for example, only for 2023. Because in 2024, a record $121 billion has been publicly allocated for defense and security in russia alone, which is a third of the country's total spending.
According to Belousov's statement, the Kremlin cannot allocate more money for military needs at the same pace. That is why the new russian Defense Minister said that spending would be "optimized," emphasizing that "optimization does not mean indiscriminate cuts," but rather "increased efficiency." And these are the words about a situation when there is no more money in such a quantity and you need to tighten your belts. But the important question is to whom exactly.
Especially given that another of Belousov's tasks is to "ensure the full integration of the Armed Forces economy into the country's overall economy." And for the Kremlin, there may no longer be a difference between a military economy and a wartime economy. The main thing is the result, which is measured in terms of the number of equipment produced by factories that have to work in three shifts. This requires money, and in the absence of it, the criminal apparatus can get involved.
Earlier Defense Express reported that residential building had crumbled after an explosion in Belgorod, russia.
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